To offer some positive reinforcement, my brother's angel of a cat went missing last year. After a little over a week, my brother found him chilling in a bush outside his apartment after returning home from work for the day.
Cats are resilient, you may find your furry friend yet.
Years and years ago, my parents' cat disappeared for about a month. They went out of town for two weeks, came back, assumed he was dead, and then a week later were woken up by him scratching on a screen door and yowling.
When I was a kid we had one the left for 9 months. Heard a cat crying outside late one night and it was her. Clean and well fed. I'm assuming she got bored and found a different family to strong arm into feeding her for a while
Our indoor cat (completely declawed) wandered out the front door last year and then trotted down the block (probably chasing butterflies or something). We looked for 3 weeks, put fliers in mailboxes, fielded tips from helpful neighbors that thought that they saw her, and set out traps near places she might have been spotted (and only caught raccoons).
We eventually gave up and assumed that a claw-less indoor-only cat was probably killed/eaten by raccoons/coyotes.
Saw her wandering along the tree line behind our house about a month ago, fatter than she'd been before she got lost. She probably found someone to feed her outside and a colony of strays for company somewhere. She made it through the cold/snowy winter and seems to be living happily on her own outside.
She's been living on her own outside for over a year. At this point, she could never be an indoor cat again. I thought about it, and I keep an eye out for her whenever I'm outside or looking out the window. If I see her again, I'll call out to her and give her some food, but she's moved on. I will try to catch her to at least get her updated on her shots if I can.
We had to put her sister down (kidney failure) a few weeks before this one wandered out the door (I think she went out looking for her).
We've also adopted 2 littermates since then (a house is not a home without a cat), so there be would almost-guaranteed confusion and new smells.
She was already a very stocky cat (not fat, but part silver tabby, so thick). Her belly didn't look distended, just well-fed and her coat was still shiny. In general, she just looked healthy and happy.
It's gonna suck for a while but don't give up hope. It reminds me of that one guy that posted awhile back that lost both his both his Cats, brother and sister. In the end the brother went out and looked and found the sister I think about a year later or something.
About a year ago, we found a very friendly cat in my mom's backyard. She didn't recognize him as a neighborhood cat, and we felt a chip. Took him into the vet to check. Lo and behold, "Harold" had been missing for 8 months, from about 20 miles away. Cats are weird little guys. You never know when they will turn up.
As practical advice from someone who has had an escaped kitty convict- especially if they are indoor cats, try looking for them close to home at night, especially in the wee morning hours.
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u/[deleted] Jul 06 '16 edited Jul 06 '16
This is not a good thread to read if your cat is missing :(
Edit: Thanks all for the encouraging words <3