worried, have I lost my new cat?

[penguinplease]

Hi just looking for some advice. We got a 2 year old ish cat from rspca and she has only been with us a week. Ever since arriving she has been longingly looking outside and so a few times in the daytime she has gone out in the back garden and come back in after a short while.

Tonight I was putting a rubbish bag out and she shot out and I haven't seen her since, she isn't in the garden and I've been out a few times and opened the door numerous times to call her.

Bit worried she has gone.. will she know after just a week that this is her home?
I don't have a catflap yet and I'm too scared to go to bed in case she is waiting outside the back door in the cold all night. I'm such a dimwit and feel really cross with myself but I just couldn't stop her.

Any advice appreciated. Thank you

Hi. This happens all the time and nine times out of ten they come back. She will almost certainly not have gone far, but might have gone for a bit of an explore. The most important thing is to put food outside the door. Do I understand that this time she went out of the front door not the back? In which case I would put food down at both doors during the day (there probably isn't much point at night as the foxes will eat it straight away). She will almost certainly spend her time walking round a fairly small area looking for food, so you need to make sure it's there. I would do this for at least two weeks and i'm fairly confident you'll find her. Of course it would also be a good idea to put notes through neighbours letterboxes etc. Good luck and let us know when she comes back.