Over the last few months my cat has not come home for increasingly long periods of time.
Initially 24 hours then 36 hours, 3 days, 4 days then a week. Every time he would come he returned he would rush in looking flustered and upset but always not hungry. I'd collared and tagged him after the second episode because I think someone had him and had locked him in and was feeding him thinking he was a stray (I'm being generous if this is the case because he doesn't look like a stray.
I month ago he went missing again this time after a week we put leaflets through 200 front doors offering a very substantial reward (thank you JL insurance) a he didn't turn up so we sadly resigned ourselves to the fact that he'd gone for good.
Then last night out of the blue he walked back in again. He's clearly been well fed as he's looking fat although I think from looking at his fur and the state of his collar he's been kept in a shed or outbuilding rather than lounging on someone arm chair.
What do I do? I've temporarily blocked off the cat flap. But long term it's not realistic to keep him in, I've two dogs and another cat, our house is very secure and we frequently go out and leave our back door wide open so they can go in and out as they please. I have a 6 foot wall round my garden and he's no big jumper but he goes over it from a permanent fixture that's only 3 foot high.