Cat missing five days. I messed up, what else can I do?

[miliop]

Both my parents died recently and I have taken in their cat and elderly dog. It has been insanely stressful.

The cat has now been missing for five days and I don't know what else I can do.

I have

• updated his microchip and let them know he is missing
• sent photos and description to all local vets
• put a message on my street WhatsApp and the next street's
• knocked on doors on my street to ask people to check sheds etc
• put his blankets, litter tray and hoover contents outside
• called for him and dusk and dawn, with his food
• called for him at same times in the field above the house and the allotments nearby

For more context, he has always been very much my cat. He knows my voice, he is used to cuddling in with me, he would sleep in the bed with me whenever I went to their house, and has done every night for the last five weeks. I am heartbroken and worried sick.

I am beating myself up because I took him to my house two weeks ago after my second parent died (I had to come home) and I let him out too early. He was fine for the first few days, pottering around the garden and coming in. Then one evening he seemed very quiet and withdrawn and he went out and didn't come back. I feel terrible and stupid about this and wasn't thinking straight. I know I fucked up. I thought he would be ok because he's very used to me and my house/garden is very similar to my parents'.

I'm even worried he could have tried to return to their house, which is 40 miles away. I've had the neighbours put out food and water just in case, and I will go there in a few days. Possibly set a camera up too. I don't know if that's a ridiculous idea that he would try to get home but he only ever knew that house.

Thankfully he is very streetwise, he can and does feed himself. My dad would always say he was very territorial and I'm worried this means he'd simply go back to the place he knows.

I'm wondering what else can I do, and can anyone give me hope?

@miliop we said the same, how kind people were - there was one couple in particular whose garden our escapee was frequenting and I ended up bringing them a bunch of flowers when he returned because they were dialling in the intel on a minute by minute basis! We kept having photos sent of a dainty little black cat in a pink collar, where our boy is a massive black bruiser with no collar (obviously he is chipped) and it felt like people were really invested.

I'm just trying not to imagine horrible scenarios and keep in mind that the weather is mild and he's a very confident little cat. My dad used to say that he was an 'operator'.

He happily sleeps outside. He used to lie stretched out, fast asleep in the middle of the lawn.

Ugh. This is horrible but I know they generally come back or are found.

I hate being visible on social media but I'm going to suck it up and post on more local FB groups today.

Please put actual paper posters up too! I did all of what you have done when our (house) cat went mysteriously missing from the garden a few years ago..she was missing a week until an elderly gent who doesn’t have social media spotted the poster as he walked to the local shop, and said she’d been seen near his house (we found her).

Yep, got some to put up today.

Another positive story, thank you for sharing.

Similar thing happened to us when DD moved into her own house. He went missing fir 2 months because it was a bones area even though she'd kept him in for about a month. We did everything: out searching day and night before and and after work; flooded facebook groups with posts; leaflets through doors for miles around; Posters in lamp posts, fences etc.

Posters on a lamp post were what alerted a lovely man that the new cat wandering in his garden was actually lost. I dont think he ever would have found his way hime on his own. We only got him back because we kept going. We replaced posters when people tore them down. We responded to every message or sighting no matter how far away, just in case. People kept saying that we should accept that we weren't going to find him. Don't give up hope but also keep working at it.

Somebody told me they don’t often go that far, they’re likely to be hiding out in one place (ours was found a few streets away, we have zero idea how the fuck she ended up there as she never left the garden normally). Also look for water sources as they often hang out near there

Just posting to second the usefulness of actual paper posters (waterproofed!!). My not at all streetwise, very terrified of people, cat disappeared for 6.5 weeks, and just when we were about to take the posters down we had a call from someone who had spotted her eating stale birds' bread 😢. We only got her back because of the posters. Really good luck, it's absolutely awful I know, but you're doing everything you can x

I'm not sure how to waterproof them! I was going to tape them to lamp posts later when the sun has dried them. Will google it now.

So pleased you got your cat back. Poor thing.

Laminate them or if you can't do that, use plastic A4 sleeves/pockets, the kind you put in ring binders, and tape up along the bottom edge. Laminating is better though. You might find a local print shop who can laminate them.
I'm so sorry for everything you're going through and I hope the cat returns soon or you get a sighting, chances are you will.