Housecat Missing For 18 Days. Please Help

We desperately need some advice. I have consulted every vet, shelter and 'expert' I can find but thought getting input more specific to the situation could help. My partner and I went away for a long weekend and left our 20 month old in-door cat with my parents. We chose this option over a cattery for several reasons. Firstly, he hates being alone and secondly, he has a strong attachment to my guide dog and so we always keep them together if we have to leave them. He has stayed with my parents once before and although jittery, seemed to cope ok and was completely fine as soon as we walked through the door.
For some reason I don't quite understand, my parents thought it was ok to leave an upstairs window open. Something spooked him and he has vanished. We returned home 2 days after this and immediately began searching. My parents home is only about 5 minutes walk from our own but he has no experience of being outside. We don't know if we should be searching the streets round their house, our house or everything between. We have asked them to leave food and water etc but they are not being consistent, making us doubt that he would stick around there, even though that's what all the info suggests he should be doing. I will list below all the steps we have taken so far:

Distributed 300 colour flyers to houses and local businesses
Left used litter tray outside both houses (though there has been heavy rain)
Walked round with favourite toys at all times of the day and night, calling softly
Left my parents a recording of our voices to play when they are outside
Spoken to all local vets, shelters and the environmental health department who would have picked him up if he'd been in an accident etc.
Walked a trail with my dog every night to leave scent which can guide him back to our home from my parents
Left clothing with our scent along the trail
Slept downstairs in our home with the windows open in case he finds his way
Posted on social media including specific lost and found animal groups in the local area, even paying for a targeted facebook advert

So, we have done all these things and still haven't even had a confirmed sighting. We are in distress and don't know what else we can do. He is chipped neutered. Even worse, we are relocating at the start of September. We should be finding somewhere to live but just can't face leaving our home in case we miss something. Please help if you can offer any tips. One of the main things we are struggling with as I said, is not knowing where to focus our efforts. I'll include his profile just in case there is anyone reading this local to us. Appologies for the lengthy post and look forward to reading your thoughts

TIA Ash xxx

I'm so sorry about Ditto. He's beautiful, is he a British Shorthair? I think it's a great idea to take walks with the dog, since you said they are so attached to each other.

Has she been found yet? I hope to hear good news

Hi, sadly we still haven't located Ditto. We are about to buy a motion activated camera. We've done our research and found one that seems to do what we need. We did see a cat in our yard 2 nights ago but my partner couldn't be certain if it was him in the dark. Seems odd though as no cats actually come in to our yard usually, probably because of the dog's scent. Maybe our trail is working but we can't be sure as we still haven't had a definite sighting.

Does anyone have any thoughts on if we should be focusing on searching the street he went missing in or concentrating on drawing him back to our home? We're getting frantic and simply don't know what else to do. Thank you for the kind wishes. xx

Cats will wander much farther than one would think. Be sure your search area extends about a mile out from ground zero. Also, make sure that you search the area at night, using a flashlight to elicit eyeshine. Keep us posted.

Just a quick update. Still no luck. The motion camera seems to be doing the trick, we've left it at both properties. If anything, we are beginning to realise just how many cats there are in the neighbourhood. Only we seem to be snapping pictures of every cat but ours. We've ran out of things to try. It will be coming up 4 weeks on Monday... We're out of our minds with worry. We just don't know where to focus our attention.

Thanks for the advice, Mamanyt. We're out every night, and daytime too when we can.

Don't quite give up yet. We've had several cats missing for months who showed up again, not much the worse for wear.

Be sure to check back with shelters, etc. on a regular basis. They get so many calls that they are unlikely to remember next week that you called looking for a cat last week.

Thanks for the advice, Mamanyt. We're not giving up, only we are starting to make preparations to move hundreds of miles away, so we're really starting to feel the pressure. We are starting to wonder if he may have ventured further afield now, and will be putting up posters further away. I still have hope, but every now and then it feels like stages of grief are kicking in...

Are there friendly neighbors who would be willing to keep an eye out for him and alert you if he is found?

Yes. I've already decided to leave flyers with our next door neighbour when we leave and some people are still texting now and then to say they are keeping a look out. We discovered that his microchip company offer a premium service yesterday. You pay the extra and they send an alert to all registered professionals in a 30 miles radius. Needless to say, we've done that.

Trying not to give up hope but can't deny we're getting really distressed now. We're not so hot on the night time searching just now as the lack of sleep is making us ill. After this time, I'm thinking that we just have to wait for him to make his way home or be picked up by a shelter or whatever. Thanks for the support. x

So sorry to hear this and it is very unfortunate that he went missing at your mum's house opposed to yours, as he would have probably found his way back if you'd been home. I would drive around neighboring towns/areas and really try to get into his head. Also ask neighbors if they know any people who feed stray cats. If he's getting fed somewhere, he will be around there. What I'm saying is find all the catladies in the area.

Nothing new to add, but your family, including your cat are in my heart.

Poor little guy. I'm keeping you in my thoughts. Don't give up hope. My little man was missing for 6 months and came back. Who will be living in your home when you leave? Do you think they'd be willing to keep a shelter with some of your clothes in it outside? And maybe call your parents if they see him?

heathensservant said:

Poor little guy. I'm keeping you in my thoughts. Don't give up hope. My little man was missing for 6 months and came back. Who will be living in your home when you leave? Do you think they'd be willing to keep a shelter with some of your clothes in it outside? And maybe call your parents if they see him?

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Where did he go? He just disappeared? Mine left without a trace it’s been 7 weeks now

I went on vacation one day and left my unneutered male 2-year-old cat with a friend who lives 15 Kilometers away. I came back a week later. My friend lost my cat. After another week there he was at the my house. Fifteen Kilometers! Somebody could have grabbed your cat and has him under wrap. If he is free to leave but prefers to stay maybe you'll regret not giving him the finest canned tuna three times a day.