Heartbreaking 💔😿Thanks for helping other people, despite your own despair.

When my cat was young, I would sing, "As time goes by..." to her and she would snuggle. Throughout her life (she lived 19 years), she would come to me, whether she was inside or out. I felt a bit silly when neighbors would pass by, but fortunately was always rewarded by my sweet girl.

By Gershwin from Porgy and Bess. My other cats don’t care about tunes that much but she would always come when I whistled that song

Thank you for sharing this information.

This should be bookmarked by every indoor cat owner.
I'll add three things to the list from my personal experience losing Petunia for two full days.
One, look under sheds and holes that you think are too small for your cat to fit into. Remember, the hole needs only to be big enough to hold the hight and width of her head and whiskers.
Two, if you have a second cat that happens to be indoor/outdoor, he it she will find the indoor cat. Follow them with plenty of space for them to do their thing That worked finding Petunia, and finding Mufasa, the very first time we let him out once he was old enough. He ran like he was escaping and hid maybe half a block away in a wooded area and Nugget found him. We encouraged Nuggets search every step of the way and he searched for Mufasa almost with the same intensity a mother would. What a relief that was as Moofy is to this day, my all time favorite cat. (Please don't tell Petunia) As smart and absolutely invested he is in learning what Tracy does, (remember, I brought him with me when I left her house two years ago and he kept going back to her house like a magnet)and when I'm there, he remembers me as his first rescuer and he is as lovingly grateful today as he was the first day, if not more so.
Also, and I know I'm preaching to the choir, but talk to your cat, sing to your cat, please let him/her know your voice as comfortably as he would their most familiar blanket or sleeping spot.
Sorry for the length, but three, if it's safe, leave a patio door open, and they may well return in the middle of the night.
I pray this never happens to you, I did not sleep for two days straight
Train the kids or other regular visitors as to your cat's status, and if they can't respect it, please consider placing stricter visiting rules so they won't be unsupervised at your house.(Visitors lol)

...the same thing happening to us way back in the late 1980s. One of our cats got out without our knowing it and was taken out by a car. It was evening. One of our neighbors came to tell us. It broke my heart that her sweet little life ended in fear and pain. We never did figure out how she got out.

To this day, if one of our cats hides away somewhere in the house and I can't find them immediately, it takes me about a nanosecond to panic. All 4 of them have a TILE device on their collars so I can beep them if I need to. I usually make sure I know where everyone is before leaving the house.

I will bookmark this for later.

So very, very sorry this happened.

2nd, thanks for doing what you can to help
other's that this might happen to.

The kitten, whose whole life was in a cage at a shelter is very excited to have run of a house and particularly to have discovered the windows he can access. He's definitely interested is bolting out the door.

We signed an agreement with the shelter to raise him as an indoor cat, and frankly outdoor cats don't not live long in our neighborhood. We have a 25 mph speed limit that many people like to challenge by doubling it.

The kitten's mom is sedate, clearly had lived in a home before but was dumped by her previous owners; she's obese and slow.

We watched by son's kitten and she got out. We got her back in by opening a can of tuna, holding out by the deck under which she ran. She was very interested and we managed to grab her as she ate.

Our kitten, named for "give 'em hell" Harry Truman is giving us hell with clearly wanting to investigate the world beyond the windows.

Not good.

I like the trap idea, but I'd probably end up with a squirrel or raccoon or rabbit.