This past Saturday morning, my all-time favorite cat ran away from our
home. As of today (July 20) he has been gone over five full days.

I have NEVER experienced this before and I need to know what to expect.
I have not seen him since he left and I don't know whether or not to
give up on him.

I have heard so many opinions (he will come back, he won't come back,
etc.) that I would simply like to take an informal survey to get a
better idea of what MOST LIKELY will happen...and what I can DO!

PLEASE HELP ME! MY HEART IS TORN IN TWO.

HERE ARE THE FACTS:

He is a 2-1/2 year old male. He is neutered but still has his claws.

He does not have a collar or a microchip. I know--this is stupid, but I
really never thought I would need it with this cat because he is an
indoor cat.

He was born in my house and has lived here all of his life, along with
his brother and another male cat. ALL THREE CATS HAVE GOTTEN ALONG FINE
WITH NO PROBLEMS.

The lost cat was easily the most affectionate of our three cats.  He
followed my wife and me EVERYWHERE and would lay on us whenever we
watched TV or took a nap. He would even lick the hair on my head to
"give me a bath"!

The lost cat and his brother are both strictly indoor cats.  The other
male cat--not related to the two brother cats--is an indoor/outdoor
cat.

About six months ago, the lost cat started to try to get outside. He
would zoom to any door when he heard it open and would try to dash
outside. He has REALLY been obsessed with going outside. IS IT POSSIBLE
THAT HE JUST DIDN'T WANT TO BE WITH US ANY MORE?

A handful of times he has succeeded in getting outside, but was always
caught literally moments after escaping.

I had been putting the lost cat in our screened-in porch, which seemed
to satisfy his craving to wander, but I stopped doing that about a week
ago when he managed to push through one of the screens and was free for
a couple of hours before I was able to capture him again, lying on the
front porch of a house about four houses down from us.

This past Saturday morning, while we were both doing yard work, our
three-year-old son opened the patio door to come talk to us. The cat
slipped past him and we haven't seen him since.

I have gone door-to-door asking about my cat. The only thing I
discovered was that the cat had been in the back yard of a house that
is six houses down from us as of Saturday evening. Beyond that, nobody
has seen him.

I have put up flyers in my neighborhood, called all the vets in my part
of town, alerted the local humane society and put ads in a couple of
local papers.

I WANT OUR CAT BACK.  It is all I think about, and the worst part about
it is not knowing what our poor cat could be experiencing right now.

What has been YOUR experience when your indoor cat escaped?  Also,
PLEASE tell us what more we can do to help our kitty find his way home!

HOW FAR DO THEY ROAM? HOW LIKELY IS IT THAT THEY RETURN? I have a
thousand other questions, but I'll leave it at that for right now.

ALBERT, PLEASE COME HOME. WE LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU.