@WayOutWestMom , I’m so sorry! I would hate to not know what happened to my sweet cat.
Let us know if he turns up or you adopt. 
OMG, I am so sorry @WayOutWestMom.
So sorry, @WayOutWestMom !
Thanks for the sympathies. I feel so silly at being so broken up by his loss.
No, it is a normal feeling. When my Ms. Kitty slipped out of the back door and disappeared into the night, I felt absolutely awful and broken-hearted. Hugs.
@WayOutWestMom , if my sweet lady disappeared tonight, I would be heartbroken and I would never completely get over it. If one of my D’s cats disappeared, I would worry for her ability to cope with such a loss. Those are her babies-she’s 25 and their sweet and wacky personalities have helped her immensely while in law school away from family, bf, and closest friends. She has said before that without their companionship and love, she doesn’t know if she would have stuck it out.
Your feelings are totally normal.
So sorry, I have been through that .
I had a missing cat about 10 years ago. Even though she was an indoor cat, we put out cat food on the porch every day hoping she would come back. 4 months later, we saw her on the porch, and went outside to get her. She was afraid and I ended up on my belly on the street coaxing her out of a storm drain. 2 hours later, we had our kitty back.
Don’t give up.
@CottonTales
What hopeful story! I wish I could be optimistic, but coyotes think cats are just long-tailed rabbits. I do keep looking and have posted his picture to the neighborhood message board.
What a clever plot to smuggle the overweight feline buddy onto the plane… but the guy did not realize that his Facebook post would tip off the airline.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50398672
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More details about the pudgy air passenger and his owner!
https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/cat-owners-scheme-shirks-airlines-rules/
Thanks, @BunsenBurner - those are great. And Viktor definitely looked happy.
I’d sure rather share a cabin with Viktor than a lot of passengers I can think of!
@WayOutWestMom I am so sorry. It’s the worst feeling. I’ve not checked into CC for quite some time and came back for the express purpose of posting an update here. Maybe my story will give you some hope.
My backyard backs to an open orchard where coyotes live and hunt. We hear them howling routinely. I have also heard many tales of cats and small dogs being killed in this area and we are warned to keep our animals inside, especially at night. So when my 10 year old strictly indoor cat escaped to the outdoors on July 7 and didn’t return, I was heartbroken and feared the worst. I put out flyers, posted on all the social media platforms, called local vet offices and visited the area shelters-multiple times. I walked the streets, knocked on doors, put her litter box outside so she could find her way home. As the weeks went on, I believed she was gone and it was devastating. I love this crazy cat.
This past weekend-4-1/2 months after her disappearance-I got a call from the microchip company that she’d been found! At first I thought it was a scam because, well, how could a 10 year old indoor cat survive outside for 4 months? Finally, it hit home that in fact she was alive and well. OMG! A neighbor, about a half mile from me, saw her outside in their backyard 2 months after she disappeared. She was skinny and wary but alive. They fed her and cared for her, thinking she was feral. They were wonderful. She became used to them and they realized she must be a lost pet. They posted on nextdoor but I didn’t see it. (They didn’t see my nextdoor post either.) Then they took her to a local vet who scanned her microchip and the rest is history. She’s back at home! She and her brother are not quite on friendly territory yet and she’s eating like she’s never seen food before but she’s healthy and happy.
Don’t give up. Keep posting and keep looking. Search local missing and found cat posts, look at adoptable pets in your shelters, use all avenues to keep looking. I’m so sorry.
Maybe see if you can foster a cat for now?
I am just catching up on this thread. So sorry, @WayOutWestMom.
Update: about a week after my cat vanished, something scratched at my back screen door around 10 pm one evening. Since I had been jumping to check every time I heard noise outside since kitty had disappeared, I nearly didn’t check because looking and not finding had become too painful. However, I decided to look “just in case”–and out was him!
He was exhausted and hungry, but otherwise OK. No injuries.
His adventure has apparently scared him. Now even if I open the door for him to let him out, he just stares outside then turns around & walks away. He used to go outside with me–to “help” me work in the garden or walk to mailbox. Now when he goes outside with me, he gets very anxious and immediately runs back inside.
So thank you to everyone who offer sympathy and optimistic stories. It all helped.
@WayOutWestMom , YAY!!! That is such great news.
How wonderful! Hooray!!!
Perhaps some wild animal chased him away?
What a happy ending!! 
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@WayOutWestMom , you made my day! I am so happy and relieved for you.
Do you remember that children’s book, “The King, the Mice, and the Cheese?” (If not, google it–it’s great!) Anyway, we’re in that situation.
We have an elderly cat who lost his brother last November. It was clear that he was lonely. So in August, we adopted a kitten named Saxon. My husband had been longing for a dog for years, so a week later we adopted a three-year-old Australian sheepdog mix.
Saxon eats everything in sight. He is the one in my post “Obnoxious kitten behavior.” We took the advice of everyone here and of some real life friends, and adopted another kitten, Norman. Now we have a crazy menagerie. The old cat sits Zen-like upon his throne, (which doubles as our bed at night) until Saxon ousts him. Norman hisses and spits at everyone. Even the dog, who outweighs him by at least 60 pounds, walks away when he shows up.
We’ve been limiting and supervising contact. Today, Norman, who weighs all of 2 1/2 pounds, ousted Saxon from his perch on top of his favorite chair. He may be unstoppable.