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Because your kitty is an indoor only kitty, the chances are VERY GOOD that he is near by, hiding but has gone into a protective mode. Especially if there are loose dogs in your area...the chances are that he is not willing to respond to your voice, not willing to come out of hiding and not willing to leave his new "territory" out of shear fear.
I have spent the last 2 years conducting research on "lost cat behavior" and have learned one thing about indoor only cats. The majority of the time, they are found within a 3 house radius of the owner's home hiding and living under a deck, porch, or in heavy brush. This is often up to 7 weeks after they went missing in cases where the owners were calling for them and searching for them in the location that they were hiding, but the cat never responded. The reason the cats do not respond is again, an instinctual behavior of protecting themselves. What could have triggered this response in your kitty was just one encounter with a neighbor dog chasing him.
So I would encourage you to THINK CLOSE...that he is nearby but hiding. Thus your primary way of getting him back is to going to be to obtain a cat trap with yummy canned cat food and attempt to trap him. This is what has worked in over 70% of the indoor only cat owners who have retrieved their escaped kitties...most of the others eventually returned home. While it is very common for an outdoor kitty to become trapped and unable to return home, it is not that common for an indoor only kitty. Because they are in a "scaredy cat" mode while they are outside, they don't have the curiosity to climb into trouble...they have that instinct to protect (and hide).
And because they are hiding and protecting themselves, they are less likely to be killed by a car, poisoned, or killed by a predator. It can happen, but is less likely to happen than with an outdoor kitty. So please have hope and think in terms that he is NEAR BY, very afraid and just either needs time to be brave enough to come back home or you need to trap him. Without my seeing exactly where you live, it is hard to tell you where to place any traps. Make sure before you put the traps that you belly crawl with a flashlight and check all nearby hiding places...even the places where you have called him 1,000 times! Also, because cat's are territorial, they do not tend to travel too far. The only thing that might cause him to travel is if a dog or something were to frighten him, if there was no place that offered him protection and if there was no source of food or water. Also, because cat's are territorial...whereever he ends up that offers protection and food is where he has been depositing his scent (poop, pee and his shed hair & scent) thus wherever he is has become his new "territory." Leaving your clothing outside doesn't do much good...your scent is deposited wherever you walk and the chances are that he can already smell and hear you, but his instincts are preventing him from responding. Of course these are just my opinions, but they are based on over 2 years of talking to cat owners on a daily basis and using my search dogs to search for (and locate) many missing cats.
Your kitty is somewhere and the statistics show that he is most likely alive but afraid....so have hope!!!!
Editor's note:
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