My cat has disappeared

Question
My cat Dylan disappeared about a month ago.  We recieved a call last week from someone saying that they had been feeding him for a week.  We checked it out, and it is him.  However, he didn't want to seem to follow us home.  We have tried a cat trap which we got from a shelter, but he was too smart for that:  once he realised it was a trap, he got out.  We have tried calling him, walking around the area, but he doesn't respond.  Is there anything else we can do to try and get him to come home?  Thanks!

Answer
Rachel,

Maybe the person who is feeding him would be willing to allow the cat indoors and call you to come and get him. If you do get him back that way I would strongly suggest that you don't let him out again. As for the trap I would suggest baiting it with tuna, salmon or sardines, something smelly and irresistable usually works well in the humane live traps. I would also suggest that you have him assessed by a vet after you do catch him just to make sure that he is still healthy. If the person feeding your cat doesn't want to let him in the house ask if they would mind catching him and placing him in your cat carrier while he is eating. There are many things that you could try to catch him and most require thinking from his point of view and loads of patience. The suggestions that I have offered have worked for me in the past, hopefully they will work for you. There are other options like having animal control dart him, but that is a last resort as sedating any animal under stress is not recommended. I hope that you get your little guy back soon. He may just have decided that being outside is more fun than hanging out indoors, there are more smells and things to see and pounce on, so as I mentioned before do not let him out again unless he is either in a carrier or leash and harness trained as I am sure you will agree that trying to get him back is heart breaking enough that you won't want to do it again. Please feel free to keep me updated. If you have any further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me again.