My advice is to not give up too soon!

Chances are good that Joey has not gone very far. But he is probably scared and lying low, and may remain so for some time. Be patient, and keep calling for him.

Use sounds that he associates with food and mealtime to coax him out of hiding. And since he is a shy cat, I would consider using a Havahart trap to catch him. "Friends of Feral Felines" in Portland can probably give you some tips.

Here's my favorite website on finding lost cats:

http://www.lostapet.org/missing_cat1.shtml

My sister lost her cat when she stopped at a rest stop on her way home from vacation. She was able to find her cat using a combination of flyers and trapping. So have faith...Joey can be found!

Any news? I'm hoping for the best.

Thank you Lindsay for your advice. I read the website and have renewed faith for his safe return. Joey was seen last night (July 21) around 730pm in the woods behind our house and Pierce St. in Westbrook. He was spotted by a neighbor. I am optimistic since it appears he has not crossed the busy roads. Tomorrow my husband will be setting a Have a Heart trap in the area where he was spotted. I hope that this will be the day for my sweet kitty to come home. I am in Alaska for 2 more weeks! It is so difficult! Thank you to Nancy for posting this and to you Lindsay for sending the link for the lost-a-pet website! I appreciate it...

Janna, any news about Joey?

Good news! Joey has been trapped!

Forwarded email...

Hi Nancy...
GOOD NEWS!! Joey was captured last night! Dan saw him at the sliding
door around 10 pm... he tried to get him in the house, but the little
bugger ran off into the woods. He was up on the deck having some
food. So Dan went and got the trap that was set at the last spot he
was spotted and put it on ouor deck. Around 4 am EST Joey was found
in the trap. He looks pretty good, other than being filthy and
hungry, his paws are pretty reddened. He has been following my
husband around the house all afternoon. If I have anything to say
about it... this cat is never leaving the house again! I am so
relieved. THANK YOU for putting him on your blog... If it weren't for
the post from Lindsay in Falmouth, I am not sure I would have thought
about trying to trap him! So, he is safe! Thankyou! Thankyou!
Thankyou! Janna

Janna, that's GREAT NEWS!! Well done. I think it must be part of my mission in life to let people know that lost cats CAN be found. (grin!)

Now that you have Joey safely home, here are two things I always do with my cats:

1. Teach them to come when called: http://pets.yahoo.com/pets/cats/care/behavior/?article=teach_your_cat_to_come

2. Use an embroidered I.D. collar with NO TAGS. In the past, my cats have come home collar-less too many times because the tags have gotten hung up on the bushes somewhere. I've gotten my most recent collars from http://www.k-9collars.com , although there are probably many other places where you can find them.

Give Joey a hug for me. He's a beautiful boy!