To anyone who has lost and found their cat: what worked for you?

Chauncey has been gone for 6 days now, and I'm out of my mind with worry. I posted posters in the neighborhood, contacted shelters, left food outside the window she escaped through (wildlife camera coming in the mail), sprinkled her litter outside the house, uploaded her file to Petharbor. I've been walking around the neighborhood at night calling for her, and I just learned about contacting her microchip company, which I will do tomorrow. Tomorrow, I also have plans to knock house-to-house to see if my neighbors would allow me to check their backyards/sheds. I can't help but feel like time is slipping through my fingers the longer it takes to locate her. To the posters who've lost and found their cats, what do you feel worked best for you?  

Previous post with Chauncey's information. Former feral outdoor cat that moved indoors at new address:

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/326907/...at-socialized-feral-just-moved-to-new-address

I had one of my feral cats go missing for months.  I printed up 100's of fliers and distributed them to nearby neighborhoods.  I had many hits from the fliers.  I was able to locate him a few times, but could never get him retrapped to bring him home.  He eventually did come back.  Yet the fliers worked to help me know that he was still alive and not too far away. 

Of course the trail camera should come in handy.  It has a bit of a learning curve to be sure you have it set sensitive enough.  Also when I used one if there was a lot of lights outside from nearby homes, it really gave me a problem.  I have neighbors who leave outside lights on all night.  It created a glow in my yard.  It made it difficult to clearly see the images.  Hopefully it will work well for you.  Positioning it is the key.

Please come home Chauncey.

Hi Cat-nap.

I'm so sorry to hear that Chauncey is missing. One of my cats, also a former feral, has managed to get herself lost twice. She has outdoor access to an enclosure but she isn't supposed to go any further than that. Twice she has managed to escape.

The first time was in October and she was gone for 6 weeks. The second time she was gone for 4 weeks in February.

What got the most attention was putting a big poster right outside my house so that everyone who walked or drove past could see it. Cats are very clever at finding a food source. If there are any people that feed feral colonies in your neighborhood you could ask them to watch out for any new comers. Also check barns, where there will be mice, dumpsters where restaurants throw out left-over food and community garbage drop-off points.

Was Chauncey wearing a collar? The second time my cat went missing she was found about four miles away by a lady who feeds feral cats on her porch. She eventual got close enough to read my phone number on the collar tag and I was able to get the cat back again.

Don't give up. If Chauncey has lived outside before she will know what to do.