Before we started keeping cats inside full time we had seceral dissapear, gone without a trace.
I remember one in particular went missing in the fall.
We prayed that he would come back, but after a couple of months and being inthe middle of winter we wrote him off for good.
That summer I was working out in the yard and heard a meow, looked around and it was him!
He came back after 9 months!
He was very skinny and weak, and it took 3 weeks to put a little meat on his bones, but he recovered fully.
Its a miracle that he came back after all that time, we think he may have gotten into someones car and taken away somewhere then jumped out.
I wish that I could say this was the happy ending, but its not.
About 5 months later he was gone again. Never came home. That was 10 years ago.
I don't want to give anyone false hopes, but cats can survive, and sometimes come back home.
If Mr. Balls does come back, keep him inside always.
Have him nuetered and he will live a longer, healthier life.
All my cats are inside only now, except for 1 stray that adopted us, we tried to make him an inside cat but couldn't keep him from fighting the other cats.
I hope he doesn't vanish.