That's not true. My cat Percy went missing for 10 days and he showed back up again. Turns out he get trapped under a house down the street while my neighbors were out of town. Well they luckily came back in time and heard meowing under the house. So they decided to investigate and they opened up the little door to underneath the house and he ran out. And when he went missing me and my mom passed out tons of flyers in paper boxes in the general area. We called the shelters and posted it on public info boards like in the nearest grocery store. We got calls from people nearby thinking it was our cat, but it wasn't. We even videotaped our front porch while we had food and water out to see if he'd show up in the night. The only thing about it, is when he returned home, he had his collar, but his name tag that had his name and contact information on it was gone. But he did return home and he's happy and healthy today.
He is an inside-outside cat. We let him out to wonder around. He loves rolling in the grass and hunting birds but he always comes back.
But if your cat is purposefully trying to leave you, maybe you should question your ownership of your cat.
My mum's childhood cat jumped off the balcony from the 3 or 4th floor (I don't remember which one) and they thought it died....
It came back 3 months later with a ripped ear and most of its fur missing
My friends cat went missing for over 3 months , one day one of our friends found him hiding in their closet. They were certain they would never find him again.
My cat went missing for half a year and we were thinking of getting another and on the day we were leaving to go get a new one he showed up at the door
But if your cat is purposefully trying to leave you, maybe you should question your ownership of your cat.
It came back 3 months later with a ripped ear and most of its fur missing