Well, it's 4-days down since he went for a wander, but still nothing. The only bit of 'news' that we got was that when we were in bed, something had come in through the living room window and eaten the dry food that we put down for Alfie! Which also happened inbetween me going out to work and the missus coming back, the same day! Could it be our kitty? We didn't know, so I went and did something a touch 'extreme'.
I installed some software for the laptop and turned it into a motion sensing surveillance system to see who *was* eating the food!
That turned out to be false hope, as the day after I set this up I happened to be geeking on the 360 when a furry shadow appeared behind the curtain - but it was a cat that had made friends with Alfie. I almost thought he had come back.
flamecar - we've called the local vets and they now have his details on the Lost & Found list, so if he does turn up they'll be able to reunite us with him. At the moment he's not been handed in.
To everyone that's said he'll be back soon, thanks for all your well wishes! And I'm sure that he'll come back soon, looking a bit thin and bedraggled but meowing for some food!