Ted Davis wrote:

The bad news: Spooky did *not* come home today. He went out yesterday
during a break in the rain - that surprised me because he never goes
out when it's wet, in fact, he hadn't been out at all in the last few
weeks. I posted back in March that he was getting old, and he's been
deteriorating rapidly lately. I think he went outside to find a place
to be alone to die in peace. I will be very surprised if he returns,
but I hope he does.

I would be too especially since you were dumb enough to let him out -
maybe you should have had a brain and kept him inside since he was
ailing. Or maybe he will get a true home for his last days better than
the one he had.