depends. If the cat is clever enough, it will search for any opening and go out, and will come back to greet you, knowing that you have no idea what it had done......
Personal experience, trust me on this

Cats are society and adventerous animal. the last thing you want to do really is to lock him up, unless it's a rare breed. even then you need to have a yard for it to wander around. Which reminds me, cats are adaptable creature, as shown by one of my cats went missng years ago when he fell asleep on my neighbours car as she went to buy food. She noticed him still sleeping when she was buying, but he was gone when she went back . they are actually easier to take care, and can eat anything if trained. Mine eats rice with fish (protein high, if you can find a good mix for the cat, can have really fluffy fur woo) and can even eat odinary human food like durian, biscuit, etc (not recomended, as they can end up with a stomach ache and a bad case of puking). My house in kampung has a big yard, and a large rubber plantation behind it, thus we let them loose in there really often. and when it's late, we just call them, if they know your voice, it will come no matter where it is (blame it on the food. It associates your voice with food really)

I usually left to the kitten mommy. the smell is what makes the cat mom knows which is her kitten. and also, they are too small to survive a bath.

nyann~~
damn, I miss mah cats...