Years ago there was a cat that lived close by at a house that is in sight of my house. The cat use to walk in my back yard. I sometimes I would give the cat some ham, chicken, turkey, whatever had in the refrigerator. The cat would come back often, to a point where in the fall when I wake up I would turn the lights on in the kitchen in the morning and immediately hear scratching at the back door. I guess the owner would give her a proper cat food diet, but no ham. The owner made the cat an inside cat, because I would see her in the window.
I was in a relation with a woman for 12 years, in the first 18 months she acquired 3 cats. When I went over to her place and the cats heard my voice they would come running. Then one day after 12 years she kicked me out because she said I was not giving her enough attention. After 9 months she called and took me back, but a year later she kicked me out again. She said I only came back to see the "boys " She really got mad when I said: " I guess you figured it out "'
I have had several people tell me that yjey think their cat has another home because the cat disappears for days and comes back well fed and not hungry.