Emma B - perhaps cats taking off to the neighbor's house for a year or so only to return is the origin of the Cats 9 lives story?

If I were a child and some high-minded friend told me my cat had really DIED when it had just gone walkabout and then it came back, in today's Film/TV/VideoGame Cross-pollinated culture I might wonder it if was a zombie needing a shot in the head! Tell that women to mind her own cat's business!