In many cases the response is, “I don’t know. The cat just showed up.
Are you a cat magnet? Do cats seem to be drawn
to your yard? I have friends like that. In fact one friend must live close to a cat colony because so many cats have found their way into her yard and her heart. All four of her current cats wandered in from who knows where and they stayed. She has all of them spending at least some time indoors now.
The reason I believe she’s near a known colony is that recently one of her more newly acquired cats disappeared overnight and returned a few days later missing an ear tip. Yup—he’d been neutered and returned. She’d 
been feeding this guy for months and had finally lured him into her house where he’d lounge with her and three other cats on 
chilly evenings. I guess you’d say this cat is (or was) living a double life. It’s possible that he hangs out with other cats in a colony by day and comes home to her by night (or vice versa).
Meanwhile Fancy (as she calls him) found himself a nice person who serves regular meals and provides a safe yard and a cushy home for him. What a lucky, lucky cat.
That is how we acquired all of our cats 🙂 Ed used to have a dry food station on top of our washer in the garage and we even had other cats come in through the kitty door to help themselves at the Hilden Catateria 🙂
Catateria, love that term. As you may know I’m always on the lookout for interesting “CAT” words and terms.
Both of my current cats are rescues from PetSmart or the Humane Society. But I have had the experience of a cat showing up outside my house for a period of time and my letting it in and it staying. Funny thing is a neighbor from a few blocks away saw the cat about a year later and claimed him. When he had the opportunity however, he came home. Guess we fed him better or something.