He won’t leave but I love him. Shake a bag of food and Moby is there in a flash
Honestly it was always kind of a gamble. You can never be sure that they will come back. I grew up with outdoor cats, most of which were strays that someone dumped on our property and we befriended. They’d sometimes disappear for days and we’d be sure we’d lost them, only to find them on the porch the next morning. Most of those cats only lasted a year or two before they’d disappear for good. The longest one ever stayed was 7 years before she was hit by a car.
When you have outdoor cats, there’s always a risk of them being killed or injured. I’ve lost cats to coyotes, hunters, stray dogs, poisoning, being hit by cars, and even 3 being killed by my neighbor when I lived in town. I now only have indoor cats as the last time my cat was outside, she was shot in the back. She survived but I promised I’d never let that happen to her again.
In my area they often don’t come back. Whether raptors or coyotes or cars or neighbors who trap and release (or drown) cats that stray onto their property, it seems wise to keep beloved cats indoors.
They’re cats, so you don’t really know. But you do. And at the same time, you don’t for sure but you know.
They always have since I was a kid. Never thought about it.