Cat Memory

Question
We recently visited some neighbors who had moved to Floria several months ago. The thing is, they had a cat that they let outside freely. She wasn't the most tame of cats, but she would recognize me and members of our family and come up to us when she saw us on the street. She would pay special attention to me, because I was the one who fed her when the neighbors were away.
However, when we recently visited our former neighbors in Florida, she did not seem to recognize any of us and barely paid us any attention.
Do you think she forgot us?

Answer
Max,

I wish we knew more about how domestic cat memory works.  We know there seem to be differences between feral cats and indoors cats.

The thing to remember about cats who go outside is how territorial they get.  When the cat moved to Florida and had to adjust to new territory, it may have totally revised its world view to the business at hand and forgotten about the old world.

All this, of course, is speculation, but that may be what you have experienced.  You folks are from the old territory and, therefore, no longer relevant.

This may not be what is really going on, but it seems plausible.

Best regards... Norm.