One of my sisters, the one with the biggest menagerie, said a scruffy, homeless kitty alternated between her backdoor and her neigbor's at mealtimes. Both fed the little guy because he seemed so hungry and scared. One day he showed up wounded and limping. She took him to the vet, got him stitched up, tested for disease and vacinated then took him home and fed him. The next day he showed up, this time at the front door and immediately walked inside as soon as she opened the door. She said it seemed to her that he'd decided her house was where he was meant to be, that he knew he had at last found his home.