> > Especially knowing that cats only have a few months of memory space, and by the time I get back, she won't even recognise me.
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> Well, I don't agree with this part, > te "welcome to the hemisphere!" ach

Aha! I knew somebody was going to say that. Now I don't have to. But knowing me, I will anyway.
Cats are selective about who or what they remember. If it's important to them, they can remember for a very long time. The catch here is that not much is important to cats, except maybe nap time and food. They do get attached to people sometimes, but usually their attachment is to a place. If they are at home (trying to think like a cat now) and their food shows up on time they don't much worry about anything else. I've know of several cases where a house came with a cat included and there was no period of adjustment for the cat. They may notice that a different hand is feeding them, but so what?

Try moving a cat to another house with the same people and you will notice a lot of cat-type panic. Their eyes bug a little and they may hide for a short time, but after a period of sniffing everything in sight for a day or two, eating in the new surroundings and catching a cat nap or three, they settle right in.

A new house with new people following some travel time will send a cat up the wall. Maybe across the ceiling and down the other wall, too. There is a good chance that they will hit the ground running and never look back.

I had an old gray tomcat named Smoky who disappeared for more than two months. Then one day he walked causually out of the woods, ambled up to the patio, meowed a few times until he was fed, and got his belly rubbed. An hour later, he walked back into the woods and we never saw him again. I still haven't figured it out.
Howard