This cat coyote discussion is stupid...
But I'll add my two cents too. I had a house cat that literally feared the outdoors. Didn't know what the fuck was happening when the front door opened to a massive room without walls or a ceiling. So he never went outside. Real human-oriented cat, like most indoor cats. However, when I moved away for college and couldn't take him with, he must have felt neglected or scorned, because at that point, he started hiding, making dashes for escape, etc. He hated living with my family alone. But, that may be because they didn't much like him either. They fed him, and made sure he didn't die, but that was about it. When he finally kicked the bucket, they found out that he had been hiding under a dresser and just waiting to die. Sad stuff.
Why does that matter? Because animals aren't that complicated. They all act pretty similarly under similar situations or stressors. Cats especially also don't see themselves as reliant on humans (that doesn't mean they don't grow attached to them though). They typically see our lack of fangs and claws as a weakness and think that we can't hunt for food. That's why the leave dead stuff for their owners all the time.
The way I recall things, Ralph had his cat that he appeared to adore - King Tut. To my recollection, I'm fairly certain I can recall Ralph referring to Cleo as being Nora's cat. That's how the King Tut thing kept coming up. Someone would hear the cat, and say "We hear your cat, Ralph", and his most common response would be "My Cat was King Tut, rest in piece" and then he'd monologue about the cat for 2-3 minutes.
Long story short, if Cleo is Nora's cat first and foremost, and is most loyal to her, I can definitely see the cat trying to run or hide from Ralph. Especially if his personality has flipped in private as much as it has in public. If he isn't taking great care of himself, his family, his work, or any of his relationships, chances are, he isn't paying much attention to the cat. I'm not calling him an animal abuser, I'm sure it had food and water, but in the end, I think that Cleo was doing her best to escape Ralph/find Nora.
What I'm getting at is that this is probably not a coincidence. Even the cat is fed up with Ralph's shit and just wants find its real owner, the one who isn't a complete fuck up.
