Very similar situation to me. It causes all sorts of amusement when I call one of them home and they come running.... lots of people don't beleve that cats come when they're called.
I have had several cats (see previous post) The ragdoll, his name was simon (his brother garfunkel died young) used to sit by the door every night, precisely 5 minutes before I would arrive home. If I was running late, he would immediately start McOWWWING at my mother to alert her that I was late... lmao
My Maine .... Manchester walks over to the garage door now... and waits precisely 10 minutes before I should be home from school. He likes to escort me into the kitchen lmao... Me thinks he wants food to drop.
Simon was a baby, more or less, and I had him potty trained (as in using a toilet) He was pretty good at it until he got to be around 12, when his balance wasn't as good. He went back to using a box. He would jump up on the counter, say his "McOW" very stern like and wait, if you didn't give him fresh water in a fancy crystal bowl, he would knock whatever was on the counter over. He was quite feisty.
Ebony, the cat I had to put down two weeks ago, she used to push her bowl all the way into my mother's room when she was hungry, then she'd flip it over so it would make a loud noise and wake her up. Ebony also knew when I was going to give her a bath. She could hear the kitchen sink fill up with water. She would wait right at the corner of the bed, and when I would reach for her she would climb up in my mother's boxspring and wait for hours if she had to. (she was an obnoxious feral thing)
All I can say is that England does not treat their animals the same way. In the US, dogs end up chained outside, and cats are normally kept inside because of the feline diseases. I dislike people who declaw their cats, and I really can't stand people who don't keep their cats inside where it is safe. I do realize that it is sometimes impossible, or near impossible to convince a cat that they should be inside, if they want to be outside.