My sister took in her friends cat when they moved abroad. They came back (maybe 5 years later? Don't think it was 8) and sometimes came to visit but didn't take the cat back. This was even with kids who knew the cat from when they were little. Cat provided good company for my sister who lives by herself, and it was getting, not elderly, but comfortable in its middle age by then.
My sister took in her friends cat when they moved abroad. They came back (maybe 5 years later? Don't think it was 8) and sometimes came to visit but didn't take the cat back. This was even with kids who knew the cat from when they were little. Cat provided good company for my sister who lives by herself, and it was getting, not elderly, but comfortable in its middle age by then.