Cats disappear in villages

So I seem to run into a predicament,  when you first arrive in Villages you can see cats running around, but after awhile you can't seem to find them anywhere.   It seems like once your arrive at a village you scare all the cats away and they run off and despawn.   I've yet to see a new batch of cats respawn in a village after you've been away for a bit.   in a side note I've not seen the cats disappear from the witches hut, though usually they get stuck on the clay pots so they can't get anywhere.