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I want to hear your opinion/experience on this. Some friends tell me that if I go away for 3-4 weeks and live them in the care of someone else, they would not recognize me when I come back and they will be treating me like stranger. Is that true?

In my experiance that is completely and totally not true. I did a semester at sea in high school that lasted 4 months, with a brief break halfway through. After two solid months away, my cat definately recognized me when I came back for spring break. Similarly, she recognized me when I came back at the end of the semester. On both these homecomings she was very happy to see me (I must also point out that this particular cat was never friendly with strangers).

On shorter trips, anywhere from a weekend to a few weeks, the cat in question (her name was Lassie) would get mad at me, and completely pretend I didn't exist for a day or two. Some people might interpret this as the cat "forgetting" them while away, but I never had any doubt that Lassie was simply mad at me for my prolonged abscence.

My Devon Rex, Lea, stayed with my mom when I did study abroad. She is very skitish and any stranger in the house is unlikely to see her at all. When I came back from studing abroad, she was very happy to snuggle with me on the couch my first night home. Did she forget me? Obviously not!

Thanks. Good to hear that. I never owned a cat. Now I am getting two Tonks. I have to travel 2-3 times a year for 3-4 weeks for job and I thought if they forget me and will have stress to get used to my presence everytime I come back it will be upsetting. At least I will keep them at home during my absence and will have pet sitter and friends come by everyday and play with them for some time.