Maybe the cat was scared by something while you were gone.
Reminded me of that old "Ghost Hunters" show. Jason Hawes brought his dog on a site they were investigating & in the upstairs, the dog would not go down the hall, even with Jason already down the hallway. The cat that I had at the time was walking by the tv at that moment, looked at the tv, broke into a slight trot, all the while looking back at the tv over his shoulder.
I think whatever the dog sensed was in the audio & the cat caught on to it too. The cat did not come back into the room until that segment was over.