For me the cat also went for the Red Prince. Even if you send the Red Prince to the beach where you start and approach the cat alone the cat ignores you and runs straight to the Red Prince. So you can only get the skills for your main character, if you haven't recruited the Red Prince yet. I just loaded an earlier save, got the cat first and then the Red Prince. I trapped the cat with barrels at the beach to pick it up later, when I am ready to leave.
