Cat - April 14, 2020

A black cat (with a white spot on his throat) showed up at my house a couple of weeks ago.  It has been someone's pet in its former life, for it is not skittish of people and rubs against our legs if we stand still long enough.  It wants to stare right in a person's eyes when it meows, and if you turn your back on it, it'll go around to your front side and meow louder.  I'd seen him prowling around the neighborhood on my way to/from work and believed him to be a neighbor's cat who would eventually GO HOME, but it appears he has decided to stay.

I have tried to discourage this decision for several reasons.  First, we don't want a cat, or any other pet.  Second, this is the meow-ing-est cat in the world; it is worrisome as hell.  Every time I go out on the porch, he comes to the porch and screams at the top of his lungs.  I tried to run it off by squirting it with water pistols and depriving it of food.  One day, as I shot him (with water) to run him off, I hollered to his backside (in my most villianous voice) that he should embrace his inner cat-ness and catch a mouse.

And I'm damned if it didn't do just that, right in front of me, that very afternoon.

I was impressed, and fed him some dinner that night.

I know: big mistake, if I want him to leave.

But that's the thing.  Maybe it's a good idea to let it hang around.   We have a LOT of varmints around this place:  raccoons, possums (O'possums, I reckon), squirrels, rabbits, SNAKES, armadillo, otters, BOBCATS - all of which are annoying in their own special ways.  I'm thinking that letting the cat stay around might discourage some of these other critters from hanging around here.  We did not see so many snakes and moles and such, back when we had outdoor pets.

I believe I can eventually put a stop to the frantic meowing.  It has learned what a water pistol looks like, and what it does.  All I have to do is pick it up, and the cat runs away.  For a minute.  Sometimes I have to give him a little dose before he knows I mean business when I tell him to SHUT UP, but he's learning.

I keep calling it a "he," but I suspect it's really a "she."  And you know what that means:  kittens, eventually, unless her previous owners had her "fixed," which is unlikely.  I certainly do NOT want to deal with kittens.  And she probably hasn't been vaccinated.

Okay, so maybe it's NOT a good idea to let the cat hang around.

P.S. - I just called animal control and asked them if they'd work a deal with me: I'll keep the cat, if they'll help.  They're supposed to call me back.