There is a big fluffy grey cat that sometimes hangs out near my apartment. I have always thought he lived with one of my neighbors on my right (upstairs or down). I have tried to befriend him a couple of times, but he always runs away.
A few weeks ago, I had the sliding door open so Eddie could come and go as he pleased. I started hearing these weird cat like noises from the patio so I went to check. I found the big cat in the middle of the patio and Eddie huddled in a pile of boxes. I chased the cat off and coaxed Eddie out of the boxes and into the house.
This cat, we'll call him Lucifer, comes to check out my patio regularly. One day when I was home sick, he walked up to the open patio door. As soon as we made eye contact, he ran off. I can't remember if is was later that same day, or if it was the next day, but as I was sitting on the couch watching TV, Lucifer came walking around my couch. Again as soon as he saw me he ran out of the house. I couldn't BELIEVE that he had actually entered my house!
After that I tried a little harder to make friends with him, but he always runs away. I am starting to wonder what his relationship is with my apartment. Did he belong to the previous tenants and they left him? Does he belong to one of the neighbors? I don't know, but I have never seen a cat so comfortable in a place that wasn't his own.
Last week I got home from work and opened the patio door. I do this to let fresh air into the house and so Eddie can go outside. I then left to run a quick errand. I saw the door was open as I was pulling away in the car and didn't think it would be a problem, so I kept going.
When I got back it smelled like "cat marking." Eddie doesn't mark, so I assumed it was Lucifer on the patio. I also found Eddie hiding under a kitchen chair. He hasn't gone under there since Lucca left. I was talking to him asking him what he was doing under there as I walked toward the kitchen. This is where all my questions would be answered. There was a big puddle of cat pee in the middle of the kitchen floor with LOTS of little tufts of black hair and gray hair. I couldn't believe Lucifer had the GALL to enter my house and start a fight with my cat!
I wandered around the house to make sure he wasn't inside anymore. I finally found him outside, about 20 feet from my patio. I went back inside, closed the door and started cleaning up the mess.
A few days later, I was sitting on my couch looking at the nose prints Lucca had left on my window when I noticed a funny spot on the bottom of the door. Yep, you guessed it, Lucifer had marked my door.
I am no longer trying to be friends with this cat. Now I chase him away any time I see him. Today I called the building management to see if they know who he belongs to. She told me that outdoor cats aren't allowed. If it does belong to someone she'll get them straightened out. If he doesn't, animal control will be called. I'm not happy about having to call animal control, but I don't have a whole lot of other choices. If he would have been friends, I probably would have adopted him, but as it sits now, good ridance to bad rubbish.
I feel like a jerk, but I can't let this cat keep bullying Eddie and spraying my house! :(
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