yet again they let the cat out

[Dasota]

I've had two darters growing up as a kid. One was my mom's cat, and it was a miracle with him getting caught as he did not want to be an indoor/outdoor cat, he wanted to be outdoor only.

When she moved back in my my dad and I across the country, he would occasionally get out and run for the Drive-In behind our house and the woods area. That was always fun going after him. As he got older, he quit darting out, but would on occasion go out, nom on the grass and laze in the sun under supervision.

My cat, Iggy, I got way back when he was a tiny kitten. Him and his littermates were found with mama kitty in a carrier in the middle of a parking lot. When I got him, he was somewhere in that sketchy time of when a kitten can be taken from the mother (6-8 weeks or so) and he was an indoor kitty ONLY until I moved back in with my parents where Iggy decided that he wanted to be an indoor outdoor cat and no one could stop him.

He'd also dart out and be quick as lightning and head for the Drive-In and wander about for a few hours or so. He'd come back after an hour or so if you went to the door and called for him.

On a few occasions, he'd get out early early in the day, and it wouldn't be until I got home from school (anywhere from 2-5pm and notice he wasn't in the house, and without fail, everytime he had one of those all day outtings, I would call and he'd race back into the house and go straight for the litterbox.

Damn cat thinks he's so mighty and ferocious, but when a mouse gets into the house, will chase it and sniff it and play with it, but no "kill" drive. There were many a time I would mock him and tell him that the world was his litterbox, but had no outdoor sense execpt to stay away from the roads thankfully.

[Merriweather]

It's okay here though, for the most part, as we're rural, and no cars go around here... but in an apartment zone? I've lived there. Too much activity for any animal to risk.

We lived in an apartment for a while with our previous cat. We saw a lot of cats out and about all the time, obviously many of our neighbors had indoor/outdoor cats. Ours was totally an indoor cat.

One funny thing, the bedroom I used as a computer/craft room was at the front of the apartment, and overlooked the walkway. The cat would sit on the windowsill when the weather was nice and I had the windows open. Where my computer & worktable were, no one walking by could see me in the room (we were on the 2nd floor). It was ever so funny, overhearing loads of people stop and "chat" with my cat as they walked by

[PepperElf]

when growing up ours were indoor/outdoor, but there was a lot of land to roam around on, and speed limits that never went above 30 in the range they might go near.

here, we have roads at 35 and 25 but people drive like assholes - 45+ in the 25 zone for example.


and they still keep letting the cat out. It came up on dog and I one night and I let them know about it cos one of the residents was right there.

he didn't even know it was outside! He said "o no she's inside"... until he saw her.
he said "she's an escape artist" but fuck... this isn't like some of the homes people mentioned above. Aside from windows there's only two ways out of the apartment - the front door, or the patio door. i know cos i live in an identically arranged apartment. I can pretty much tell if the dog is at the door when I open it.

i honestly still suspect they're just letting it out.

but fuck it, if their cat gets confiscated... well they were already notified by the apartment manager.

I mean don't get me wrong - i think kitty is adorable. im just tired of having to drag my dog away from an area she's legitimately allowed to be in, just because they can't keep their cat inside.

and yes... i'll keep dragging my dog away cos i don't think kitty deserves to be killed for doggy play time... but I'd like to not have to worry about that risk either.

[PepperElf]

small update
I got some updates from the apartment manager (AM).

Kitty is doing well. It's apparently happy where it is and the new owners only had it *try* (but not succeed!) to escape once or twice. However it soon stopped and when the owner goes out, the kitty will go to the door but will stay inside.

Kitty's old owners ("Koos") are... moving out. AM feels it's for the best - which is why she's overlooking the early lease breaking.


Part of the reason they're being let go is because the Kitty issue turned out to be bigger than expected.

I was NOT the only person who ever said anything about Kitty. Other people did, including one lady who called to say "Help! it's under my bed!" Yep. Kitty ran into someone else's apartment even. Poor lady was scared of cats & dogs so maintenance had to come in to get the kitty out.

The Koos also accused the apartment staff of coming inside their apartment to let the cat out, claiming that the cat was closed in the closet so it couldn't have possibly gotten out unless the apartment staff did it! (Sure, sure. it's got nothing to do with them not paying attention. )

But after they surrendered the cat something else happened that I agree seems... odd.

We have - or had - 2 wild cats here. They pretty much roamed wherever they wanted. Some of the residents gave them food out of pity, and some tried to even take them in. The wild cats were glad for the food but they wouldn't let anyone catch them. AM said the cats had been there before she was hired so the staff had pretty much accepted their presence.

The Koos brought this up in a retaliation complaint. "Why are you punishing us for our cat being outside when you have TWO WILD CATS that get to roam freely??"

They didn't like the answer that "they're wild cats. No one owns them. No one can catch them." The Koos threatened to call animal control.... but it turned out they'd already *had* called. AC showed up, checked it out and reported, "We can't catch the cats! Sorry!" They could have left traps but AC felt it wasn't worth the effort. (a rabid skunk? sure! a small cat? not so much)

Then shortly afterwards the two wild cats went ... missing. At the same time. Some of the residents have even been to the pound a few times to see if the cats were there - nope. No sign of either of them.


AM has no proof but she suspects that the Koos did something to get ride of the wild cats in retaliation. Which really bothers her. If they wanted to argue with HER that would be fine, but if they took it out on the 2 wild cats... ?


so ... update is, kitty is fine. But possibly at the cost of the lives of the 2 wild cats that use to live here.