Posted on 08/30/2006 9:47:47 AM PDT by Zechariah_8_13
With his vicious fangs on display and weight firmly on his back legs, this tabby looks set to pounce on its unsuspecting prey.
But it is not mice, birds or any other small animals he is after. It is not even the other pet cats he has already savaged in his neighbourhood.
They were deemed too 'small' a target to terrify, so he decided to turn his attention to a much larger prey - humans.
The pet cat, who has been named Grumpy because of his exploits, started entering all the cat flaps on one street in the search for food.
He would make each house his own and would scare off the cats who lived in each of the houses.
And when the surprised owners returned home, Grumpy leapt through the air at them, hissing at them and scratching their hands and arms.
His antics in a small leafy street in Swindon, Wiltshire, have been described as a 'four-month reign of terror' by neighbours, who finally caught the cat and put it in a cage this week.
'It was the nastiest cat ever, it would just attack you and come at you with its claws and teeth,' said one 21-year-old resident.
'If you came home or woke up to see it, he would go crazy, bouncing off furniture at you before running out of the door.
'But you never saw Grumpy in the street or outside your home - that is why we named him the Phantom cat because we never saw him except for in our homes.'
At first the neighbours felt sorry for the puss, but after four received nasty cuts and scratches, they called the RSPCA for help.
They finally trapped Grumpy behind the sofa and used a broom to push it into a cage.
Helen Briggs, of the RSPCA, said the was very unusual for the cat to react with such ferocity.
'It is common for cats to go into other people's houses because they have a curious nature and some do stand their ground when they are approached if they feel threatened,' she said.
'But to actually leap up and attack a stranger is not as common. The poor thing must really be at its wits end and must not really have any love at all.
'I hope that it has a microchip inside it so that we can find its owner.'
Grumpy is being checked over by a vet and will be collected by the RSPCA for re-homing if no owner is found.
'He has been hissing at us and scratching our arms for four months now and I'm quite glad to see the back of him,' another resident said.
'I trapped him in the living room and ran to get my neighbour. In the end there were three of us in pyjamas running around my house after a cat.
'We finally trapped him behind the sofa and I got a broom and pushed it into the cage. It was great. Four months is a long time.'
'We felt sorry for it to start with but after four months we have had enough. We finally got it and we were all really happy and cheered."
Here's an article you might find amusing.
Unless I am mistaken, it appears nobody pinged you to this.
My guess is that some humans may have abused the cat and he ran away from home and started his advengures, then when he saw a human in a confined space, he was so terrified, that he attacked them, a "cornered rat" syndrome -- he couldn't run away, so he attacked.
My cat Norman (see my tagline) attacks people who come into my house when I'm not home. I'm glad he's willing to defend his territory and be a good watch cat, but it's hard to get my neighbors to come by and feed him when I'm out of town.
I prefer Normalita.
I think his name was Lewis. A good cat whisperer could pick up lots of work, if there is such a thing.
Yeah, it was Lewis.
Check out the site, the woman calls herself the Cat Whisperer.
http://www.for-the-love-of-cats.com/index.html
Does he keep the libs away because he's a viking kitty or because he bears the mark of the beast?
Does he keep the libs away because he's a viking kitty or because he bears the mark of the beast?
As anyone called Nancy Pelosi to tell her that her cat has been found?
Check out the site, the woman calls herself the Cat Whisperer...http://www.for-the-love-of-cats.com/index.html
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I checked it out! Interesting... She talks about jobs people can get working with cats, such as "wrangler". Such a good description of trying to get a cat to do anything. I can just see trying to wrangle a cat that didn't wish to be wrangled, one would end up "mangled", instead. One photo on the site shows a cat lurking next to a walkway, and it so reminded me of the Lewis stories, "hasta la vista, Avon Lady".
Perhaps if he gets neutered his personality will improve.
Poor Grumpy!!
rowr ping
Besides, he isn't the nastiest cat on earth. That honor goes to my sister-in-law's late cat Stink. As pretty as anything, but a real cat jackass.
Hah! Poor shark. He doesn't have a chance.
No. . my cat, Stuffy, is the most dangerous. Mean ones that are out in the open about it - you know what you're dealing with. Stuffy is the quiet kind. She endures petting, but doesn't put up with any nonsense from anyone or any animal. Frankly, out here she wouldn't have survived the dogs we had when I first brought her to these parts if she hadn't been tough . . did I mention the dogs we HAD . . . . ?!!
Thanks for the ping..Cat just being a cat indeed! You never want to deal with a terrified cat!..
(and I never would have a "cat door" though it was tempting at times with my frequent "in and out" cat several years ago..)
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