Some of you may recall we have a cat that lives two houses over.
The first time I noticed the cat was when it was still just a small kitten. I was really surprised to see the kitten outside, considering all the wildlife in our area, but the kitten was in its own yard, and while it didn’t exactly bother us…it did make for an interesting walk, once Delilah saw it. (You can read that story HERE.)
He was such a little guy!
The next time we encountered the cat, it was up close and personal. That was the day that Delilah chased the cat up the tree, where it sat all night lawn causing me all kinds of angst. (You can read that story HERE.)
The colors are lovely, but I felt bad for the kitty.
After our third encounter, I wrote the silly cat a letter. (You can read the letter, HERE.) Most of you found it amusing (as it was intended to be) because I would never, ever let my dogs loose to chase a cat. 1) I’d be afraid that my dogs wouldn’t stop chasing and I’d lose them. 2) I’d be concerned that they’d have a real close encounter with the cat and end up injured and 3) it’s just plain mean and I don’t roll that way.
I like cats.
Since the encounters I’ve written about there’s been two more instances where we’ve had closer encounters with this particular cat. The first incident since the post Dear Kitty letter, happened when Sampson and I were coming back from our walk. Kitty was in our yard and as we turned the corner into the driveway Sampson spotted him. Sampson is a very strong dog and even with his injury (which makes it that much more important to not let him run) he’s difficult to keep under control when something excites him. Thankfully Kitty heeded the warning and ran over to hide behind a tree to watch us. (Newsflash Kitty, that tree is coming down so you better find another hiding spot!) Sampson of course sniffed the driveway over and wanted to climb the hill to find the cat, but we managed to get inside the house.
Then came last Friday. Apparently Kitty decided my driveway is a nice spot to lie down in. The spot he chose gave Sampson a perfect viewing spot, of the cat. It would have given me the same advantage had I been looking. But I wasn’t.
No, I was more concerned with the webs that were hitting me in the face, so like I do every morning, I opened the gate.
Typically when either one of my dogs spots something they give a clear alert signal. I’m sure Sampson did this particular morning, but again, I wasn’t paying attention.
Instead, I opened the gate, and turned around to close it and that’s when Sampson started barking at the cat.
All I can say is thank Dog I was holding onto the gate, because the lunge that Sampson took, coupled with the fact that we were at the top of a small incline, could have been disastrous. However, what added even more mayhem to the incident was the fact that I had left the back door open, so Delilah could go out and do HER business.
Of course, when she heard the commotion at the gate, she came barreling around the corner of the house.
There I was, 90 pounds of injured, but still strong dog trying to rip my arm out of its socket, while I stared down 70 pounds of brown fury.
What happened next was mind boggling. WHY am I not wearing that GoPro? WHY?
We have a retaining wall on that side of the house. Because Sampson is not allowed to be doing any running, Hubby has placed some fallen branches across the lowest spot of the wall. It is enough to deter Sampson, because he has never been a jumper. But for our resident Diva, a wall is a minor inconvenience.
So there I am standing at the gate, watching Delilah barrel towards me and bracing my body for the impact. Right at the last second, she snaps to her right, and without missing a beat, runs up the hill and does a loop around the back yard.
I snapped the gate closed, and maneuvered Sampson down the driveway. Per his usual, Mr. Kitty had darted for cover in the trees/bushes at the side of the driveway.
Stop watching Merida Kitty, you do realize she has a bow and arrow on her side, don’t you?
Do you have any bold and brazen cats in your neighborhood? How do you manage your dogs around cats?
You know, I thought I was the only person who thought that cats seem to flip off dogs that aren’t all that keen on them with their little paws. I mean, they sashay around just out of reach and flip their tails like some sort of Burlesque routine all the while giving some poor upright heart failure (or worse) trying to corral what seems like 300 lbs. of sheer power and force trying to get at said cat. Oh yeah, the cats in my ‘hood used to deliberately torment my OES’s who were definitely not feline fans. And I have the rotator cuff injury to prove it! Sam seems too dim to care all that much about them unless they make a quick dash for it then all bets are off and his strong prey instinct kicks in. Glad no canines or felines were hurt in your story. I’d kind of feel guilty for laughing my butt off like I did while reading it. 😉
Yikes! It’s a good thing you’ve got a strong grip. And good tendons (or whatever) holding your arms in their sockets. Cats around here are less brazen and usually hide under cars. If they come out to walk away, Cupcake kind of lunges, but she’s learned how long her leash is and only lunges to the end of it without pulling it tight. ..Then she looks at me for her treat.
Ha, we have our hands full just managing our dog around our own cat! We would occasionally have a cat wander into our yard at the old house and all heck would break loose; but we never saw many cats on walks. I actually don’t think Sheba or Cricket would have cared that much (Luke would be another story), but it’s just as well not to ever have to find out!
I’m glad your story ended well and no one was hurt or got away (well, I’m guessing your shoulder is just a little sore maybe?).
Hmmm, that cat may have a death wish. My dogs love cats. While they might want to greet a strange cat (strange meaning not ours) there’s no lunging or desire to chase. Except strange feral cats at night. Rudy does not allow this any more after a terrible cat fight one had with Skeeter a few years ago.
Luckily we do not have any kitties in our neighborhood. We have bunnies. They are trouble too.
Good grief, that must have been quite the show. Cats, the bane of every dog and dog owner. I think they KNOW, they are causing trouble and act all innocent.
I’m glad that things didn’t end in disaster! Barley is usually pretty good about cats, but when she does show interest, I just remind her, “You have one of those at home. Leave it” and she trots right back along with me. There’s one bold kitten in our new neighborhood, though, that charged across the street and started going down the sidewalk straight towards us. I thought for sure it would turn around or veer off into a yard, but it just kept coming. Barley was so surprised for a cat to run at her like that that she had no idea what to do and just kind of yipped–and then the cat went into the yard.
We would like to chase cats outside too, but cats are fairly boring and we prefer squirrels and wabbits. That being said, Bailie is trained to chase down and capture cat bro Bert. If he is in our dog food bowls, she may get him, and if he runs out the back door into the yard Mom says “get the kitty”. Bailie then races out after him, tackles him, and hold him down until Mom gets there. Bert is fine with it all. Those two are buddies.
There is a cat that once chased the five of us away from their house. I have never returned to that neighborhood. I was tempted to drop the leashes and let the dogs have their way with the cat, but was more afraid that the cat would beat them up.
The only cat in our ‘hood belongs next door. Occasionally, when the girls are inside, I’ll see him in our backyard. As long as he’s not bothering the nesting boxes, I’ll leave him alone. But if he disturbs “my” birdies, I go out and chase him out of the yard myself. One time, I remember, the same neighbor’s previous cat had gone into the dog house and gotten comfortable. I didn’t see her until I had already let Callie and Shadow out the back door. She had heard the door open and looked out through the door of the doghouse and took off just as I opened the porch door. The girls took off after her, but she got to the safety of her own yard before they even got close. Not long after that, we dismantled the dog house. The wood was rotting and warped, and Callie rarely laid down on its porch any more anyway.
It’s a funny thing…ever since I have had Pistachio (since March I think) – Blueberry has had almost zero cat encounters in the backyard. Although, Blueberry did manage to catch and kill a bird yesterday…but not before it had a chance to peck her and draw blood within a quarter inch of her eye ball. I’d hate to think of the damage that would be inflicted on her if she caught a cat. (PS – I didn’t sit there watching her murder a bird. She came into the house with blood near her eye and later on, I found the dead bird and put two and two together. I’m crazy, not cruel.)
Dude some cats are assholes and like to mess with dogs, I swear. We have this idiotic black & white cat whose favorite place to lounge is outside our sliding glass door in front of Laika. And yes it’s pure chaos the entire time. I’m pretty sure that cat is going to give my dog a heart attack one of these days when she wakes up from napping herself just to see a big old cat that close by.
Oh no not the kitty tree coming down. 🙂