I finally bought a house in Cave Country! W00T!!!

[stuartv]

I thought Silt WAS giving you craps....?

 

[The Chairman]

See? She's plum out.

 

[mdb]

We have had cats for many years.

Always outdoor cats. We had a safe place in our garage to protect them from skunks and racoons.

In the morning they were at the back door waiting for breakfast.

Then out and about, sometimes bringing a trophy mouse to the door as a gift.

They were allowed inside the house during the day, not on the furniture, but in the lap
purring away, just fine.

Independent for sure.

I certainly never wanted to declaw them or keep them inside looking out a window.

 

[stuartv]

LOL My cat before the 2 I have now was a total badass. One time he killed a large rabbit and brought me the whole thing. That rabbit had to weigh at least 8 pounds. Ernest couldn't fit the rabbit through the pet door from the garage into the house. So, he ripped off all the rabbit fur from one hind quarter, exposing the meat underneath without damaging it at all, then left the rabbit in the garage right outside the pet door. He was semi-feral, but he was awesome.

 

[The Chairman]

My cat before the 2 I have now was a total badass.

All cats are legends in their own minds! Don't forget that the king of the beasts is a cat.

 

[stuartv]

All cats are legends in their own minds! Don't forget that the king of the beasts is a cat.

He was that! But he was also a legend in my mind and in the minds of many of my neighbors. Especially my one neighbor whom he attacked in her own garage. He was mad at her because she wouldn't let him come in her house to dominate her cats. I literally had to get him a prescription and put him on Prozac after that... :-\

 

[The Chairman]

My sister had the meanest cat I've ever met and went by the name of Satan. An all black, super fluffy Persian, he killed a police dog by tearing its throat out, gave a visitor 13 stitches when she tried to move him out of a chair and the list goes on. He liked to grab with his front paws and gouge with the rear. He tried that on me once and I sent him flying across the room. We saw eye to eye after that. KnowhatImeanVern? He kept to himself and never looked for trouble, but he stayed his ground. My cat growing up was able to catch venomous snakes. Petunia was white with one blue and one green eye and a good companion growing up. He got hit by three cars, had pins holding his bones together and never complained. I think he lived to be 18.

 

[rddvet]

he killed a police dog by tearing its throat out,

I usually stay out of these discussions related to animals since my opinion often doesn't come off well (ie allowing cats outside and what not), but as a veterinarian who has/currently works with two major police agencies for 10 years I call this urban myth (I'm thinking bs, but being civil). We hear stuff like this all the time. There is usually more to the story, or it's a weird story that starts in reality and then morphs into something more bizarre and unrealistic than the original story. I would find it nearly impossible for a cat to rip a throat out or even cause a large dog to bleed to death from a bite wound. It is entirely possible for a cat to cause a small tear or penetrating would to the trachea which could lead eventually to death, but even that is highly unlikely as most of those wounds would self-seal.

I've enjoyed the thread of you moving into your new home and have seen you over the years at cave sites, but generally don't introduce myself and keep to my own. I don't mean to denegrate your story. It just has that classic sound of a story that morphed into something untrue. Veterinarians hear these tall tales on an almost daily basis. Many times we do research into them out of our own morbid interest and in 99.9% of the cases there is more to the story or it has become senstationalized. Had it been a raccoon, that is entirely plausible. The world's meanest cat will beat the snot out of a police K9, but ripping it's throat out and killing it lends to the thought of the unimaginable.

Sorry to impart my opinion, it's often hard to keep quiet when I hear things like this. And in no way am implying anything negative in your direction. Classic example of this in veterinary medicine is the 23 year old cat. We hear it weekly. People adopt a cat, someone or a vet guestimates the age as 5 (when it's really a year old). The cat lives 17 years (which is common), but the owner tells everyone the story of his 23 year old cat (which is exceptionally rare to almost non-existent except in these "morphed stories")

 

[The Chairman]

I would find it nearly impossible for a cat to rip a throat out or even cause a large dog to bleed to death from a bite wound.

Sanford Fl, I think it was in 72 or 73 just off of Celery St. It was my sister's cat and I have no reason to not believe her. I don't believe it was the cat's bite, but those back claws that did it. I was told the dog had her fur in its mouth. That cat was all muscle and fur.

 

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

I evacuated with a friends cat from Irma, had the cat in a cat carrier. She escaped on the 18 mile stretch and she was running around the car for the entire 14 hour trip to High Springs.

Ever heard the story/song of the Mississippi squirrel by Ray Stevens?

Well I lived it on that trip.