Stray Cat

A stray cat recently took up residence in the crawl space under our front porch.  We asked around, looking for a possible owner and then did what common wisdom advises against:  I put food out.   I blocked the crawl space except for an area large enough for the cat to come and go, so our dog wouldn’t attack it.  And I waited.  Each evening I put food out, each morning the food was gone and if I got down on my belly and peered with a flashlight,  I could make out the shape of a large black cat deep in the recesses under the deck.  Next step:  I borrowed a Have-a-Heart type trap from my vet’s office and put the food in there.  No response from the cat.  In the meantime, the dog figured out a way to dig and skinny herself up enough to get under the porch and start a full-on horrific fight with the cat.  Screaming, scratching, chasing, more screaming, it was horrible.  The cat ran out, we grabbed the dog, the cat looked fine and ran under the porch again.  Our dog could hop on only three legs afterwards, the fourth being scratched and bitten to the extent that she refused to use it. As we left her at the vet’s office this morning to be treated for her injuries, a man sitting in the waiting room with his dog looked up with what appeared to be pity as we passed him.  He shook his head and muttered with disdain, “Beat up by a cat.”