Breaking News: In the quiet suburbs of New York, a mass murderer convict has escaped from prison and is on a rampage!!! Men, women and children are advised to bar doors and lock windows! Do not leave the safety of your home! NOWHERE IS SAFE!! The convict is accused of hundreds of grisly murders and smaller crimes that include vandalism of finished basements. The villain is a middle-aged female, with a pretty face and green eyes, about eighteen inches long, black fur and white paws, along with a white bib and paler whiskers.....wait, what? Ladies and gentlemen, please give a warm welcome toooo...Lila!
Lila was our christmas cat the December of 2007. She was received from my dad's friend from work, who was moving back to New Zealand and couldn't take her because of a misunderstanding: Even though she HAD, the vets were somehow convinced Lila hadn't had her shots and so she wasn't allowed on the plane, and it was too late to change plans, so Dad came home from work one night and greeted us, "Hi, guys! Do you want a cat?" So Lila arrived!
At first she lived in our cozy, dark basement/T.V. room/laundry room and was happy because it was twilit and warm, with plenty of places to hide. Of course, we were all over her in those first few days, and that was what she didn't like about the setup--only Mom(a cat person through and through) could coax her out of hiding for pets and cuddles. Of course, being seven, five, and three, Ben, Emma and I were hardly an appealing trio to a quiet and timid city cat adapting to her surroundings. We tried to "play" with her constantly--also known as tying some feathers, a twist tie, and a lone jingle bell to a ribbon and waving the whole torture device in her face--so you can see why she didn't like us very much initially! Over the course of a few months, I(being the animal handler in our family) was able to interact briefly with her by pretending to watch T.V. Then she would creep up and eventually end up on the couch next to me or on my lap.
Then she started peeing.
No, not all over me or the couch, just in general. On the carpet, on the chair, on the pillows, the cushioned benches, the blankets, and yes on the couch actually. So what did we do? We dry cleaned the couch. We scrubbed the carpet. We washed the blankets. We took the covers off the pillows. We even took her to the vet to see if she was losing control of her bladder, she had always used the litter box before. But the vet detected nothing wrong and even suggested we feed her a different food. So what did we do then?
We tossed Lila outside.
Yes, that may sound rather heartless, but she was completely ruining our basement!! Also we let her into a cat carrier next to the radiator at night. She ate outside, drank outside, explored outside, played outside, killed outside. Yes, I did say killed. Days after we released her, we stepped outside to find a rather horribly killed robin on the door stoop--which poor little Ben promptly stepped in. We cleaned up the carnage, disinfected Ben's leg, and spent hours scrubbing feathers out of the welcome mat. Home sweet home. Soon after, Lila began leaving her little 'presents' all over the yard, patio, steps, doormat, and even in trees that she was fond of climbing. Her favorite kills are voles and small birds, but we've discovered a rather extensive collection, including jays, sparrows, half-developed eggs, moles, mice, snakes, squirrels, a few headless, dismembered, and generally unidentifiable creatures, and once even a baby rabbit. Needless to say, we've bought many bell collars and spare bells, and one seems to be sticking. To this day, you can find Lila prowling the neighborhood, beautiful in her tiny ferocity and really much friendlier than she was in the basement. But you had better be careful if you are a mouse.
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