Cat Piss Du-wop: Episode 3

For those unfamiliar with episodes 1 and 2, allow me to get you up to date!

Last summer, a noxious and omni-prescent smell in the hallway of our building plus some sleuthing by yours truly revealed that the woman living in one of the basement units had an illegal cat.



Now I tend to try very hard to refrain from "snitchin'" but as it were, the entire building constantly smelled like cat piss and it offended not only my nose but my sense of justice, as our building is vehemently pet free (it's all over our lease). Anyway I blogged my problem and the resounding answer was yes you should tell your landlord because at the very least, if it smells bad in your building she is not taking care of that cat.

Read the entire blog entry HERE (and the passionate comments)

Anywhosie, I cannot remember if I related Episode 2 to you but in case I did not. Adam and I were still reticent to tell our landlord. I like our building, everyone gets along, and I was afraid our landlord would tell the basement unit dweller that t'was I who narced. And furthermore I believe that tenant to be kind of unstable anyway. So I held my tongue for the time being. Also, (and Adam said this is my e-ego talking but whatever). Right after I blogged about this problem, air fresheners appeared in every landing /hallway in the building. Coincidence? Or someone in my building reading my blog? Probably the former rather than the latter but still, curiouser and curiouser.

Anyway, one cold November I was returning home from a friend's baby shower when I was greeted by a YOWLING as I entered my building. It was clearly a cat, clearly screeching it's head off. And to make matters worse I hadn't seen that tenant's car in DAYS (it was Thanksgiving break). To me this meant enough was enough. Adam called the landlord and explained to them what was going on and they promised to look into it. Later that night, while Adam was out, our landlord stopped by to say they had actually known about the cat for months and had asked her repeatedly to get rid of it and she said she had. So now that they knew she had not, they were going to evict her. I wish I could say I felt bad but I didn't at all. If you can go away for six days and leave your pet unattended you deserve what you get.

So since then, we have seen nor smelled nor heard any evidence of a cat. Until about a month ago I was walking out to my car and I see this black cat just like hanging out in the parking lot. And he looks just like the cat from the basement unit. But I thought, no she wouldn't just like set him free instead of finding him a good home. So I put it out of my head. But I saw him a few more times and I had never seen a cat hanging around our place before. Then finally the other night we were coming home late and there that cat was, hanging out in the parking lot, and when we walked towards the back door he followed us and tried to enter the building. I had no doubt now that she had, in fact, just thrown him out.

WTF!

As I was exclaiming about it, one of the basement windows opened (not the cat lady) and the woman inside was like "Were you just attacked by that cat?" and I said no not attacked but he was dead set on coming in the building. So she told us that several times when she had come home late at night, that cat had tried to sneak in the building with her. How sad! And truth be told it makes my blood boil! What kind of person does that!? I told Adam I was going to go upstairs and get a can of tuna for the poor thing and then maybe we could bring it to the Animal Shelter in the morning so at least it's not living on the mean streets of Quincy.

At that moment, the cat lady came home and just sat idling in her car, as Adam, the other basement unit tenant and I were chatting. It was odd that she didn't get out of her car while we were there. Eventually we went upstairs and I went to find the tuna when Adam peered out the window and remarked that she had picked the cat up and brought it inside.

I have to say this brought me some relief to know it wasn't homeless but it also brought me anger. WTF!!!

At this point I suppose I have to wash my hands of the whole thing. We are out of there this summer and she can stay with her illegal cat that she puts outside sometimes even though its clearly not an outdoor cat and we live on a super busy street and that's that. The landlord knows and can't (apparently) do anything about it and the woman herself has no conscience.

At the very least I can tell you that she has a passive aggressive note coming under her door on or around August 31st of this year.