In many ways, Fred is the perfect cat. He’s playful, funny, gorgeous, well-behaved and so friendly and loving. However there is one problem. He thinks it’s fun to scare my girl cats. For the past while, I’ve been keeping Fred and the two kitten boys upstairs and my three girl cats downstairs. This was initially due to my girls beginning to spray and not feeling comfortable when Momma cat and all her kittens were here. This worked well for quite awhile as Fred gets along wonderfully with the two little boys and is their “Uncle Fred”.

However lately anytime Fred has been able to sneak downstairs or outside he is dead set on terrorizing my girls. Today after doing some laundry I heard cats screaming from the basement and realized Fred was down there. I opened the door and Mushrooms came streaking out and immediately climbed to the top of the cat tree in my spare room, growling like crazy. She had urinated all over herself from fear. I grabbed Fred and tossed him outside. When I went back to pick up Mushrooms and put her back downstairs, she was so afraid that she grabbed my hand and sliced three big holes in, right on the veins. Immediately I screamed and ran for the bathroom with blood pouring out in a trail behind me. I grabbed a towel and pressed it to my hand to stem the blood. Poor Mushrooms was beyond terrified now and I carefully herded her back downstairs to relax. It’s probably the worst cat attack that I’ve ever experienced save for one time as a very young kid. It’s also not like Mushrooms at all.

It’s hard for me to make the decision to let Fred go. He came here as a very thin, neglected, abused and dirty stray months back, and I nursed him back to health. He’s in great shape now and unfortunately with health came attitude. I love Fred very much and he is my loyal buddy when I do the farm chores, always inspecting everything I’m doing and waiting patiently at the coop door when I feed the chickens. He often gets called “Friend” instead of Fred. I love how well he plays with the boy kittens and I love his predominantly low maintenance attitude. However, my three girl cats were here first. They are already unhappy enough that two of the kittens still live here, and I am unwilling to put them through being constantly chased and attacked by Fred. Fred needs a new home.