# I took in a stray cat and unleashed HELL! How do I get rid of her (harming her is not an option!) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 1, 2013, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-in-a-stray-cat-and-unleashed-hell-how-do-i-get-rid-of-her-harming-her-is-not-an-option/651708 "2013-03-01T07:24:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Beelzebubba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Beelzebubba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beelzebubba)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-in-a-stray-cat-and-unleashed-hell-how-do-i-get-rid-of-her-harming-her-is-not-an-option/651708/61 "2013-03-14T18:30:51Z")
A week of silence…dare I ask how it’s going? ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-in-a-stray-cat-and-unleashed-hell-how-do-i-get-rid-of-her-harming-her-is-not-an-option/651708/62 "2013-03-14T20:15:30Z")
**Beelzebubba** - Just fine - just greets me at the barn every night. Yesterday she was rubbing against my ankles. I gave her a pat, but I’m making her come to me if she wants attention. She hisses sometimes, but no swipes with her paw. She has a small scratch on her nose, so she and Nick probably had it out, but I noticed she gives way to Nick at the feeder. She’s not wasting away, though. If they both want to eat, Nick goes first, but he doesn’t spend all day at the feeder. StG ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2013, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-in-a-stray-cat-and-unleashed-hell-how-do-i-get-rid-of-her-harming-her-is-not-an-option/651708/63 "2013-03-25T19:03:33Z")
Just an update. Kitty greets me at the barn every evening. This weekend she started to come up to the house, but was scared off by the dogs in the yard. Yesterday she kept bothering me until I gave her scritchies on the head and chin, and I gave her a kiss on top of her head. As I walked away, she left her food and followed me to the creek, but she didn’t cross it. StG ---
**Author:** ![Susie\_Derkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@Susie\_Derkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susie_Derkins)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2013, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-in-a-stray-cat-and-unleashed-hell-how-do-i-get-rid-of-her-harming-her-is-not-an-option/651708/64 "2013-03-25T19:41:39Z")
Just found this thread and read it through. When I started reading I never dreamed that it would end with the cat getting a kiss on the head. 🙂 Very happy for all of you. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2013, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-in-a-stray-cat-and-unleashed-hell-how-do-i-get-rid-of-her-harming-her-is-not-an-option/651708/65 "2013-03-25T19:41:54Z")
Next time someone gets a Cat from Hell, try [this guy](http://jacksongalaxy.com/). ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2013, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-in-a-stray-cat-and-unleashed-hell-how-do-i-get-rid-of-her-harming-her-is-not-an-option/651708/66 "2013-03-25T19:48:40Z")
That cat’s gonna be napping on **St. Germain’s** sofa before long, I betcha. ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2013, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-in-a-stray-cat-and-unleashed-hell-how-do-i-get-rid-of-her-harming-her-is-not-an-option/651708/67 "2013-03-25T19:49:47Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > Next time someone gets a Cat from Hell, try [this guy](http://jacksongalaxy.com/). Why does he carry that guitar case with him everywhere he goes? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Ms.Pumpkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a87d85/32.png) [@Ms.Pumpkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms.Pumpkin)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2013, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-in-a-stray-cat-and-unleashed-hell-how-do-i-get-rid-of-her-harming-her-is-not-an-option/651708/68 "2013-03-25T19:55:33Z")
> [@Susie\_Derkins](#): > > Just found this thread and read it through. When I started reading I never dreamed that it would end with the cat getting a kiss on the head. 🙂 Very happy for all of you. I came in to say this exact thing - what a great outcome! ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2013, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-in-a-stray-cat-and-unleashed-hell-how-do-i-get-rid-of-her-harming-her-is-not-an-option/651708/69 "2013-03-25T21:37:20Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > That cat’s gonna be napping on **St. Germain’s** sofa before long, I betcha. Not gonna happen. I need barn cats, not more house cats. She is settling in nicely, though. Last night I got down to the barn and Piper (HellCat) and Nicky were sitting in the loft looking down at me. Not close to each other, but side by side, waiting for the Food Bringer. StG ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2013, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-in-a-stray-cat-and-unleashed-hell-how-do-i-get-rid-of-her-harming-her-is-not-an-option/651708/70 "2013-03-26T01:23:31Z")
> [@Beelzebubba](#): > > I’ve done it to overnight guests who were far more attractive when I drunk but in the morning light I wish they had left when it was still dark…or that I was drunk again! If they stayed for breakfast, a nice Mimosa or Bloody Mary with few crushed Xanax and Buspar would do the trick, just get them up on their feet in about five minutes and get them to their car (or a dumpster) before they become dead weight. If they ever show up at your door again, speak with a British accent, assure them you’ve never seen them in your life and call the cops! If that fails, hit them with a tazer jolt or two, put them in a stranger’s trunk and walk away…they’ll wake up and scare the hell out of car’s owner and start telling stories about going to some dude’s door that they remember hooking up with the night before but he had never seen them before…and hookup guy had a Southern accent but he was British the next day…for the next few years, they’ll be in the looney bin and you’ll learn that dating (or hooking up) tends to work out much better if you’re sober…and then you’ll hit your 30s and be too lazy to hook up and too bitter to date, so you’ll resume drinking…but that isn’t really relevant to any of this… Have we dated? 😃 Dude, you have a way with words. Your posts were hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Tabby\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tabby\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabby_Cat)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2013, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-in-a-stray-cat-and-unleashed-hell-how-do-i-get-rid-of-her-harming-her-is-not-an-option/651708/71 "2013-03-26T04:28:17Z")
Wonderful! I’d opened this thread when it first started, and I totally didn’t expect it to end in this wonderful way! Many kitty lubs all around. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2013, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-in-a-stray-cat-and-unleashed-hell-how-do-i-get-rid-of-her-harming-her-is-not-an-option/651708/72 "2013-03-26T06:09:15Z")
If you feed them, will they still chase the mice? I’ve never had a barn cat, but I have had a few that would only get off their bum if they heard food rattling in their dishes. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2013, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-in-a-stray-cat-and-unleashed-hell-how-do-i-get-rid-of-her-harming-her-is-not-an-option/651708/73 "2013-03-26T06:20:24Z")
Depends on the cat, but some will do it for fun. My parents took in a stray kitten, and though he’s well fed, he’s killed at least three mice over the last year, that they know of, that he definitely didn’t eat. (Hopefully, their house gets fewer mice than your average barn.) ---
**Author:** ![Viridiana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ebca7d/32.png) [@Viridiana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Viridiana)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2013, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-in-a-stray-cat-and-unleashed-hell-how-do-i-get-rid-of-her-harming-her-is-not-an-option/651708/74 "2013-03-26T07:31:31Z")
This is the awesomest thread I’ve read here in quite a time. Went from giggling at the OP’s way with words, to chilled and saddened by the dispassionate death chorus (yes I understand your point of view, death chorus, I just don’t agree with it), to feeling warm and squishy and like some things are all right with the world. 🙂 I like a thread yanking my emotions around once in a while. Thank you, **StGermain** and **Beelzebubba**! ---
**Author:** ![Beelzebubba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Beelzebubba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beelzebubba)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2013, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-in-a-stray-cat-and-unleashed-hell-how-do-i-get-rid-of-her-harming-her-is-not-an-option/651708/75 "2013-03-26T07:47:26Z")
> [@Merneith](#): > > If you feed them, will they still chase the mice? I’ve never had a barn cat, but I have had a few that would only get off their bum if they heard food rattling in their dishes. Some cats have that hunter/killer instinct and will kill but not necessarily eat their prey! They kill for the fun and sport of it! :dubious: My baby girl that I had to put to sleep back in November had the hunter instinct when it came to certain types of prey. She would go ape-shit crazy if she sawt a cricket or the occasional roach in my old apartment (when someone moved out, they’d exterminate and the roaches would migrate over to my place)…I still cringe thinking about it, but she would climb the door frame to get at them on the ceiling and if she got ahold of one, all I would find is a leg here and a leg there… Thankfully I discovered the secret to safely keeping those demonic insects away forever- 20-Mule Team Borax!!! It was also pet and human safe, but the best part is what it does to roaches. If they crawl over a single granule, it sticks to them and enters their body the same way food does. Then it quickly drys them to a crisp from the inside out…and I hope it fuckin’ hurts! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2013, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-in-a-stray-cat-and-unleashed-hell-how-do-i-get-rid-of-her-harming-her-is-not-an-option/651708/76 "2013-03-26T07:51:04Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > My cats use to go out of their way to try and dis me after they got their nails trimmed. They would literally run up to me and turn their backs on me and block my path. I’d just hook them with my foot and move them to the side. They would come around shortly looking for some attention. That’s not dissing! Lots of people don’t get this kind of cat behavior. For a cat, coming up to you and then lookign straight at you is agressive behavior. So when they come up to you and then sit near you,\* looking away from you\*, they are basically saying sorry sorry sorry, can we be friends again? When you then pet them, you will find that they act with enthusiasm. People are just confusing human moping or sulking with the “I’m near, but I don’t dare look you in the eyes yet”-supplication of cat speak. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2013, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-in-a-stray-cat-and-unleashed-hell-how-do-i-get-rid-of-her-harming-her-is-not-an-option/651708/77 "2013-03-26T07:56:59Z")
> [@Tabby\_Cat](#): > > Wonderful! I’d opened this thread when it first started, and I totally didn’t expect it to end in this wonderful way! Yeah, right…The cat went to live in a farm in the countryside. Like I’m going to buy this one… ---
**Author:** ![Beelzebubba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Beelzebubba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beelzebubba)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2013, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-in-a-stray-cat-and-unleashed-hell-how-do-i-get-rid-of-her-harming-her-is-not-an-option/651708/78 "2013-03-26T07:58:05Z")
> [@Viridiana](#): > > This is the awesomest thread I’ve read here in quite a time. Went from giggling at the OP’s way with words, to chilled and saddened by the dispassionate death chorus (yes I understand your point of view, death chorus, I just don’t agree with it), to feeling warm and squishy and like some things are all right with the world. 🙂 I like a thread yanking my emotions around once in a while. Thank you, **StGermain** and **Beelzebubba**! I’m glad that folks enjoy my often unique way with words. My best writing usually stems from desperation (or when I’m over- or under-medicated)! 😃 The hero here is StG! She is a truly superior human being for offering to take in this hellcat, especially after the way I described her!!! I would have been much more reserved in my postings if I knew there was even a remote chance of finding someone here willing to adopt her! But it has all worked out better than I ever imagined possible! As soon as I read the periodic updates that StG posts, I immediately call my mom and my grandmother to give them the update. My mom even made the comment that she misses her sitting on the porch when she comes by…can a woman in her late 50s go senile??? Hell, who am I kidding? She has always been crazy as batshit…but nobody has a mom like mine, that’s for sure! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![KinkiNipponTourist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e9bcb4/32.png) [@KinkiNipponTourist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KinkiNipponTourist)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2013, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-in-a-stray-cat-and-unleashed-hell-how-do-i-get-rid-of-her-harming-her-is-not-an-option/651708/79 "2013-03-26T11:35:32Z")
Just chiming in to thank you both for your compassion and care. You two are obviously good, kind people. What a great ending! ---
**Author:** ![appleonama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee59a6/32.png) [@appleonama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleonama)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2014, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-in-a-stray-cat-and-unleashed-hell-how-do-i-get-rid-of-her-harming-her-is-not-an-option/651708/80 "2014-12-05T02:03:07Z")
I was enticed by this thread and the story of hell-cat. I made an account just to post. How’s hell cat? any picture :o [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-in-a-stray-cat-and-unleashed-hell-how-do-i-get-rid-of-her-harming-her-is-not-an-option/651708.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-in-a-stray-cat-and-unleashed-hell-how-do-i-get-rid-of-her-harming-her-is-not-an-option/651708.md?page=5)