This is Gregory.

Gregory used to have a human family, but they left him behind when they moved out 4 or 5 years ago. I’m pretty sure he still sleeps in the patio/garden area of that house.

I met Gregory maybe a year ago and started feeding him occasionally. Recently I started feeding him practically every day. This little asshole horked down almost a pound of tuna yesterday.

And then he ran away from me, and hissed at me when I followed him. The other day I was harassing him with a knit glove full of catnip and he lunged at my fucking leg.

Today he ran from me again, after I fed him. He hid under a neighbor’s car and hissed at me.

He only started doing this recently. Two theories:

  1. I know for a fact that someone got him high on meth a week ago. Meth is one hell of a psychostimulant, I tell ya hwat, and the comedown for an adult human lasts more than a week. So he’s probably a little bitchy. He started doing the cute mew mew headbutting my leg thing again, like he used to, but he still gets spooked and runs from me.
  2. I’ve had a problem my entire life, with going too far when I really like someone. It always results in them not wanting to be around me. Gregory isn’t a domestic cat anymore—he does his own thing, and I’ll sort of like, follow him around trying to get him to eat his fucking food. And the reason he’s never done this before is because I’ve only recently started obsessing over him.
  • idkmybffjoeysteel [he/him]
    ·
    7 months ago

    I’ve had a problem my entire life, with going too far when I really like someone. It always results in them not wanting to be around me. Gregory isn’t a domestic cat anymore—he does his own thing, and I’ll sort of like, follow him around trying to get him to eat his fucking food. And the reason he’s never done this before is because I’ve only recently started obsessing over him.

    Kinda sounds like you know what the problem is, cats are very independent creatures, and like some people, they can be overwhelmed easily, especially considering you are many times larger than them

    Also just in case I hope that was fresh tuna not tinned because they can't handle the level of salt in human food

    • UrsineApathy [any, comrade/them]
      ·
      7 months ago

      I think this is the right answer. A combination of being drugged against your will with no comprehension of what's happening and then a big creature (That you probably associate in some way with that bad experience) chasing you down. Cats are going to do what they want. Just be a nice person to Gregory and keep feeding him, but don't force him to eat if he doesn't want to or accept pets if he doesn't want them. Let him make his own decisions and don't chase him around.

      And if you're going to keep feeding him, invest in a bag of dry food. Tuna is okay every once and a while, but the salt and mercury isn't good for them to have as an everyday meal.

    • allthetimesivedied [they/them, she/her]
      ·
      7 months ago

      This exact same shit happened a year ago with a human friend. I smothered them and now they won’t talk to me. I am also significantly larger than them.