Millie has an argument with The Ghost!

This has been a slightly worrying week with Millie because she had an ‘argument’ with The Ghost – a large Tom cat who lives across the road.

The Ghost has always been a source of annoyance to me because he is ever-present and determined to live here, even though he has a perfectly good home of his own.  I say perfect, but perhaps he thinks otherwise. Some of the problem has been my own fault because I have tolerated his presence to a certain extent. Here’s what happened …

About four years ago, we noticed that we had a ‘stowaway’. We first saw him making a dash through the cat-flap after stealing Patch’s food one evening. We didn’t hear him come in. We only heard him going out! Then we started finding him under beds, hiding. It seemed like he wanted to stay, perhaps to keep warm, perhaps for other reasons. He was very sneaky. He used to hide and stay the night. We didn’t even know he was in here most of the time. That was when he was a kitten. As he reached adulthood he became more noticeable. When he started to spray, we shut the catflap and kept him out. He wasn’t welcome!!

I made some enquiries as to who he belonged to. My friend around the corner told me he belonged to a lady in my street. She never had The Ghost neutered. I wish she had. The older he got, the more of a nuisance he became. Finally he started chasing Patch into the house and frightened her. She is an old lady and likes a quiet life.

Then Millie arrived. I was a bit worried that he would ‘have a go at her’ and sure enough he did – last week. She came indoors looking very sorry for herself and started licking her tale. I knew something was up. Luckily the bite  didn’t turn into an abscess but she was a poor thing for a day or two. I think her pride was hurt. She didn’t expect to be set upon by the neighbours.  After all she had been through to get here, she didn’t deserve that.

Now she is better (thankfully). I wasn’t looking forward to a trip to the vet’s office. She will have to learn to live with The Ghost. That will not be easy. There’s always one, isn’t there.

Come to think of it, there’s always one in the human world too, isn’t there.  Always someone to ‘get along with’. Someone you don’t really like very much or who picks on you or bullies you or makes your life unbearable.

Is there someone in your life that gives you a hard time? Can you ‘shut up the catflap’ or must you endure?

When we were deciding how to handle this situation with Millie, we had discussions. My house partner suggested we shoo him away. I wasn’t in favour of that. I asked myself, ‘what would St. Francis do?’ The equivalent of Jesus’s ‘turn the other cheek’ scenario perhaps.

In the end I decided to let the cats sort it out for themselves. I have enough problems.

Here he is, the devil, alias The Ghost. For the moment peace reigns!