Steppin' out with the Killer

HoMa feline lovers: if you are the owner of a black cat with a bitten and bleeding behind, please make contact. It's my fault.

Remember that doubt I once had about whether or not Eska's anxiety around cats could be attributed to playfulness rather than aggression? Well, that doubt was definitively laid to rest today.

My landlord invited me in to have a look at the work he's been doing on his apartment just beneath me. We took the opportunity to let Eska make use of his huge backyard in the meantime. The first few minutes were nice. There was snow, and frolicking, and life was grand.

It wasn't long, however, before we heard a series of loud, aggressive barks resonate from somewhere outside, not too far from that. Surely, that's not my dog, I thought. My dog never barks. My dog has only ever barked in moments of extreme frustration with me, and those have only occurred twice in our over two year history. Surely, this was someone else's dog.

Only, it wasn't. This was my dog, and the target of her barking: a fat, juicy black cat perched just out of her reach.

I saw the whole thing happen. It was over before I knew it, even though I was somehow powerless to stop it. The cat swiped at Eska a few times with its paw, which only antagonised her more. Eventually, and hoping to escape, it jumped down into the snow -- a move that only provoked the savage inside my husky mix: she lunged after it and caught it easily by the neck. My landlord stepped in, and the cat managed to escape. Only half a second later, though, Eska again had it lodged in her chops, this time by the rump, and was not letting go.

It took both of us - one yanking by the collar, the other (me) gripping her midsection and raising her front half in the air - to get her to release her prey.

The cat made quick work of fleeing the premises. A quick inspection of Eska's face confirmed my dreaded suspicion: the blood I saw there was absolutely, beyond a shadow of a doubt, NOT hers.

I mean, now I know, right? I guess cat-ownership is not in the cards for me for a while, this means.