Conference misery::feline_v1

    Goodness Rachael, how late was this?  I hate to think it, but it
    sounds like a prowler or maybe as you said, a kid and a mean one
    at that.  I would have done the same as you - like bolting towards
    the window screaming.  Did the black mass move as you were running
    towards the window?  Don't cats usually make alot of noise fighting.
    Maybe it's because I'm a paranoid person, but I'd keep your windows
    closed for awhile (at night and when you're not home).
    
    My .02 only.
    
    Robyn

    I NEVER leave my windows open on the first floor of my townhouse
    unless I am home and awake.  At night, you make yourself too
    vulnerable to prowlers who could easily slit the screen and enter.

    It sounds like a prankster, rather than a prowler though.  I doubt
    any prowler would try to break in if your lights were still on.


    Take care!

    Karen



    

    
    Thanks so far people!  We usually do leave the window closed but the
    cats looked so happy in the window ...  
    What I really can't understand is that my cats usually hiss at any
    people who stop by our window.  (my guard kitties)  That's why I
    figured that the kid would have to play with her first.  I also don't
    understand why her brother wasn't puffy.  We brought a little Scotty
    terrier in the house one time and both cat's hissed like crazy at the
    little dog, (he wanted to play).  Also, Spike is the aggressive cat
    while Lady is the friendly cat.  I had thought that if they ever got in
    a fight that Spike would be the one fighting.  Does anyone think there
    is any chance that it could have been a cat that just stalked Lady from
    outside the window and attacked without warning?  
    re .01 : as I walked towards the kitchen, no reaction from the "thing"
    but when I started to yell it left in a hurry.  And as I was only
    wearing a towel, I was afraid to open the door and look so I just
    turned the light on.  Also, I wear contacts and I didn't have them in. 
    
    
    Help, I want to move!
    Rachael
    

    When I leave Sparky alone I only open the window about 2".  I would 
    recommend opening your windows only an inch or so and maybe get 
    some kind of device (don't know what's available) or heavy screen
    that cannot be penetrated by anything except a power saw, in which
    case you would know SOMETHING was going on.
    
    Could it have been a raccoon?
    

    Could it have been a raccoon?

    Deb

    
    re: raccoon
    maybe but I live in the city of Haverhill.  Lots of cars and not much
    grass.  Do raccoon's attack like that?
    
    Rachael
    

>    re: raccoon
>    maybe but I live in the city of Haverhill.  Lots of cars and not much
>    grass.  Do raccoon's attack like that?
    
A 'coon is ingenious, and not above working for "dinner", if he/she sees
a probability of success.  They do thrive in the urban areas of this
country and Canada, as well as in the forests.  It could have been a 'coon,
and if so, you probably saved your cat from becoming dinner.  At any rate,
the downstairs windows should stay closed at night - sounds too dangerous
for the cats or you.  I would be very careful of hard-to-find puncture
wounds on your cat....check her carefully for a few days.    

    
    I doubt that what was outside your window was animal.  It was most
    likely human.  
    
    BTW, Friendly cats are often more secure and therefore more likely to
    be inquisitive about something moving that is unfamiliar.  A timid cat
    will hiss and threaten and not usually get too close to whatever is is
    scaring it.
    
    Please keep your first floor windows locked, we worry about you!
    
    Feline Concerned,
    
    Sue & Panther (the Friendly) & Spot (the Timid)
    

    well, I live in Waltham, and I have claw marks all the way to the top
    of my screen on my sliding glass door from where they have crawled.
    Yep, I actually watched them and they can be pretty brazen.
    
    Deb

    Rachel, I have the chills all over.  I hope that you do not live alone. 
    If so, PLEASE keep your downstairs windows CLOSED and LOCKED.  My 80
    year old aunt, who lives alone, fears nothing and I do mean NOTHING. 
    Anyway, one nite a few years back, she was up in her bedroom when she
    heard some rustling downstairs.  "Oh that darn cat is in the blinds
    again", so she told herself.  Anyway, after a few minutes she decided
    to go downstairs to check things out.  She looked into the dining room
    and noticed that the venetian blind that was covering an open window
    was buldging inward.  She figured that it was the cat.  She walked
    over, pulled open the blind and low and behold found herself staring
    into the face of a man on his way into her window!!!  She startled him
    and he fell back to the lawn.  He started coming towards her again and
    she slammed the window down just in time!!  Creeepy huh?  
    
    Moral of the story is KEEP YOUR DOWNSTAIRS WINDOWS LOCKED AT ALL TIMES. 
    Especially when you are alone.  In case any of you are wondering what
    my brave auntie Ester did next.  What else,  she locked the window and
    went to bed!
    
    Good luck,
    Arlene 

    
    re : 10
    
    I live with my husband and we do usually have the windows closed and
    locked if we are upstairs.  We had only been upstairs for about 5-10
    minutes when this happened.  I was going to go down and finish locking
    up when I'd taken my makeup off. (To scare any prowlers, ha ha)  I
    guess now I won't even go to the bathroom with the windows open.
    
    Does anyone know of any safe, quiet place with 30 minutes of Stow and
    Bedford, MA where I could move with my kitties, (and husband)?
    
    Actually, I'm starting to think that it might be a raccoon.  What I
    can't understand is why the slit was straigt.  Seems to me that if an
    animal had made the slit it would have gotten it's paw caught at the
    bottom so I'd see that something went through the screen because the
    screen would be bent.  But the screen wasn't bent much.  On the other
    hand after I yelled and grabbed Lady, I didn't hear anything.  A person
    would have had to run past 2-4 townhouses on our deck-like path.  That
    would have been noisy.
    
    Oh well.  I guess I'm not in Erie, PA anymore.
    Thanks all,  I'll be careful.
    
    Rachael, Lady&Spike
    

    If it was a straight cut on the screen I think it would be safe to say
    it was a human.  My sister-in-law was surprised by a stranger looking
    in her window last week.  She yelled at him and scared him off.  You
    may want to notify the police and ask for an officer to make a pass
    once or twice a night.  Better to be safe than sorry.
    
    

      Racoons are really smart animals. There was one reported MANY times
    in Boston a few years back traveling with a huge orange cat. These two
    would collaborate in opening trash cans so they could go through the
    goodies. What leads me to believe this MAY have been your prowler was
    the fact that the cats didn't howl. For some strange reason, cats and
    racoons seem to get along fairly well. Your cat MAY have exhibited some
    "territorial" instincts, but fromthe sounds of it, not enough to start
    howling or growling. If it was a person, I'd be surprised if he/she was
    able to escape without making a racket...an you'd have heard them
    running away. A racoon, on the other hand, can walk like a cat, and
    yu'd never hear them...
    
    JM

    Hi,
    
    Whereabouts in Haverhill?  It could be a raccoon, especially
    if you're near Kenoza Lake.
    
    Mary-Michael (Plaistow, NH)

    What I had on my windows when I lived on the first floor was the
    type of safety locks which allow the window to be opened a few inches
    from the sill but impossible for anyone or anything to open it any
    further than that from the outside. It is really easy for a person
    on  the inside to open it at will. Sears sells them in the hardware
    dept and probably hardware stores have them as well. 
    
    With these locks you can still get fresh air and safety at the same
    time. 
     

I also vote for a racoon.  If they live in the middle of Nashua, they live in
the middle of Haverhill.  If you didn't hear anything run away, it's cause the
creature was equipped by nature not to be heard.  When I first read your note,
my first thought was a racoon.

When I have my slider open at night, I put a child-guard gate in front of the
screen, just in case, as I have racoons all over the place.

And of course, there was that ugly opossum that got Biff's sibling....

Mary

    
    Thanks for all your ideas!  
    Re : my neighbor in Plaistow:
    		I live 1 block from the police station right off of Rt 125.
    the area is thickly settled so the racoon would have to be a city
    racoon.  (from the notes, that sounds really plausible.)
    
    In all seriousness I am moving to some kind of area where my cats
    can go outside and play.  (without being run over.)
    
    Thanks again!
    Rachael
    

>    In all seriousness I am moving to some kind of area where my cats
>    can go outside and play.  (without being run over.)
    
To which COUNTRY are you planning to move?  8^} 

    Isis once had a fight with another cat through the screen and tore
    off a claw.  We weren't there at the time, but I"m sure there was
    alot of noise.
    
    Human vs Raccoon - you could still ask the police to wander by at
    night to keep an eye on things.  Better safe....
    

    I had an experience last night similiar to the original noter. 
    Both my hubby and I were watching TV and all of a sudden we heard
    alot of rustling, hissing and howling.  We ran to the bedroom and
    found a cat (who hates my kitties) attached to the outside screen 
    trying to get to my little Poco.  Well big Barkley..saved the day 
    and also attached himself to the inside of the screen with his
    hair on his back standing straight up and ears down!! He gave one
    of his Tarzan yelps and scared the heck out of the other cat....who
    finally ran away. Poor Poco...(who hates to fight and is very friendly)  
    was so nervous..her little heart was going nintey miles an hour.
    
      The differences are...there was a whole bunch of noise and my 
    screen is not actually ripped, but does have many holes.  Even
    though we do live on the first floor...the cat had to jump pretty
    high to reach the screen.
                                     
    My guess is your problem was some kids just fooling around with
    a sharp object.  I don't believe it could have been another animal 
    because if your kitties are like mine...you would have heard the noise.
                            
    That boy Barkley...that's how you guard the house.
    
    Sandy (Tamba, Poco, and the Big Barkley)