While walking their dog in Austin, Texas, with her boyfriend, Erin Breean became aware of the odd cat for the first time.
Breean told The Dodo, “It’s hot here, so we walk our dog very late at night – it was midnight. “This cat is lounging outside at the end of a driveway about two blocks from our home. We frequently walk our dog, so we are very familiar with all the cats in the area, but I had never seen one like this.
The cat seemed friendly and well-fed, so Breean figured he belonged to someone, but was maybe lost.
“He came right up to us, and he was rubbing all over our ankles,” Breean said. “But when my dog came over to see him, [the cat] tried to attack him and chase him down the street a little bit. So we separated them, and my boyfriend took our dog home.”
Breean spent some time taking pictures while the cat was outside. In case he was still missing, she wanted to put them on the Austin Lost and Found Pets Facebook page.
The cat sat next to Breean the entire time, petting me and turning over to seek belly rubs. Breean described the cat as being very affectionate.
When Breean tried to go home, the cat — whom she started calling Greg — followed her.
“I was like, ‘Hey man, don’t follow me home if you live down the street or wherever your house is,’” Breean said.
But Greg showed no signs of leaving. In fact, he planted himself at the front of Breean’s house, and stared through the window at her when she went inside. Worried he might be hungry, Breean laid out some food and water for him, and this seemed to encourage him even more.
“He sat by that narrow window for over an hour,” Breean said. “Eventually I was like, I just have to ignore him or he’s not going to go back to his house, or wherever he’s from.”
When Greg disappeared from the front window, Breean and her boyfriend thought he’d finally gone home. But they were wrong again.
“I went into the kitchen and made myself something to eat, but when I sat back on the couch, I was completely startled when I noticed someone looking in on me,” Breean said.
Greg was now staring at them through a window at the back of the house.
“He was just sitting out there, watching us on the couch watching TV,” Breean said. “He sat out there and yelled for nearly an hour. He tried to get in through the dog door, and then he curled up … and went to sleep.”
The next morning, Greg was there again — and he stayed for most of the day. He also followed Breean and her boyfriend on their nightly walk with their dog, Murphy.
“We walk our dog for about a mile, and he would come with us for the entire way, and try to chase our dog the whole time,” Breean said.
For four days, he would not let Breean out of his sight.
He didn’t stop looking out the windows the entire time.
“You could come down at any time in the night … and all you’d see were these glowing eyes,” Breean said. “He would peek in through the blinds. It was completely hilarious and completely creepy … and then after a while, we’d expect him there and look for him. He was always watching you.”
Meanwhile, Breean was trying to figure out where Greg belonged. She’d made multiple posts on social media sites about him, but no one had claimed Greg as theirs. She’d also made a paper collar for him and taped a note to it, hoping he’d go home to his owner, who’d be alerted to Greg’s wanderings, but this didn’t work either.
She didn’t want to take Greg to the local shelter or vet, which she imagined would be stressful for him, especially as he seemed healthy and taken care of.
“My own cat [Max] is super friendly, and he’s been known to go into our neighbors’ houses, let himself in [and] hang out with them, so I didn’t want to take him [Greg] to the humane society or the vet or anything [until I knew he needed help] … because I wouldn’t want someone taking Max somewhere,” Breean said.
At times, she was tempted to let Greg inside, but she knew this was a bad idea since he could attack Murphy again.
Luckily, a volunteer from Austin Lost and Found Pets came by with a microchip scanner — and they managed to locate Greg’s owner with the information on his chip.
“He Navarrete was very happy to see him,” Breean said. “He wept for five minutes.”
Breean is happy Kylo is back at his rightful home, although she and her boyfriend miss him in a strange way.
My guy was wondering what Greg was doing the other day, Breean recalled. I said, “Man, me too.”
Breean shared the tale on Catspotting, a closed Facebook community for cat enthusiasts, when thinking back to the Greg days, and the post quickly gained popularity.
Breean continued, “He was determined to get in the home, whether it was to move in with us, contact his parents, or kill my dog. “I don’t know which. But he was adamant in his resolve.
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