What to Do: Undisclosed Aggressive Behavior (Cat) and other Undisclosed Information?
This is long, sorry:
I am currently halfway through a sitting job that is flagged for just a dog and a single cat. We did a meet and greet, and it went well, but she mentioned, she actually has six (6) cats, but they don't really need care because they have automatic feeders and an automatic litter box that I may need to clean up poop from; I just mostly needed to focus on the dog. Whatever, fine, I didn't press, I should have since she's only paying for one cat, not six, but I let it go. The only aggression issues she mentioned were the dog has food aggression so she gets fed outside, and can be reactive on the leash with another dog, and the main cat, Zuri, tends to bully the all-black cat, but that's it.
What she failed to disclose is that Zuri is a psychopath. The cat hisses, growls, spits, and snarls at my every move. It has attacked me several times. I have luckily only been scratched once. I have had to escape into a room and slam the door in his face to get away. I have a water squirt bottle or a towel on hand because those are the only things that deter him from making contact. He waits for me to come out of whatever room I am in and immediately starts growling and going after me. Bedroom? There. Bathroom? There. Backyard? There. Front door? There. Cleaning up a mess on the stairs? There, two steps down, blocking the access and refusing to move, growling and spitting the entire time. I am over it. Food is definitely a trigger for this cat. There are three automatic feeders upstairs for the cats. They are tied down with wall mounts screwed into the wall, covered in paper, packing tape, and duct tape. That shows that they (by they, I mean, Zuri) have been known to break into them. Sure enough, I have caught Zuri going ape shit crazy wrestling over trying to get into a feeder and attacks me if I get anywhere near to fix it. The 2nd day I came in to find one of the feeders removed from the mounting and on its side with tape and paper everywhere. I took photos, sent to the owner, and she just laughed, "Oh, those cats are always trying to get more food!" Yeah, it's not those cats, it's the one cat. I managed to get it back in place, but failed to re-tape it so after walking the dog, I came back to it on its side with the lid popped open and Zuri, sitting in a pile of food, snorting it like it was meth. Okay, that's not true, but he was huffing, panting, snorting, and choking in desperation of trying to eat all that food. He turned into Gollum when he saw me, pawing it under him, wheezing, growling, my precious. Needless to say, of course, he comes for me. ...
Whoa! Before I answer, are there any other crates or cages for the cats, especially the psycho? Is there are room where that cat can be contained and now allowed anywhere else in the house?
No crates or cages and no cat-safe room I can contain him in (I thought about it and even managed to get him into the laundry room this morning but he proceeded to make a mess within 5 minutes so, yeah).
What kind of mess did the cat get into in the laundry room? BTW, you need to fix your rate table, otherwise you are getting gypped. The "stays of longer than 5 days" is not a surcharge, but the actual amount you'll be paid. So instead of adding $15 on, you'll only get $15.
Got into the cabinet and knocked over a bottle of bleach onto the floor where it spilled. It did not get into the bleach itself (thankfully) but, that was a nice toxic mess to clean up. I didn't realize it was in the lower cabinets; lesson learned. Thanks, I'll fix it.