crazy cat lady; cat drama; sigh
So I don't really have much energy left, but this is so crazy and I need to vent about it a little.
We got roped into feeding a houseful of feral cats down the street. The woman we're taking over for is an ancient Catholic lady and she is CERTIFIABLE, just the stereotypical nutty rambling old lady in every way.
And every fucking day we hear from her with another bit of the full story, 13 years worth of drama with the neighbors over feeding these cats, all of which was conveniently omitted when she first called asking for help.
And every time she calls, she has a more specific instruction for How Her Babies Must Be Fed.
And I have been conditioned over a lifetime to have no resistance at all to sweet but insane old Catholic ladies.
And this is getting to be a lot. A lot, lot, lot. We have the sense to bail the moment it does start to lead to any actual conflict, but... the guy on the corner has apparently been a vindictive bastard about these cats in the past and some paranoid part of me is TERRIFIED he'll take it out on OUR cats if we get too wrapped up in this.
Which would mean swift death for him in the middle of the night, of course.
I really, really, really wish this whole burden had been dropped on somebody else. But dammit, it's a good opportunity to learn some adulting, crisis-management, and boundary-setting skills, and I'll be damned if I'm gonna let a bunch of cats starve.
Bast give me strength, and if this really does come to some kind of massive neighborhood cat drama, please also raise me some bail money and a good lawyer.
Theoretically this is only for a month. And nothing bad has really happened so far. But man, this has all been a colossal anxiety trigger I did not need.
re: crazy cat lady; cat drama; sigh
AAAAAAND another 25 minute phone call with MORE instructions for the feeding the fucking cats, and when I tried to complain that it was getting really complicated she blew me off with "it's not really complicated at all" and... gave me another instruction.
Then she launched into some old lady nonsense about her family which is TOTALLY IRRELEVANT to feeding her fucking cats and when I told her we REALLY DO NOT HAVE TIME for 3-4 rambling phone calls per day, she apologized profusely, told me she really needed my help, told me she completely understood... and then proceeded to launch into ANOTHER ramble about her family.
re: crazy cat lady; cat drama; sigh
i signed for leaving some food scattered for some fucking cats, not an 18-step process and DEFINITELY not being a crazy old woman's main social support structure >_________<
re: crazy cat lady; cat drama; sigh
OK, I think my last couple conversations with her-- and Peg's admirably firm and adamant texts to her-- have made her see the light. She's promised to limit herself to texts except in true emergencies and she gave us some moderately clearer feeding instructions, plus some (detail-free, sigh) promises that the neighbor issue is a Resolved Matter.
She also apparently knows and really likes Peebles. So goddamn it, she's found my biggest vulnerability. We will continue trying to help her however we can. She really does seem like a very sweet lady who is passionately kind towards cats.
I have still written a very, very polite and diplomatic draft letter to the cat charity that shanghaied us into this mess, waiting on my desktop in case we end up needing to bail. She has also been warned that we will do this at the FIRST sign of neighbor drama.
crazy cat lady; cat drama; sigh
@zebratron2084 You are doing a good thing for a very difficult human!
re: crazy cat lady; cat drama; sigh
@zebratron2084 That sounds wonderful!!
re: crazy cat lady; cat drama; sigh
@zebratron2084 aaaaaaaaah this sounds awful. Sympathies!
re: crazy cat lady; cat drama; sigh
(otoh peg just got another rambling barely comprehensible voicemail from Crazy Cat Lady, and it sounds like she may have found someone to take over at least half the feeding days from us...)