Insane cat terrorizes small town

[Grimmlok]

A ferocious feline terrorized a quiet Fairfield neighborhood, to the point that residents are seeking help from the law to stop the so-called "Terrorist of Sunset Circle."

Lewis, a 5-year-old, black-and-white longhaired cat, attacked at least a half-dozen people on the cul-de-sac and even took on the local Avon lady, neighbors say.

"He looks like Felix the Cat and has six toes on each foot each with a long claw," Sunset Circle resident Janet Kettman said. "They are formidable weapons."

Kettman said Lewis attacked her twice.

"I was walking along the sidewalk when he sprang at me. I never saw it coming, but that's how it often is. He comes at you from behind, springs and wraps himself around your legs, biting and scratching," she said. "The last time I had three bites and eight scratches and I ended up at the walk-in clinic.

"The Avon lady was getting out of her car when Lewis attacked her from behind," Kettman said. "She ended up going to the hospital."

Kettman called the Fairfield Police Department's animal control officer.

"I don't feel the cat could kill anybody, but it could latch onto people's legs and arms and bite and scratch to the point where they could be hospitalized," said Animal Control Officer Rachel Solveira.

Solveira was so concerned about Lewis' attacks in the neighborhood of neatly kept homes off High Street that she placed a restraining order on him. It was the first time such an action was taken against a cat in Fairfield and possibly in the state. In effect, Lewis is under house arrest, forbidden to leave his home.

Solveira also arrested the cat's owner, Ruth Cisero, of High Street, first for failing to comply with the restraining order and then for reckless endangerment.

At first, the restraining order allowed the cat limited freedom if Cisero gave him Prozac. But the cat refused to take the drug, Cisero said. And it got out of the house and attacked another neighbor, Maureen Bachtig, according to police.

"I felt Lewis' claw on my left leg and I shook him loose, he then lunged and clung to my right leg, leaving one very deep puncture wound, one long deep gash across the top of my knee," Bachtig told police. She refused to discuss the incident with a reporter. Meanwhile, the Avon lady, Donna Greenstein, filed a lawsuit in Superior Court against Cisero. She refused to comment on the case.

A tearful Cisero said the neighbors have spun the situation out of control.

"I've tried to tell them to just stay away from Lewis and he will stay away from you; this has caused complete havoc for me," said Cisero, who has applied to the court for accelerated rehabilitation — for the cat.

Cisero said she adopted Lewis three years ago and he never attacked her or any members of her family. "He's a cat's cat, he climbs trees and sits on people's roofs but now he's forced to be in the house all the time."

She theorized that Lewis may be acting in self-defense. "One day he came home covered in eggs because someone had egged him and another time a woman sprayed him with a hose. They have been tormenting this poor animal."

But Bachtig sees a more sinister side to the feline.

"The neighborhood is afraid of this cat," Bachtig said. "Lewis will stare you down, and you never know how he will react."

Ha ha insane kitty!

[ralphycnan]

Poor kitty, he sounds like he's having a miserable life.

[Grimmlok]

It sounds like he's territorial and attacking people. How do you stay away from a cat if he's hiding, waiting to spring?

[ralphycnan]

Yeah, I think if the owner is getting complaints like this, she should just keep the cat indoors. He sounds horrible but I did find it kind of sad that they threw eggs at him, in a kind of funny way.

[Grimmlok]

If he was attacking me I'd be throwing him against a wall hard enough to rattle his noggin.

[Sojiita]

Ok..the cat is placed under 'house arrest'..the cat refuses it's psychotropic meds, and now the cat could be headed to rehab? This Fairfield must be in California, right?

[Grimmlok]

Maybe he's been smoking crack with Whitney

[ralphycnan]

I'm sorry if I offend any cat lovers but this story is just too funny.

[Glasgow53]

No, Connecticut. A rather wealthy area. We had a cat like this in a liquor store in town a few years ago. He used to like to bite people's legs when the people were waiting for the bus in front of the shop. He would also lie on the counter of the shop so you had to make change over his head, and he would bite you. His owners throught he was cute. I was petting him outside the store once, and he was acting nice, then he suddenly bit me. I smacked him on the head, and he never made any trouble for me again. He was just spoiled.

[ralphycnan]

My aunts cat was like this too, I was really scared of her. My aunt used to watch my kids and when I would go pick them up, she would be waiting on top of a car like she was getting ready to jump on me. So when I would see her there I would just go around to the front door. The cat would also scratch my kids, it is really spoiled though. My aunt even has pictures of her that cat on her night stand.

[AliceInWonderland]

^ yeah its probably only there waiting to pounce the minute your aunt wakes up! my cat lays and stares at me from below my sister's bed waiting for me to wake up too, but only cause he's a pig and expects to food 24 hours a day.
*anyways its my belief that this whole "cats are psycho" craze was only brought to society's/the media's attention by jealous dogs!*

[Sojiita]

Originally Posted by Glasgow53

No, Connecticut. A rather wealthy area. We had a cat like this in a liquor store in town a few years ago. He used to like to bite people's legs when the people were waiting for the bus in front of the shop. He would also lie on the counter of the shop so you had to make change over his head, and he would bite you. His owners throught he was cute. I was petting him outside the store once, and he was acting nice, then he suddenly bit me. I smacked him on the head, and he never made any trouble for me again. He was just spoiled.

I see a new state slogan on the horizon. "Connecticut: The Crazy Cat State'

[A*O]

Surely you mean Connecticat?

[Barbara]

Aww, poor kitty can't have no fun

[wonderina]

We had a really mean cat like that when I was a kid, he would actually stalk people. Once he chased my sister and I behind the sofa, we had to throw pillows at him to get him to leave us alone. Even though he was a big grouch, we still loved him to death.