In 2003 I adopted a stray kitten. My ex-girlfriend and I named her Claudia. She was an all black, rather strange kitten. She did not like strangers at all. She would hiss at them and make it known that she did not enjoy their presence.

With me she behaved rather differently. A textbook kitten. She would shower me with love and affection. She knew when to leave me alone and when to come over and play. Some of my favorite memories were of waking up with her sleeping either on my belly or on top of my head. She was incredibly sweet.

Something must have happened when she was a kitten with another cat. She detested other cats more so than the usual cat who doesn't like other cats. At the sight of another cat through a window she would do that crazy throat howl that cats do. It was eerie. It sounded like a child being tortured. One time I tried adopting another kitten and after 3 months of constant violent confrontations I had to give up the new kitten for adoption.




Then something incredibly awkward happened.
I moved to Brooklyn and in the hallway of my brownstone lived another cat.
One day I was bringing my laundry into the apartment and as I was entering the apartment this other cat in the hallway was affectionately rubbing himself on my legs.

I went into the apartment and Claudia ran and sniffed my legs.
Her ears started trembling. Her eyes moved rapidly left and right.
She jumped back and got into a violent pose.
She stared at me violently and began to both hiss and do that awful cat howl.

I immediately grabbed a changed of clothes and ran into the bathroom to change.
I washed my hands vigorously to remove any remanansce of the other cat.
While in the bathroom I heard her run around the room violently, knocking things over and continuing to howl and hiss.

I ran out of the bathroom and in the sweetest (yet terrified) voice I'd say "Claudia... it's me!". I began to choke up. To spare you the details this went on for 2 weeks. She would attack me and howl and yell. This was a studio apartment and I didn't feel safe sleeping there. I called friends (Amanda) and vets trying to find a solution. I ended up sleeping at Amanda's house for a few days to see if this behavior of Claudias would go away. Friends came over and tried to help but there was nothing we could do.
She would try to attack EVERYONE. We tried getting her into a carrier so we could let her loose at a park or at the SPCA (no kill shelter). It was impossible. She was irate and attacking everything and everyone. My apartment was destroyed and covered in cat urine and feces.

Even my friend Zack (who is a cat expert, once owning over a dozen) after repeated failed attempt to capture her said; "The only time I've ever seen a cat this flipped out my friend ended up with dozens of stiches."

I had to call Animal Control. There was no choice.
The animal control guy tried for over an hour to capture her but she was out of control even for the "control" people.
Eventually she jumped into a small trash can and I covered it with a pillow to trap her. Ironically it was me that trapped her and not the AC guy.



It was awful. I knew they were going to put her to sleep and I HATED that (still hate myself to this day for it). As he carried her in a cage away I heard a familiar "meow" it was her, for that split second she was back. Then the next split second the howl and hiss. I didn't sleep for weeks.

All of that occurred in 2006.

Look at this photograph.



See the reflection on the back of the guitar?

In case you still don't see it.
It looks like a cat...inside a small circular can/bucket.

Here is where it gets weird.

This photograph was taken just a few days ago (approximately February 20th, 2009).

For the record there was nothing there.
There is nothing dark colored in between the fireplace and the white/light green bed.
It should of just been the reflection of the bed.
There are no cats, or pets for that matter in the house I'm staying.


Is it the ghost of Claudia?
You decide.

Discuss.


For the record I did a short blog when this happened back in July 24, 2006
You can find it here;
http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.ListAll&friendID=2232871&page=6