Orange tabby hell cat

Aussie was "welcomed" to the neighborhood today by a local cat. We went on a nice long walk around the block, to give herAussie some exercise so she will let me unpack rather than demand attention the rest of the evening (yes, I learned this trick in grad school: wear out dog => time to get work done).

As we were rounding the second block, there was a fluffy orange tabby cat sitting by a fence. It has a collar and tag so it clearly has an owner unlike the feral strays in our old neighborhood. Aussie doesn't mind cats. She was raised with one, so she generally either pays them no mind or tries to make friends with them (a hard habit to break her of in our old neighborhood). This cat proceeded to walk right up to the dog and smell her. Aussie, to her credit, just stood there. Didn't lunge, didn't move, didn't even lean towards the cat or try to sniff back. Then, unexpectedly, the cat changed attitude and proceeded to swat at my dog! And not just once, but multiple times!!

Aussie, again to her credit, didn't attack back. And we beat a path away from that cat, pausing about 20 feet away so I could assess for damage. When I looked up, the cat was RIGHT BEHIND US and proceeded to charge my dog a SECOND time and swat at her while hissing.

So we quickly moved around the corner. When I looked back, the cat was following us. It followed us around the corner and about half way down the next block. The orange tabby from hell was stalking me and my dog clearly with intention to harm. So we kept walking, checking frequently to see if was still behind us.

Shortly after the cat stopped and parked itself in a crouch under some bushes (lying in wait for it's next victim perhaps), a woman and her dog came around the corner. She promptly grabbed her dog and made a wide berth around the cat from hell exclaiming that she hates that cat. Apparently the cat has actually attacked her and her dog in the past, leaving her with some bite marks on her arm. Sounds like Aussie and I got of easy. Aussie is fine, a few tiny scratches around her nose, but nothing serious.

I hereby nickname the cat Psycho. We will be giving Psycho a wide berth from now on.