DENVER – Tonya Payne is getting desperate.
All she wants is for the last tenant of her property to vacate the premises so she can get it ready for new occupants.
But Freddy the cat won’t leave.
“It’s remarkable. This cat is amazing,” Payne said. “This is the 12th day.”
Freddy was left behind by the previous renter and has been hiding amongst the plumbing beneath the bathtub, Payne said. She knows he leaves through a small hole in the wall at night to eat and take care of business.
“My whole thought process is I want to make sure Freddy is OK,” she said. “But at the same time, I’m just stuck. The traps haven’t worked. The trap doors haven’t worked. All fish in all sizes didn’t work.”
Animal Control couldn’t scare him out by stomping in the tub. Now Payne is offering a year’s supply of cat food to whomever helps her evict the kitty.
After a story about Freddy aired on a local TV station on Thursday, community members began submitting suggestions, some of them more radical and creative, none of them successful.
“I own a pet store. I have access to so many foods and treats, and I’m totally stumped,” said Payne, who co-owns the Mouthfuls pet boutique in north Denver.
Sunday night, at the advice of her acupuncturist, she tried to smoke Freddy out by burning cayenne pepper wrapped in cheesecloth at the entrance of Freddy’s hideout.
“It’s horrible, absolutely horrible. Everybody was choking,” she said. “I stayed in there with a blanket wrapped around my face, and that cat still never came out … . I do not want to hurt it at all. I just want to motivate it to come out.”
Several people have offered to camp out at the house to catch Freddy on an evening prowl, but Payne said the house is “in shambles” from Freddy’s owner, who left loads of trash and is responsible for the hole in the wall. “If the cat isn’t out by the time that I do the bathroom, I’m going to have to pull the tub,” Payne said.
Suggestions have included teasing Freddy out with catnip (“Like I haven’t tried that,” Payne said), scaring him out with a fog machine and sucking him out with a gopher vacuum.
The 4-year-old feline will live with a neighbor once he’s caught. To offer assistance or provide suggestions, e-mail Tonya Payne at mouthfuls@worldnet.att.net.
Just don’t suggest catnip.
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