In the apartment I shared with a friend (see next post) we were on the 2nd story of a two story building. The owner of the building lived on the main floor flat and we both had 1/2 of the basement. Her access was from a stairwell in the front of the building and ours was a 2 story spiral stairwell at the back of the building. We also had a back door from that stairwell to the back yard, just a 1/2 story above the basement landing.
My roommate, at the time I moved in had 3 cats and as there was a littler box in the basement it was not uncommon to see one if not all the cats there when I was doing laundry or whatnot. What I noticed however after some time was that I didn't always see my roommate's cat(s).
He had 3 cats a black and white one, an all black one and a Siamese. What I would occasionally see, and always alone - the other cats were always upstairs - was another cat sitting on the steps or running up the steps. But this was a much larger and fluffier cat. All of the roomie's cats were short hairs and this other cat was a big fluffy beast. A creamy colour with white paws and facial markings.
After I had seen it 3 or 4 times I mentioned it to my roommate and he said the owner that lived downstairs originally had the top apartment and by default the back half of the basement and at that time also has a cat similar in appearance to the one I described. The cat's was named Papillon.
The next time I saw the ghost cat I said hello to him by name and I heard a soft meow before he disappeared.
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Years later (Dec 2006) when we were both preparing to move we were talking with the owner in her apartment (on the main floor) and I looked over on a bookcase and saw a picture of the cat I had so often seen in our basement. I asked her what happened to him and she mentioned he used to spend a lot of time on the stairs and liked the coolness of the basement, but one day he got out through the door to the back from the stairwell. They looked for days and days but he never returned.
I guess poor Papillon got lost or found a new home (or as is possible with a an indoor cat, worse...) but in death he returned home to place he loved most.
My roommate, at the time I moved in had 3 cats and as there was a littler box in the basement it was not uncommon to see one if not all the cats there when I was doing laundry or whatnot. What I noticed however after some time was that I didn't always see my roommate's cat(s).
He had 3 cats a black and white one, an all black one and a Siamese. What I would occasionally see, and always alone - the other cats were always upstairs - was another cat sitting on the steps or running up the steps. But this was a much larger and fluffier cat. All of the roomie's cats were short hairs and this other cat was a big fluffy beast. A creamy colour with white paws and facial markings.
After I had seen it 3 or 4 times I mentioned it to my roommate and he said the owner that lived downstairs originally had the top apartment and by default the back half of the basement and at that time also has a cat similar in appearance to the one I described. The cat's was named Papillon.
The next time I saw the ghost cat I said hello to him by name and I heard a soft meow before he disappeared.
---
Years later (Dec 2006) when we were both preparing to move we were talking with the owner in her apartment (on the main floor) and I looked over on a bookcase and saw a picture of the cat I had so often seen in our basement. I asked her what happened to him and she mentioned he used to spend a lot of time on the stairs and liked the coolness of the basement, but one day he got out through the door to the back from the stairwell. They looked for days and days but he never returned.
I guess poor Papillon got lost or found a new home (or as is possible with a an indoor cat, worse...) but in death he returned home to place he loved most.
