Shared this reddit yesterday but no one cared. Oh well.
I'm doing a copy paste of what I wrote if it looks a little off my normal writing style. This happened Friday. (Here's the story)
>Disclaimer and extra context -
I am fortunate my cat and my dragon are content to ignore each other, this is true being inside the house or outside. Neither is stressed out or interested in the other. My cat Greysie has a peculiar quirk where she has always ignored any reptile or amphibian. Things with feathers and fur and insects she will chase and kill if she can. However, she never ever bothers toads, frogs, snakes, lizards, and other like things outside. I am lucky (my dragon Devlyn and my frog Charlie too) that she doesn’t care to attempt murder for little herps.
>What happened -
I was just outside on the porch sunning with Devlyn, getting real UVB and D3 because I want to be a good slave to my master. Greysie was nearby in a bush, looking for rabbits I’m sure. This red tailed squirrel walks onto the far side of the porch. Weird. Starts walking towards Devlyn, NOT GOOD! Devlyn is between me and the red tailed squirrel. Red tailed squirrels can be mean and nasty on a good day, this one was walking straight towards a lizard while a human was also there starting to panic and shout at the thing. While still standing up shouting at the squirrel Greysie suddenly sprints full speed past me and past Devlyn who now black beards and puffs up opening mouth at the cat on squirrel battle that has started. Greysie tries to tackle the squirrel, squirrel runs quick circles around Devlyn and me with a cat biting the squirrel’s tail. I picked up Devlyn, so much happened in a few brief seconds. Greysie chased the red tailed squirrel away and it escaped up a tree.
>Thoughts since the event -
Things could have gone so bad! This is already not a good situation. If the squirrel or Greysie had ran over Devlyn in their struggle Devlyn could have been hurt so badly. If the squirrel had touched Devlyn who knows what would have happened, because I am not sure I could have reached Devlyn in time, she was about 10 feet away from me closer to the edge of the porch where the squirrel appeared. Going outside with Greysie and Devlyn before has never been an issue since they happily ignore each other. I always stay by Devlyn and Greysie walks around maybe going to a neighbor’s yard. I actually like having Greysie outside with Devlyn because the birds stay away, birds fluttering above stress Devlyn out. This wasn’t a baby red squirrel either, as the babies can sometimes be too curious and will approach people. I don’t know what was wrong with that squirrel. Devlyn is back in her enclosure and seems completely fine now. Greysie has walked in line of sight of Devlyn’s enclosure and neither exhibit any reaction to the other. I am going to keep an eye out just in case Devlyn shows signs of stress after seeing the ferocious murder-activated cat. Recently I got a Wyze camera in Devlyn’s enclosure so I know for a fact now that Greysie never bothers Devlyn.
You want to know something? I am absolutely going to keep bringing Greysie outside when I take Devlyn out. Greysie may be a vicious killer but she is terrified of other cats. I know if another cat is nearby because she runs back to me her fur all kinds of poofed and wants back inside immediately, this has not happened since I got Devlyn, I live in a new house this year. If a cat was stalking Devlyn and decided to attack I highly doubt I could stop a cat, cats are too quick, the damage would be done and poor Devlyn would suffer. Greysie is my bird deterrent, other cat alarm, and attacker of rogue red tailed squirrels. My immediate backyard is fenced and I stay on the porch/patio area with Devlyn. It is very unlikely some other cat would come by, but it is not impossible.
Listen, cats are kill machines. Anyone who actually is a cat person should accept that if they were shrunk down to the size of a mouse their precious kitty would maim them to death and the last fleeting thought their kitty would have for them is disappointment that the shrunken human was too dead to play with anymore. I know this and I love cats. If Greysie wasn’t the little weirdo she is because she sees a herp and wants nothing to do it I wouldn’t have a dragon.