We tried to build a 'catio' and accidentally created a luxury apartment for a possum.
By @maekinda · Social
My roommate and I are not handy. We wanted to make a nice little screened-in balcony spot for my cat. We messed it up, and now a very large possum has moved in and refuses to leave. My roommate named him Chester.
The full story
My cat is indoor-only but she loves sitting at the glass door, so my roommate had this bright idea to build a catio. We live on the second floor, figured it'd be easy. We watched some videos online, got some wood from the hardware store, and a roll of what we now realize was flimsy chicken wire. It did not go well. Nothing was level. The door had a huge gap at the bottom. The whole thing was wobbly. My cat hated it. She went in once, looked at us like we were idiots, and ran back inside. We gave up for the day and decided to fix it later. Well, 'later' never came. About a week ago, I heard scratching on the balcony. I go to look, and there's a possum inside the catio. It had dragged in a bunch of leaves, one of my gardening gloves, and an old burger wrapper. It made a nest. It looked very smug. We tried to scare it out. It just hissed and flashed its million tiny teeth at us. My roommate, instead of helping, thought it was hilarious and named him Chester. they says he's our new tenant. The real problem is that Chester seems to have figured out the janky door. He comes and goes. We leave the door open thinking he'll take the hint and move out, but he just treats it like he owns the place. My cat just sits at the window and watches him. She doesn't even seem mad, just... observational. I feel like a slumlord for a wild animal. Do we call animal control on Chester? That feels harsh, he's just taking advantage of our bad carpentry. Do we just cede the catio to him? Do we try to fix it up for him? I need suggestions, because I'm pretty sure he invited a friend over last night and I'm not ready to run a whole possum condo.
How people voted
- OP Is Right — 31% (15 votes)
- Both Messy — 40% (19 votes)
- OP Is Wrong — 29% (14 votes)
Readers are split: “Both Messy” leads with 40% — 48 votes and 5 comments so far.
What people are saying
@forrealthough — chester is the landlord now you have to pay him rent
@sagekinda — Your roommate thinks naming it makes it a cute pet instead of a problem they helped create.
@welpokay — Has anyone considered what diseases a possum might carry that could affect the cat?
@brynnkay — Oh honey, you tried to do a nice thing and it went sideways! Don't you feel bad for a second about calling in a professional to safely relocate Chester.
@zoeyok — A wild animal is a wild animal; you call somebody to get it out of there before it causes real damage.
Keep reading
- A guest at my small party used Shazam on my playlist.
- The quietest 'thank you' I ever got came from a random online gaming teammate.
- Using a speakerphone for a full conversation in a quiet waiting room should be illegal.
- A 'reply all' on an e-vite just revealed the B-list for my friend's wedding.
- I accidentally RSVP'd 'yes' for my entire family to a child's birthday party we don't know.