When the Neighborhood Thug is a Black Cat

I am a dyed in the wool cat lover. I have three, two of which I’ve managed to persuade to be indoor-only and a third who’s an old guy and still set in his indoor-outdoor ways. Even still, he stays mostly close to home, too creaky to wander far. And he’s always in at night.

But there’s a cat thug in the neighborhood. A miscreant. A hooligan. A hoodlum, a lout. My husband and I call him EBC–Evil Black Cat.

He’s not a stray. He’s in good flesh, his coat looks good, his eyes are clear. I believe the neighbors own him. I went over there once to discuss the problems I was having with him and they promised to keep him in more often. But if this is the same black cat, that promise didn’t stick.

So what has he done? He launched himself at my leg and bit me (thank God I was wearing jeans). He’s attacked the neighbor twice and scratched him.

Back when my girl cat was allowed outside, he chased her and bit her twice, both times requiring a trip to the vet. Once when we had the slider open and the screen door shut, he went right through the screen, knocking it off its track to attack one of my other cats. He went running through the house (admittedly freaked out) before I could finally herd him out the door. I didn’t want to touch him out of fear he’d make mincemeat out of me.

So no, I’m not a fan of the EBC. He’s a pretty scary guy. There are times I’m tempted to catch him in a humane trap and tote him off to animal control. But I know what would happen to him there, so I just put up with him and keep my cats in as best I can.

So, any advice out there? What would you do?