Cat freaked out in graveyard...

[Ahsheeit]

Most days, my cat and I go for a walk (and a bit of hide and seek) in the graveyard at the back of my house. We reach a certain point that he doesn't want to go past - he hisses, growls and yowls at me. It's by the same gravestone each time.

There's nothing out of the ordinary that I can see. Not a particular spot where dogs mark their territory or any other cats around. True sceptic here, so what do you think? He's fine if we turn round or go past it.

Could there be a fox den or badger sett nearby?

Who's grave is it, look them up on ancestry and see if there is anything odd. Cats often seem to see things we don't, and I'm not a believer in a lot of these things.

Please tell me that it’s not a fairly new grave and your cat can smell something you can’t.

cats see a lot of things most animals do to be honest

Your cat's clearly seeing the ghost of a curmudgeonly Victorian merchant who died in mysterious circumstances after a society scandal involving an unknown lady of the night; Betty, his maid of all work; and his butler, Thomas.

To be honest, the possible ghost is much less interesting than you and your cat playing hide and seek in the grave yard every day. We need to know more about this.

Bog standard Victorian grave, no badger or fox sett or den. He must be seeing ghosties! 😂

Playing hide and seek started when I decided to take my breaks away from my desk and have a very short walk. He decided he wanted to come with me, and would hide, then leg it out in front of me. If I go out of sight, he stalks me, bum wiggles and all, and legs it with a happy meow when he finds me.

A couple of locals have now got used to seeing this 50 something old woman playing out with her cat now. He's very friendly and says hello to them.

There will be a smell he hates.

How do you take a cat for a walk?

Yes this.
A while ago my cats got completely freaked out by the area around the cupboard I keep their food in. They’d growl and hiss and were scared. Their fur was all up and big tails etc. I was so confused.
Anyway upon further investigation a few days later I found a packet of Felix cat food that had obviously been ripped in transit to the supermarket. It had maggots in 🤢 to be honest although it did smell, it wasn’t absolutely putrid, and when in the box I really couldn’t detect anything. But obviously the cats could. As soon as I cleaned it all up they were fine again.
Must be some kind of smell of rotting that they are scared of…!

Mine just follows me
some people use a harness

This. Something's kicking out a pong he can't tolerate.

I love the action shot, OP. That's adorable.

I think you should tidy up the offending grave and leave some wild flowers.

I really hate seeing overgrown and neglected graves even if they're from many many years ago. It makes me feel incredibly melancholic to think about the people who had full and interesting lives, complex emotions, nuanced relationships etc. and now no-one remembers them.

At the very best, they're just an old-fashioned name, DOB and DOD on a family tree.

I know we all end up that way. I'm not actually that bothered about it happening to me but I feel weirdly guilty about letting foremothers be forgotten.

Edited to add: Sorry, really deep and weird and off-topic.

Probably another cat has marked its territory there, and that is what is putting him off. They may have come to fisticuffs at some point in the past, and he's a coward.

Having said all that logic... cats have powers we don't.

It will be something to do with a smell. Another cat might be marking on that particular gravestone.

Sounds adorable.

🙄

@CandleARBRA Correction - Cat is actually taking @Ahsheeit for a walk, but is letting her think it’s the other way round 😜

Our cat likes to come with us when we leave the house on foot, but refuses to go past a certain point in either direction.

She does the same thing, hisses, yowls etc. There's nothing there, she's just telling us "Nope, this is the end of our territory, we don't go further than this. There be dragons out there"

If we carry on she'll sit and watch us until we're out of sight, and then bugger off home. When we get back she lets us know in no uncertain terms that we're utter idiots for going out of bounds and she's very annoyed with us for not listening to her.

This actually happened with a dog I used to walk in the cemetery. She got so excited and it was very hard to pull her away. It made me feel quite queasy to be honest.

I ask him if he's coming, say come on then, a couple of ssspsssps and along he trots.

He's actually a bit of a thug and no other cats are allowed on 'his' patch. Bizarrely, if I have another cat visiting, such as when I look after my friend's ones, he's soft as shit with them in the house.

He's a clever boy. He knows that if we take one path, it's playtime. If I take the other, wearing my headphones and backpack and ignore me, he doesn't follow.

Well, quite 😉

He’s a handsome boy! Do you ever come across other cats or any dogs?

Just seen the photo - he’s a lovely big boy isn’t he! He reminds me of Puss in Boots in Shrek 😁

No other cats, occasionally a dog but always on a lead. He is a lovely big boy. My best mate 😊