OAKLAND — The house cat that terrorized a local woman Thursday morning has been identified and released into the care of its owner.

On Saturday afternoon, 8-month-old Floki was purring happily and lounging in the sun in the second-floor apartment where his owner, William Rattenni, lives.

Rattenni’s house, at 29 Fairfield St., is only a few doors away from where Rhonda West lives, and where West said the small cat attacked her and then trapped her in her house for almost two hours Thursday morning.

Rattenni said Floki had been missing since Wednesday afternoon, and he figured that someone else had taken him in; but when he read about West’s experience in Saturday’s Morning Sentinel, he knew his cat was alive and well.

“As soon as I read that story in the paper I knew — that’s my cat,” Rattenni said. He picked up Floki from the Humane Society Waterville Area right away.

Coincidentally, Rattenni knows West, and he used to rent an apartment to her until she bought her own place a few years ago, he said. After picking up his cat from the Humane Society, he went over to explain to West what happened.

“Oh, she laughed,” Rattenni said.

On Thursday morning, West called the police to report that the cat, which was in a tree next to her home, had attacked her and then remained on her front porch, trapping her inside with her two dogs. It also attacked her son in his car, West said.

While Floki is still young and can be rambunctious, he isn’t violent, and he is sure the cat doesn’t have rabies or some other disease, Rattenni said. But the combination of being cold, hungry and maybe trapped in a tree could have triggered a defense instinct, he guessed.

While Floki likes to climb trees, he’s not always great about getting down, Rattenni said. In December, he had to hire a tree service to fetch Floki, who was stuck at least 60 feet up in a tree behind his house. He thinks the experience might have left the young cat with lingering trauma. He guesses West might have tried to help the cat down, igniting a feral outburst.

“There’s nothing seriously wrong with him. He just is a little traumatized, and when she tried to get him out of the tree, he just freaked out,” Rattenni said.

Jenny Tuemmler, the administrative assistant of Humane Society Waterville Area said that while Floki was fine while he stayed at the shelter, he has a tendency to “play rough.”

The developing male also hasn’t been neutered, which also might explain some of his aggressive tendencies, Tuemmler added.

Peter McGuire — 861-9239

pmcguire@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @PeteL_McGuire

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