Does he eat babies? Good looking cat
While there can be many reason's for markasd's decision, I have an anecdote.
I know cats...I've had a few over the course of many years. My favorite was a male I had since his entire body fit in my hand and he was the most mellow, gentle cat of them all. He was around for the birth of all three of my kids. While my children learned to crawl, walk and explore their surroundings, he would inevetably get grabbed and tugged by curious, young hands. This of course resulted in many handfuls of his fur getting tugged out and he took it like a champ; he never hissed, snapped or lashed back, but would instead just slowly saunter off to somewhere quieter; he was super patient with young children.
One day, the cat was intently staring out a window and my youngest (my boy, aged 3 at the time...cat was age 12) was playing with some toy about 5 feet away from the cat, minding his own business. Suddenly, the cat just went berserk...he lept from the window sill and pounced on the head/neck of my young boy, biting and clawing furiously...screams and blood gushed forth.
The aftermath was gruesome...the floor, clothing and cat fur soaked in blood and gaping wounds throughout the scalp and face of my poor child. My cat had never even swatted or hissed at another human being to this point in his entire 12 year life; there was never an indication that something like this could happen. But, something terrible happened that day.
From what I understand, sometimes a cat can get so aroused by some small animal's movement or something (even outside the window), that a simple, sudden movement in their peripheral vision can trigger a vicious, attacking response in even the mellowest of cat.
I had this cat since before I was married and my wife wanted to put him down. I couldn't bring myself to do it, so he lived out the remainder of his life (he passed at age 15, a little over a year ago) in the garage since he had no idea how to fend for himself outdoors at that point in his life.
I don't know the specifics of markasd's reasoning, but the question of 'Does he eat babies?' can be irrelevant as my cat had never given an indication that he would attack like that. Animals are animals and sometimes they react out of pure instinct; they are unpredictable.
Good luck finding a home for Batman, markasd; he's a great looking cat.
and am going to have to find Batman a home... have to. He's just over 5, fixed indoor outdoor, mouser - birder lover!
