The most vicious tame cat ever?

Meet Hercules, once dubbed by Maricopa County Animal Care & Control " the most vicious tame cat ever."

He's not. Well, he might be. At least, he might be if you're not me.

You see, Hercules is a one-woman cat, and I'm that woman. He pretty much hates everybody but me. And he has someting of a taste for human flesh. That's probably not something I should be mentioning.

A furry brat from the Arizona Humane Society, Hercules came home with me the summer of 2000. He was about 8 weeks old, and he had these humungous paws and ears. And he was as strong as an ox. Although I knew he'd eventually grow into his oversized parts, he reminded me of Disney's Hercules, hence the name.

Like all curious kitties, he was very into exploring his new surroundings, and realllly didn't want to go to sleep that first night. I think he was afraid he might miss something.

So, how could a cat with this sweet a face be called vicious? It all stems from a I trip I took to Rome and an unfortunate encounter with the car-sitter. Long story short, he bit her, she reported it. Because he hadn't had a rabies shot -- he's a strictly indoor kind of guy -- he had to be quaratined. Which means he had to be caught ... by strangers, most of whom he hates on sight. That's a story for another time.

My cat is crazy, even when he's not trying to eat people. And when he's scared or mad... look out! His fight-or-flight response is stuck permanently on fight.

I was worried about how the vets who would have to babysit him for the next 10 days would be able to tell rabies crazy from plain old crazy. They could, and when I got back, I picked him up and took him home, no worse for the wear. At least not much.

Let's just say, I've been very good about keeping him up-to-date on all of his shots since then. And if I'm going to be gone more than a couple of day and my mom can't catsit, to the vet he goes. They love him. Really.