What Would You Do?

Two nights ago, the first night in oh, months that Nathan slept through the night, we were all woken up at 4:30 AM by a cat screaming.

I panicked thinking it was our cat, but quickly realized that Steven was, as always, sleeping obnoxiously close to my face. I love the cat, and he always sleeps next to me, which is really sweet. Except that after I gave birth, he started sleeping in really irritating positions. Up against my nose. Above my head, like a cat chapeau. Or my favorite - just far enough away so that when I closed my eyes, he inexplicably REACHED OUT TO CLAW MY LOWER LIP.



He looks cute, but oh, how looks are deceiving.

Anyway, it was coming from the alley, I think. The street that runs alongside our house is a court, really, but it's so narrow I refer to it as an alley.. There are four houses on one side, opposite us, right up on the street with no yard, and our property runs along 3/4 of the other side with one house behind us. Our bedroom window and Nathan's window overlook it, and our back deck is close to it as well. So we hear everything.

I got up and looked, but couldn't see a damn thing outside, it being dark and all. The cat was obviously in pain - it sounded like a cat fight, but with one cat. I felt like I should go out and find it, but then I realized... no. The dick part of me said not my cat, not my problem. The people in the house behind us have 5-6 cats they let roam the neighborhood. They're nice enough people, and they've said the cats were all strays, but really it's their job to wake up at 5AM to fetch their sick cats. Undoubtedly they could hear the cat too. I wouldn't expect anyone else to deal with the chickens if there was a middle of the night attack.

In all honesty, though, the biggest part of me not doing anything was the fact that rabies has been an issue here (a rabid animal was once removed from our yard, even). Maybe when I had nothing to lose I would've tried to track the animal down and bring it to a vet or something... but I have a baby and a husband and animals of my own.

So am I an asshole for going back to sleep? I feel like it. I like animals. I love them, I really do. Would you have gone out there and tried to find it?