A very large orange tomcat is making nightly visits to a Pleasant Hills house. The cat hangs out on a window sill outside a large picture window, hissing and yowling. When the window is closed because of cold or rainy weather, he bangs on the glass in a rather threatening manner. When the window is open, he shreds the screen.

Needless to say, the people who live in that house are not happy. The tomcat is not welcome there, but he's been stopping by, night after night, for more than a month.

When humans in the house yell at him and try to chase him away, "he comes up to us and rolls on his back, looking for affection," the lady of the house said in an e-mail to me.

The people in that house feel sorry for the big boy, who is out on the very coldest nights, and in heavy rains and blustering snowstorms. The people in the house are cat lovers, and that is a large part of their dilemma.

Four cats live in the house, three females and one male. The oldest is 17 and the youngest is 18 months. All are neutered and none ever go outdoors.

The tomcat's hissing and yowling is aimed at the male house cat.

All four of the house cats "are so upset by all of the noise, by the end of the night, they are vomiting. The youngest won't even come downstairs in the evening for fear of the cat," their owner says.

"He apparently doesn't want my cats to live with us. I'm worried about this summer, when we have our windows open. I have screens, but I don't know if this guy has his shots."

This cat owner knows that many cat diseases are airborne, especially respiratory ailments for which there are no inoculations.

A cat hater would have probably called animal control, or the local police department. Cats that run loose are frequently shot or poisoned.

The Pleasant Hills woman is getting desperate, and the situation is getting worse. About a week ago, she sent me a "cat visitor update," stating that the tom has stepped up his visits, adding a 6 a.m. daily stop.

"I'm at the point that I'm going to start knocking on doors to see who owns him," the woman said. She knows he doesn't belong to nearby neighbors, and she suspects he lives a couple of blocks away.

"I feel bad that he's out at night because it has been so cold. I would like to put his owners outside for the night. I'm almost at the point where I'm going to call animal control to have some peace and quiet."

I've written, in the past, about the angst aroused by cats who roam outdoors. Some people hate cats in general, and outdoor cats drive them crazy, and it doesn't matter whether the cat is a stray or someone's pet.

Outdoor cats stalk bird feeders and kill birds. They get into fights with other cats. They spray urine on porch furniture and defecate in gardens. Many a dog owner has worried that his dog will jump the fence, chase a cat into the street and get hit by a car.

Even cat lovers are bothered by outdoor cats, such as the lady who e-mailed me.

Here's her view: "There's nothing that makes me angrier than someone who can't take care of their pets." She notes that we've all heard "those" owners say that the cats just want to go out and have to be let out.

"If you keep them in, they will get over not going out, " the woman said. "Two of my cats lived outside before we got them" and now their only interest in the great outdoors "is sitting in a window sniffing the wind."

Does anyone out there know this cat? He's orange and weighs about 24 pounds, and the house cats he is haunting live on Ben Til Drive.

What would you do if this cat was visiting your house? Does anyone have any tips for this lady and her four stressed-out house cats?

More than 400 purebred felines and household pets are being primped and primed for a big cat show March 19 and 20 at the Pittsburgh Expo Mart in Monroeville. It's sponsored by the Western Pennsylvania Cat Fanciers.

Many breeds will be represented, including Maine coons, Persians, Birman, Norwegian forest cats, Abyssinian, Burmese, Devon rex and Japanese bobtail.

This will be a Cat Fanciers' Association Show. That association is the world's largest registry of pedigreed cats.

The show is open to the public. In addition to watching the judging of the competition, spectators can see the cats and their owners "up close and personal" in the rest areas, where they hang out when they're not being judged. There are also vendors selling all kinds of cat products.

Admission is $6 for adults, $5 for seniors and $4 for children, but age 3 and under get in for free. Look for more information in the Post-Gazette as we get closer to the show date.

2005 has been the year of the cat, so far, in Pet Tales. But the dogs will have their day in upcoming columns.

I just got the first unofficial dog show notification. The big Pittsburgh show will be April 2 and 3 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.