I used to roll my eyes at the cat blame game, figured it was just an easy excuse when the real problem was dirty feeders. Then my sister in Columbus had the same thing happen with her goldfinches and she set up a cheap trail cam from Harbor Freight, and sure enough there was a tabby sitting in the bushes at 6am every day. Three weeks is a long time to watch, so you probably did see what you saw, and a cat coming back to a spot it already hunted is a hard habit to break. Stale nyjer is real too though, so if you want to be sure, put fresh seed in and leave the feeder where it is for a week before you move anything. That way you test the seed by itself instead of guessing after the fact. My guess is the cat was the big thing and the seed was just along for the ride.

I used to figure flexi leashes were fine for easy walks and only bad in theory. Then a friend's cord zipped across my calf on a trail and left a burn that took weeks to heal, and now I see why people hate them. Retractable cords store up a lot of force, so when they go, they really go.