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Please help me figure out what happened to my cat!! (1 Viewer)

John Stockton

Second Unit
Joined
Jan 9, 2000
Messages
391
This last weekend my Siamese cat was found dead on the next door neighbor's lawn. She was only 11 months old. I usually bring in all on my cats at the end of the night and put them in the garage. But for some reason my Siamese did not show up at the end of the night. I stayed awake till 3:30 AM and went out in the back and the front yard calling her. After several minutes I gave up and came in and closed the door.
The next morning my sister comes over and asks me if that is my cat laying dead in the neighbors lawn. I immediately rush out and saw her laying lifeless on the grass. What is strange is that she was positioned in such a way as though someone had put her there. My sister asked our neighbor what had happened. She said that she woke up and got a call from some kids down the street, that they had seen a dead cat on their lawn. Not knowing whose cat it is, she called "Animal Control" for them to come and pick her up. Thankfully my sister showed up in time. otherwise she would have been cremated.
Now the mystery is what happened to her?? I went to her doctor and she told me that it could be a number of things.
First and mostly she believes that she was hit by a car or a bicycle. Someone then picked her up and put her in the middle of the lawn OR she was hit and she managed to make it to the lawn herself and died there. By the way there were no signs of injury on the cat whatsoever.
Second, the doctor believes that she may have ate some Rat poison. Again there were no signs of vomiting or related things anywhere.
Third, the doctor believes that the cat could have had a heart attack due to a weak heart.
As luck would have it, this incident happened on Sunday morning and no animal clinic was open then or the following day (Labor Day), so I had no choice but to bury her immediately in the back yard, otherwise I definitely would have taken her in for an autopsy.
I am single and have no kids, so my pets are more like my children. This past week has been the worst in my life. What kills me, is that I never found out what really happened. That is why I am asking you all what your opinion is on what happened.
Thanks for reading my sad tale.
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[Edited last by John Stockton on September 08, 2001 at 06:30 PM]
 

Steve Tannehill

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I feel your pain, John, but IMO, the best thing to do is put this behind you and apply your energy into the adoption of a new cat or kitten from one of your area shelters.
- Steve
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Bob McLaughlin

Screenwriter
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John,
Very sorry to hear the bad news. One of my cats died a few weeks ago in different circumstances and I really miss her.
I would guess that your cat was struck by a vehicle. Sometimes they get hit and manage to crawl away, being the tough animals that they are. We lost a cat this way when I was a kid.
I don't know what your feelings are on the idea of keeping an "indoor-only" cat, but I've heard a rather sobering statistic: outdoor cats have a life expectation of only 18 months. Cats love to be outdoors, to be sure, and there are plenty of ways they can get into trouble indoors (you know how cats are!), but you don't have to worry as much. It might be something to think about for the future.
Once again, you have my heartfelt condolences.
 

Ben Motley

Supporting Actor
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Mar 3, 2001
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738
John, that's terrible. It has to be hard without having any closure. I'm not saying this is what happened, but I know from firsthand experience how cats can crawl away from an auto hit. I still have a cat that was struck by a car. When she was hit, she crawled to the side of the house and stayed the night there. I came outside to go to work the neaxt day, and there she was. When she heard me coming out, she just started meowing her heart out. I found her, following the meowing, and she looked fine. There were absolutely no marks on her whatsoever, but I knew something was wrong because she wouldn't stand up. I gently picked her up and carted her off to the vet, where they took some x-rays. It turned out that her hip had basically been squashed together, snapping it, and her insides were all a mess due to it. I'm sorry to be so graphic, but I just want to illustrate how a major injury can be hidden by an undameged skin/coat. Luckily, there was a student vet interning there, and wanted to operate. All of the doctors said that under normal circumstances, they would suggest euthenasia, as an operation would cost about three grand, and they didn't think she'd pull through anyway, but as their intern wanted the experience, they asked if we would let them operate. As this would be written off as experimental post-graduate work for the intern, they wouldn't charge for it. I was like, okay, my options are let her go, or at least give her a chance with the rookie. I went with the rookie. And damn if he didn't pass with As. She came through and is a healthy cat today, without any lingering effects. She's vibrant, affectionate, and as fussy as ever.
Anyway, that's Bailey's story. Again, I am very sorry to hear about your cat, and completely agree with Stev, in that you should save a new soul from a shelter. It'll do you both good.
Take care,
Ben
 

Jeff Ulmer

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Around here it's either cars, coyotes, racoons or poisons for outdoor cats. I would suspect the car theory as well.
If I were to get a cat, I would keep it indoors. I have about 30 cats in my yard on any given day (none of them mine), and there are a number of diseases including FIV (the feline version of AIDS) that can be passed among them. With an activity center and lots of attention they should live long and happy lives indoors.
Truly sorry to hear about your loss.
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Ryan Wright

Screenwriter
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Hey John,
Sorry to hear about it, man. Losing a pet is no fun.
outdoor cats have a life expectation of only 18 months
This doesn't surprise me at all. My wife loves cats, and before we were married, she had 3 of them. All were indoor/outdoor cats. 1 somehow managed to survive over 21 years (when my wife and I were dating, the damn cat was almost a year older than me!). The other 2 lived less than 2 years. One was hit by a car. The other just never came home one day. The old one eventually had to be put to sleep, but it was also run over at one point in it's life, and once before I met my wife it was gone for something like two weeks before showing back up at the front door.
Anyhow, most outdoor cats don't live very long. It's sad, but that's the nature of it. If you can handle keeping your cats indoors 24/7, they ought to live a nice long time. I do understand the desire to let them out, though. As for what happened to your cat, without an autopsy it's anybody's guess.
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BrettB

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We have a female cat (Ashley) about 4 yrs. old which we acquired from a shelter. She has always been an indoor cat, and always will be an indoor cat. I take her out at least 2 or 3 times a day. She is perfectly content being an indoor cat. She will live a long happy (totally spoiled) life. That is all I'll say.
 

Aurel Savin

Supporting Actor
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Nov 15, 1998
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Sorry for the loss of your pet.
Basically ... I know my girfriend had a lot of cats and dogs die of poisoning. But believe it or not; it was from deliberate poisoning by neighbours who hate the animals constantly hangign out in their backyards.
Now I am not sure this is what happened, but it is the first thing that popped in my had as it is common practice in villages in Europe.
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CRyan

Screenwriter
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Feb 9, 1999
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What is weird to me is the kids that called. Whast was that about. Do you suspect the kids had anything to do with it?
C. Ryan
 

Julian Reville

Screenwriter
Joined
Aug 29, 1999
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1,195
Sorry about your kitty, John
frown.gif

Just as a point of information: if you want an autopsy done and no clinics are open, the pet can be refrigerated (double plastc bags) until a facility is open. Do not freeze the body as this destroys the cells.
Condolences,
Julian
 

John.W

Agent
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Sep 5, 2001
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I've thought for a long time that anyone who lets their dog or cat wander around outside un-leashed it asking for A Heartache. Eventually that animal will be in the wrong place @ the wrong time. The ONLY way to keep them safe is to keep cats indoors and dogs either inside or in a WELL fenced yard.
Sorry For Your Loss
 

Patrick Sun

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Jun 30, 1999
Messages
39,659
I am also sorry for your loss, John. I have 2 indoor cats (11 and 4 years old) and I did have second thoughts about keeping them indoors, but after seeing my neighbor's cat's body lying on the side of the road a few weeks ago as I was driving to work, I knew my decision to keep my cats indoors was best for all involved. Strangely enough, 5 days later, that neighbor's cat showed up and really does seem to have 9 lives...
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John Stockton

Second Unit
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Jan 9, 2000
Messages
391
Thanks for all your input and kind words.
What is weird to me is the kids that called. What was that about. Do you suspect the kids had anything to do with it?
I thought about that also. They may have accidently run her over with the bicycle or skate board and then placed her on the middle of the lawn perpendicular to the sides. I got hold of those kids and asked them, all they said is that they were playing on the street and some pedestrian was passing by and asked them if they had noticed the dead cat on the lawn, and that is how they first learned about it. I guess without an autopsy there is no way to be sure what really happened. Besides the pain of the loss, it is just so frustrating, not knowing what happened.
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Jeremy-P

Stunt Coordinator
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Sep 13, 2000
Messages
65
Once a cat hit me while I was driving. That's right, the cat ran into my car. I didn't consider it my fault because the cat just ran out and smacked the side of my car. I got out to see what happened, and it must have ran away and died in a corner or is still living a happy life. Either way, these things just happen, it's happened to a couple of my friends as well.
 

Ryan Wright

Screenwriter
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Jul 30, 2000
Messages
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Once a cat hit me while I was driving. That's right, the cat ran into my car. I didn't consider it my fault because the cat just ran out and smacked the side of my car.
We had the same thing happen to us in a forest, except it was a moose, not a cat. The damn thing just attacked our car as we were driving down this twisting mountain road at 15mph. Tried to gore my buddy who was driving, but he had his window up. Instead it left slobber all over the window, tore the driver's side mirror off and dented the side of the car. It jumped up over the A piller, landed on the hood (this was a Honda Civic, of all things; worse, it was brand new with less than a thousand miles on it), smashed the front of the car and took off down the road.
Even my buddy (who owned the car) got a good laugh out of it, after insurance paid up...
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-Ryan (http://www.ryanwright.com )
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.
Teach him to use the HTF and keep him occupied for life.
 

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