Couple of pretty bad things today. First off, a friend of mine could be about to lose one of her kitties. It’s been diagnosed with a rather nasty disease and she has to make a decision whether to let him live on or have him put down. Anyone reading this knows how I feel about animals – my own cats in particular – so you know I’m sympathetic. It’s one of those “wish I could do something” times, made all the worse by the fact that I know I can’t.
Another poor kitty died in front of me today. Just as I was getting home, I saw a cat literally writhing in the road where I was about to park. I jumped out, thinking it was two cats fighting at first, but just one. Bleeding everywhere from somewhere in its upper half. At first I thought it had been hit by a car, but there was fur around it (not its own – it was a black cat and the fur was a light brown) so I’m now thinking it lost a fight and maybe got bitten in the neck.
It lived for maybe a minute or so. By the time I’d figured out that it was helpless and started looking for something to bash its head in with, it had stopped twitching and then stopped breathing. It had a collar on, but no name tag. I wish it had, as someone’s going to be waiting for their cat to come home tonight and I could at least have let them know.
Thanks to Steve for helping me tidy the poor thing up. Not very dignified (wrapped in two binbags and a garden sack) but at least out of harm’s way.
Overall, I just feel shitty at the moment. I have two cats here with me. KK’s sulking in her armchair and Ed’s lying with his head in my lap. I’m going away and leaving them (in capable hands, in fairness) for over a year. I’m going to miss them more than anything or anyone else I’m leaving behind.
And I’m just a soft old bastard who needs more sleep…
do the only thing you can do – big big hugs to your two and superhuman tolerance even when they’re trying to crawl onto your lap over / under the plate of food you’re trying to eat / the book you’re trying to read etc
I’m sure mine can sense when I’m in need of extra feline attention and become even more fluffy, cute & snuggly accordingly…
You need to be careful when putting an animal out of it’s misery, that some nosy ignorant bastard doesn’t try and report you for animal cruelty. Do it out of sight.
A mate recently did the decent thing for a pigeon with a torn wing we found wandering in the road. Being in posession of a home office licence he did it as swiftly and humanely as any vet – but he really copped some **** off some old biddy who seemed to be under the impression that Dr Doolittle was going to magically appear. She just couldn’t be reasoned with. Fortunately, he is fully licensed and used the apropriate method, so if she had followed through with her threat he would have been fine.
Ss – fair point. Given that it had already **** itself and I had at least one witness (plus a guy who drove past and said he hadn’t hit it) I should have been OK.
Poor bloody thing, though. *sigh*
Sounds more like a dog or a fox attack really, to be honest.
Cats fight, but they know when to back down before any real damage can be done. They want to win the fight, but they dont want to hurt themselves doing it.
Sounds like some terrier has gotten a hold.
Yup, possible it was a dog I suppose. There are one or two strays around. Either way, one dead kitty 🙁