My mum had this happen to her, I do still remember it well. She had a cat named Lady, she was very attached to my mum and our house. She'd never leave the garden, unless she was right at my mum's side, preferably even in her sweater. She was a very anxious cat with bad separation anxiety, completely imprinted on my mum. So we were very distraught when we suddenly couldn't find her anymore. She never left, this was not like her. I remember putting up missing posters while crying, I was so scared of what could have happened to her.
It turned out that some kids saw her on the sidewalk (which we highly doubt, but even then she'd just be chilling right in front of our house) and decided she didn't look good. They took her and brought her to a lady nearby, who had a lot of animals who looked a little neglected. Apparently they took her to the vet, because she wasn't eating properly and seemed too thin. Now, she was always a slim cat, especially since she was around 14 years old when this happened. And the stress from being ripped from her safe environment and forced into this weird house she didn't know, mustn't have helped her appetite.
The vet suggested putting her down! Which the catnapper luckily didn't do. Eventually we got her back, I was left out of the confrontation because I was still young. But apparently this lady had the guts to send us the freaking vet bill! She didn't even really need medical help, just less stress.
Good thing they didn't put her down. She lives a little over 2 more wonderful years, but was never quite the same afterwards. She was still very cuddly, absolutely lovely and even made friends with our new puppy. She died peacefully in-between my mum legs, in her sleep.
And no, we didn't end up paying the vet bill.
It turned out that some kids saw her on the sidewalk (which we highly doubt, but even then she'd just be chilling right in front of our house) and decided she didn't look good. They took her and brought her to a lady nearby, who had a lot of animals who looked a little neglected. Apparently they took her to the vet, because she wasn't eating properly and seemed too thin. Now, she was always a slim cat, especially since she was around 14 years old when this happened. And the stress from being ripped from her safe environment and forced into this weird house she didn't know, mustn't have helped her appetite.
The vet suggested putting her down! Which the catnapper luckily didn't do. Eventually we got her back, I was left out of the confrontation because I was still young. But apparently this lady had the guts to send us the freaking vet bill! She didn't even really need medical help, just less stress.
Good thing they didn't put her down. She lives a little over 2 more wonderful years, but was never quite the same afterwards. She was still very cuddly, absolutely lovely and even made friends with our new puppy. She died peacefully in-between my mum legs, in her sleep.
And no, we didn't end up paying the vet bill.