I’ve never posted a new thread here so please be patient with me if I’m doing something wrong. Thank you.
Three weeks ago my husband and I were outside with our 3 dogs (very small chihuahuas who get along with our cats) taking them out to use the bathroom. We got to the back left corner of our yard and I spotted a light gray figure. Usually, I see a light figure and panic but it’s always a grocery bag or something else. It was our mama kitty, grits, who was dead. This breaks my heart to think about and I’m so distraught. We have a wooden privacy fence and we discovered that the fence had a “v” shaped area of wood that had been damaged and was gone. Grits was dead laying at the bottom of this v and caught right above her back legs. She must have lost her balance and fallen perfectly into this gap in the wood or was being chased and not being careful about her footing. I don’t think she was being chased because the back of her body was left untouched and I injured. She had no injuries other than a squished midsection from the fence. What hurts me the most is that she probably laid there for hours and slowly died from circulation being cut off. I didn’t hear her meows if she did meow. She’s loud she she wants to be so I can’t imagine no one hearing her. I also thought maybe the fall paralyzed her but upon further investigation I could see where she clawed the fence with her back feet. I wish I wouldn’t have looked now. I’m so heartbroken. Grits was only 4 years old. She was full of spunk, loved being outside and inside with us. She was finicky at times and very loving. She could find a box within seconds and loved sleeping on cardboard. She was such a beautiful lynx point. She once ate a lizard whole so we called her the purple lizard eater. ( her fur was slightly purple at times in the right lighting) we have three of her offspring still. Her only boy is her spitting image. He followed her around like a lost puppy all the time! We miss her terribly and feel so guilty for not finding her in time. We know that it happened sometime that Saturday and she wasn’t there for more than 12 hours. We do headcounts on our fur babies because we have so many. We have three dogs, 4 cats, two foster kittens, and 5 outdoor “strays”. I feel weird calling them strays because we have them names and paid to fix them and vaccinate them. However, we can’t pick some of them up or touch a couple of them. One of them took about a year to trust me enough to let me pet him without him swatting me or trying to bite me. We had to trap two before transporting them all to their surgery appointments. I’m so glad we don’t have to worry about litters if kittens now! And btw, all our cats are spayed and neutered as well. We must be known among stray and feral cats around here because they keep popping up!! Back to the topic. Has anyone else had a situation like this happen? I feel like it was a freak accident. I still can’t believe grits died such an awful death. Nothing could have prepared me to find her like this. Any words of wisdom would be much appreciated.
I do realize that keeping my cats indoors all the time would significantly reduce the rate of accidents like this but my kitties absolutely thrive on being able to frolic outside and play together in our yard. They are so bored and restless if they are kept indoors only. We had to do that when we bought our new house. They come and go as they please through the doggy door that’s mounted in one of our bottom window panes.
Thank you for taking the time to read my rambling. I apologize if I posted this in the wrong place and if I added bits that were too off topic. Thanks again.
Rest In Peace Grits. We love you so much.
P.s grits was buried with her favorite food, treats, toys, and of course in a box that she loved so much. She has a pretty tombstone as well.
Three weeks ago my husband and I were outside with our 3 dogs (very small chihuahuas who get along with our cats) taking them out to use the bathroom. We got to the back left corner of our yard and I spotted a light gray figure. Usually, I see a light figure and panic but it’s always a grocery bag or something else. It was our mama kitty, grits, who was dead. This breaks my heart to think about and I’m so distraught. We have a wooden privacy fence and we discovered that the fence had a “v” shaped area of wood that had been damaged and was gone. Grits was dead laying at the bottom of this v and caught right above her back legs. She must have lost her balance and fallen perfectly into this gap in the wood or was being chased and not being careful about her footing. I don’t think she was being chased because the back of her body was left untouched and I injured. She had no injuries other than a squished midsection from the fence. What hurts me the most is that she probably laid there for hours and slowly died from circulation being cut off. I didn’t hear her meows if she did meow. She’s loud she she wants to be so I can’t imagine no one hearing her. I also thought maybe the fall paralyzed her but upon further investigation I could see where she clawed the fence with her back feet. I wish I wouldn’t have looked now. I’m so heartbroken. Grits was only 4 years old. She was full of spunk, loved being outside and inside with us. She was finicky at times and very loving. She could find a box within seconds and loved sleeping on cardboard. She was such a beautiful lynx point. She once ate a lizard whole so we called her the purple lizard eater. ( her fur was slightly purple at times in the right lighting) we have three of her offspring still. Her only boy is her spitting image. He followed her around like a lost puppy all the time! We miss her terribly and feel so guilty for not finding her in time. We know that it happened sometime that Saturday and she wasn’t there for more than 12 hours. We do headcounts on our fur babies because we have so many. We have three dogs, 4 cats, two foster kittens, and 5 outdoor “strays”. I feel weird calling them strays because we have them names and paid to fix them and vaccinate them. However, we can’t pick some of them up or touch a couple of them. One of them took about a year to trust me enough to let me pet him without him swatting me or trying to bite me. We had to trap two before transporting them all to their surgery appointments. I’m so glad we don’t have to worry about litters if kittens now! And btw, all our cats are spayed and neutered as well. We must be known among stray and feral cats around here because they keep popping up!! Back to the topic. Has anyone else had a situation like this happen? I feel like it was a freak accident. I still can’t believe grits died such an awful death. Nothing could have prepared me to find her like this. Any words of wisdom would be much appreciated.
I do realize that keeping my cats indoors all the time would significantly reduce the rate of accidents like this but my kitties absolutely thrive on being able to frolic outside and play together in our yard. They are so bored and restless if they are kept indoors only. We had to do that when we bought our new house. They come and go as they please through the doggy door that’s mounted in one of our bottom window panes.
Thank you for taking the time to read my rambling. I apologize if I posted this in the wrong place and if I added bits that were too off topic. Thanks again.
Rest In Peace Grits. We love you so much.
P.s grits was buried with her favorite food, treats, toys, and of course in a box that she loved so much. She has a pretty tombstone as well.