You were loved, Anna.

thanatos0042

TCS Member
Thread starter
Adult Cat
Joined
Dec 29, 2011
Messages
104
Purraise
245
Hello all, I come again, with the passing of another wonderful, sweet cat. She was a feral and so we could not keep her inside, but she was loved and she was ours as much as any feral can be.

Dogs killed her today. At least she got some claws in one of the dogs face. We got her to the vet, she wasn't too torn up but the person on shift thought she had a punctured lung. These were big dogs roaming around in our townhome complex. She passed in my arms on the way to the vet. I am so destroyed.

I always link my previous threads...mostly for myself...

My Poor Sox...
Farewell My Friend...
Another Story To Add...
Goodbye sweet Eva...

Oh my poor, sweet Anna, you were loved. - keep her in your thoughts and prayers. I wish I could have kept her safely inside, but she would escape when we'd bring her in...run out the door if we opened it too long. She loved her freedom, but I guess there is no freedom for cats without risk. We just couldn't keep her inside, despite our best efforts she was a free soul, but I feel like I failed her, failed in being able to protect her properly. Ugh and now I want to bring Callie in as well...and the "brothers" but they aren't so tame as Callie is and Anna was....Feral cats, such a difficult dilemma. I can't believe dogs caught her, I am just...shocked. I am in shock, we lost Anna...

So let me tell you all about Anna.

She was a abandoned or stray cat we found when we moved into our current home. She was pregnant and had a litter of kittens shortly after. We still have two of them (inside) that we couldn't find homes for. We got her spayed and we took care of her, bringing her in when the weather was bad. She was sweet and affectionate and always kept close for food and water. We had her about 6 1/2 years and she was a couple of years older from what we were told, so around 8 or 9. God, I am going to miss her little mews when she slips under the gate for food. She loved being petted and scritched while she ate and I put a little tote shelter for her away from the other cats she could sleep in beside our wall, under the overhang.

i am pretty sure she had somewhere else to be in bad weather too and someone else feeding her, I feel so sorry for them, never knowing where she vanished to...You never know what happens to those who vanish, and some of mine have too, I think about them and pray they are somewhere safe and loved, here or there.
20161204_154346.jpg 20161223_204223.jpg 20150816_140743.jpg 20150531_222333.jpg

We are getting her cremated and she will join my shelf along side my other cats that I've had cremated (Sox, Eva, Morpheus, Mal and Ashe).

Goodbye Anna, I am so sorry I couldn't do more....I will love and miss you always. I hope you are with others that we have loved and loss.


And thank you all for reading and your thoughts and prayers.
 

Krienze

Officially a cat lady now. No regrets.
Super Cat
Joined
Feb 2, 2020
Messages
988
Purraise
1,787
Location
Louisiana
I'm so sorry for your loss. I'll be thinking of you today. Anna was a very beautiful cat, and she's looking at you with such love in her eyes in those photos.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #3

thanatos0042

TCS Member
Thread starter
Adult Cat
Joined
Dec 29, 2011
Messages
104
Purraise
245
thank you so much,. She is my fist feral lost to a dog attack, but at least I was there with her at the end...It's not a lot of comfort to be honest, but at least it is...something. I can't help but feel so guilty I couldn't be there in enough time to save her.
 

Krienze

Officially a cat lady now. No regrets.
Super Cat
Joined
Feb 2, 2020
Messages
988
Purraise
1,787
Location
Louisiana
thank you so much,. She is my fist feral lost to a dog attack, but at least I was there with her at the end...It's not a lot of comfort to be honest, but at least it is...something. I can't help but feel so guilty I couldn't be there in enough time to save her.
I've had several feral cats over the years that I've loved and lost. I understand the guilt, but it truly wasn't your fault at all. You being with her in her final moments was a beautiful thing. Surely she felt you near and was able to pass in comfort knowing she was loved!
 

Mamanyt1953

Rules my home with an iron paw
Staff Member
Forum Helper
Joined
Oct 16, 2015
Messages
31,173
Purraise
67,765
Location
North Carolina
Rest you gentle, Anna, dream you deep. Your pawprints are on someone's heart forever.

And in the end, she had the greatest gift of all...she passed through the Gate between This Adventure and her Next Great Adventure held in your arms, surrounded by love. And she knows.
 

di and bob

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Dec 12, 2012
Messages
16,577
Purraise
22,949
Location
Nebraska, USA
Can you find out if there is an ordinance where you live about vicious dogs being allowed to roam around? When a dog kills another domestic animal, a child could be next. Please check and have them rounded up and the owner maybe fined......
My heart goes out to you. I know the fears that plague you when you take care of strays and ferals, I finally moved to the country only to trade a busy road to coyotes. Please make sure they have a shed or somewhere they can run to for safety, but if caught unaware it can still turn tragic.
You gave that sweet girl so many more years of truly living, you took her in and made sure her kittens were given a good home. 8 or 9 for an outside cat is remarkable. I hope you can take comfort in that you were with her in the end, it meant everything to her.
You did not fail her, you gave her everything she wanted, love, and a place to call home. You did what you could for these beautiful little ones, it means everything to them. The outside world is a cruel dangerous place, but you are making it so much better for them than it could be and they love you for it.
The bond of love you have with that sweet girl will be with you for eternity, because it is spiritual and not bound to this earth. It doesn't just disappear when she left this world, it will tie your souls together until your own end. None of us are guaranteed a tomorrow. It is up to us to make our world as good as it can be, to seek the beauty and happiness truly living can bring. So go forward into your future, not in sorrow and pain because of the past, they are meant to be a part of your past too, and though they can affect our present time, do not allow them to put a stain on your future. Live your life as you would want Anna to live if you were the first to go, that is love. She would want no less. Use your precious memories to bring you comfort, to be remembered and loved after death is a great honor.
My thoughts and prayers are with you all, I know Anna is at peace because she carries your love.....RIP precious Anna. You will never be forgotten, you will always have a secure place in a loving heart. May the good Lord bless and keep you, until you meet again!
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #8

thanatos0042

TCS Member
Thread starter
Adult Cat
Joined
Dec 29, 2011
Messages
104
Purraise
245
BARK was dispatched by our townhome management because an aggressive dog killed a cat. But they were gone...when I got home from the vet we drove around, I even drove around in the neighborhoods around us and didn't see them. I even walked the townhome complex 5 more times through the day, but no sight of them.

I even talked to a few of my neighbors and other people I saw in our complex....to keep their eyes out, to text or call me...so I did have my shed door open, but I also have my gate bottom shaved up so they can slip under, I suspect she was gotten out in the open and was running for our place...I keep our gate locked and our cats parked pretty close together so a dog won't have a lot of movement room but a cat will.

I do what I can, what is allowed by the HOA...I even have a tarped area inside our gate with totes under big boards and wood up on cinderblocks to give them hide-away space...and I can only think she was running for us when they got her....I am so angry thinking about it....so angry I can't get any justice for her....but I am going to try and find those owners, but it seems unlikely. This isn't the first time we've had dogs running in a pack around here. I Can only hope BARK gets them.

It is comfort we got there at the end, that she didn't die alone or get torn up by dogs...but I am still heartsick I couldn't do more and save her.

She mostly hung out a tiny calico cat we call Callie...I snatched her up and brought her inside...she isn't happy about it though...she cried through part of the night...and she hung out in our catio, which is a wood and chicken wire enclosure we have at our back window
(inside our fence) so our cats can go inside to outside....but she doesn't like being couped up but I couldn't deal with dogs getting her so soon after Anna...

Thank you all for your kind words and emotional and spiritual support. I really hope she knew I was there...I hope she felt me there...I hope we meet again, I hope I meet all the ones that have passed on before me...I know I will need time to grieve and let go and move on...I know ferals get the short end of the stick and I hope I make a difference for them...

the words y'all give me do provide me a little comfort and help, especially in knowing she won't ever be forgotten...she'll always be out here, in some corner of the internet or internet archives...thanks again.
 

Mamanyt1953

Rules my home with an iron paw
Staff Member
Forum Helper
Joined
Oct 16, 2015
Messages
31,173
Purraise
67,765
Location
North Carolina
It certainly does not die. It continues on, translated and purified into Love. Love is the strongest energy in the universe, and energy does not end, it only changes form. She is with you still.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #12

thanatos0042

TCS Member
Thread starter
Adult Cat
Joined
Dec 29, 2011
Messages
104
Purraise
245
Thank you all very much.

I feel pretty lost still...I miss seeing her run up to get breakfast or at dinner....but at 4 days at least my eyes are a bit dryer and now I am just feeling exhausted.

I think I will feel a bit better when I get her ashes back and I put them with my others, so hopefully she is in good company with a surrogate family that all have us in common.
 
Top