everytime mom goes away, someone dies

[Bendy Kitty]

she was visitng her family last week
go thome yesterday evening.
she couldn't find TwoBit anywhere, called and called
found her this morning, dead. looks like she had been there a couple days, the side of her face was bloody.

mom doesn't know what to think.
three different people were in teh house and checked on the cats, and no one noticed she was missing.
we have lost so many cats this year mom just stares at walls now.

we don't know what to think.

[LisainCAN]

Aw, not poor Two Bit. She was special. I am so sorry.

[Bendy Kitty]

TwoBit loved to knock over the laundry and make a nest.
She always seemed so pleased with herself.

[Christine]

I'm just so sorry.....she was precious.

[CarolC]

Oh no!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so so so so so sorry. Is there any way to find out? I don't know what you can do. Do you have to get a camera installed so you can watch them from a distance and notice if all are accounted for? Is that what it takes? You mean you found her outside? Of all the cats to get out, she had a lot of white and was fluffy and should have been noticed you would think. And then what happened after that? This is hard to understand and seems impossible. I am SO sorry. I am so sorry.

[Bendy Kitty]

no, she did not go outside.
she hid in the cabinet under the bathroom sink, a favorite hiding place.
if she went outside i could understand this better, many accidents happen outside. but inside?
we are stunned and confused and do not understand. this is the kind of thing we have nightmares about happening, coming home to one of the cats dead in a puddle of blood. it makes no sense. this place is very empty without her.

it would take quite a few cameras to cover everywhere in this house.

[CarolC]

I'm sure you've thought of everything already many times over so I'm no help, but I keep seeing myself in that situation and I would be needing to know what happened, to know it will not happen to another cat. A cat doesn't get blood on the face from no cause. I would check which side of the face it was on. If it was on her right then could another cat have jumped her? I've heard cats tend to be left handed so the right side of her face might be scratched if it was another cat. But that would have to be quite a fight and I don't think it would be fatal unless infection set in. If you had dogs in the house that is the first thing I would consider. I don't know if you could check whether her neck or back was broken if she'd been shaken. There are too many cases of dogs that were good family pets right up till the time they suddenly weren't, they bite a child, started killing livestock, etc. It is inconceivable to us they would act like that, we have known them , but it is not inconceivable to them. Once they start you can never trust them again. I had a chow that was wonderful to me and the best guard dog I could ask for when she was in the back yard, but I could not have her around children and would not trust her in the house with the cats when I wasn't there. I remember a while back you had a wild critter in the house, was it a possum or raccoon or something? Could another one have gotten in and back out again? Cats and possums seem to leave each other alone but I think raccoons could be a problem. Did you find evidence of a fight elsewhere in the house, because it seems likely she retreated under the sink after something happened, so whatever happened probably did not happen under the sink. I was not sure whether to ask these questions, I will certainly delete this post if you want me to.

[Bendy Kitty]

they are all good questins
and thign i have been over.
the dog was outside in her pen, no way for her to get inside.
havent' had problems with wild critters in a long tiem, fixed that (thankfully)
i have looked an looked, and i cannot find any sign of anything anywhere else in the house. no blood or fur taht would indicate a fight. a lot of stuff was knocked down, and one person suggested maybe something fell on her. i'm pretty sure she went under the sink to hide after whatever it was happened and then died there.
i have examined her closely. i do not see any outward signs of injury, but if something hi her head she could have bled out her ear. neck is not broken, skin does not appear to be broken.
this is right out of one of my nightmares.

[CarolC]

That sounds very plausible. I had a cat injured at our last house when someone knocked a large potted plant over that was on a plant stand. We can't keep our pets in padded rooms, I think my house is too boring for them as it is, but I no longer have any plants on plant stands. This house has a mantle and it was only a matter of time before someone knocked that off the supports, so I had to fix that after we moved here. Just now after reading your explanation I took zip ties and fastened the stacked crates together, I do not think it is likely they could fall but that is exactly why they call them freak accidents, because they are so unlikely. I am just sorry this happened at all, and but especially that it happened to TwoBit. It sounds like it will probably will never be repeated.

[sdrakkan]

Oh no, what a horrible thing to happen while away. I too worry what will happen when I'm not here. Now that I have two 6 month old kittens to look after, I have to keep them in the main rooms, no bedroom, bathroom or balcony. They are way more trouble than either Stanley or Adair was at this age. Adair has knocked over a bookcase (Lucky he was trying to get behind it and not climb on it) going after a loose cricket. Now all bookcases are either bolted to the wall or in my animal room. I get a bit OCD when I leave making sure everyone is secure and the 4 cats are accounted for. I left for 2 weeks in 2008 and I think I called 2-4 times a day the first few days making sure everyone was ok. What you suffered was exactly what i was fearing would happen.

I did suffer a tragedy while I had a foster ferret. Someone threw him in the dumpster at work so he came home with me. My roommate who was supposed to have moved out by then let out the ferret Gnome while I was still asleep and went to work. Gnome somehow got my large male albino rat out of his cage, chased him through all my boxes (I had moved in a few weeks before) getting blood everywhere and tore his throat out in my kitchen. I couldn't get mad at him since it was what he was built to do. The shelter did finally have room and he got a new owner and girlfriend 5 days later but that was not how I wanted that process to start. I was in so much shock I didn't cry until after the shelter had picked him up. Another rat just like the one I lost showed up needing to be rescued the next day so something was at work...just not how I ever wanted that to happen.

I'm so sorry you lost TwoBit. I have one "cow-cat" that looks a lot like TwoBit and I would be devastated to lose him that way.

[marilynb]

I am so sorry about TwoBit,how dreadful that happened while you were away.

[critters]

Poor TwoBit. I wonder if the blood might've come from inside, such as a ruptured blood vessel in respiratory or digestive tracts. Maybe she felt bad, went to her spot, and had a rupture somewhere.

[Bendy Kitty]

yesterday mom took her to the vet to be cremated and asked them to look her over.
The vet said that the blood came mostly from her nose, some form her mouth. Vet believes she had a brain aneurysm. so, mom being around would not have made any difference and even if someone found her there is nothing that could have been done. that gives mom a little comfort. we miss our special girl!

bendy