The Black Vault

Having just confirmed with my neighbor that two strays killed my cat, he had taken a picture of the cat before burying it, it really pisses me off that people still do this. Our neighborhood, being near the interstate and in the county, is a haven for people to abandon their pets. Having a huge heart, it pains me to see these beautiful animals starving in our streets. I wish I could save them all, I really do and all of our pets are typically rescued or show up on our doorstep after being abandoned. People who abandon their pets like this really make me angry.

I can't fault the dogs for their behavior but I'd love a few minutes alone with the scumbag who dumped them off. Anyway, our cat's name was Obi-Wan, yes really. His mother's name was Yoda, yeah my brother and sister-in-law named them both. We got him on Christmas day and he was the most loving cat, spoiled rotten is more like it, we have ever had. He was a Siamese, raised around our dogs. The dogs in question are beautiful hunting dogs, both very young as the female is in her first heat at the moment.

It is my hope that I can find an interested huntsman that would take care of these dogs and give them a good home. No luck so far though. Anyway, I just need to vent a bit, having just had the life and death talk with my son. I thought it better to tell him the cat was dead than to have him moping about wondering for weeks on end. In truth, it was eating me up inside not knowing as well. My cats and dogs are like kids to me and it pains me when they go missing or something happens to one of them.

En-Lugal wrote: Anyway, I just need to vent a bit, having just had the life and death talk with my son. I thought it better to tell him the cat was dead than to have him moping about wondering for weeks on end. In truth, it was eating me up inside not knowing as well. My cats and dogs are like kids to me and it pains me when they go missing or something happens to one of them.

I am SO not a pet person.
I was raised to believe that if you got that much love in your heart that you need to give it away...perhaps a human is a better choice than a puppy. I do try to understand pet people though. I think if I had a large yard that pets could run for more than a minute I would do it in a second but given the circumstances that I've be handed....only hamsters would fit the bill... and frankly, they stink!

Ugh. I am so sorry to hear that. I was raised with rescues my entire life, and rescue now in my married life away from home. I know all too well what its like to LOSE pets, and almost lost my cat which I've had for more than 12 years or so. They are amazing, and losing them is so hard.

You do have a big heart to take care of the strays. Did I read correctly you lost your cat, but took in the strays that were the ones who took the life?

Venus: Yeah, unfortunately, you are far from understanding pets, or pet people. That said, I feel kind of bad. I can say in my 31 years of living, you are SORELY missing out.

I'm very sorry for your loss too En-Lugal. As John said, he was raised in a home where we are big animal lovers, probably a little too big at times. We live in the city, but in a part that was known for rural living, so we are zoned to allow Horses, chickens, anything but Hog or Pigs. He grew up with 2 horses, lots of chickens, many dogs, and many cats. We have had geese, rabbits, and I'm not ever counting the things like hamsters, rats, parakeet, tropical fish. It is very painful whenever you loose one, especially when its a tragic ending like this.

Times have gotten very hard for people and dumping animals is not the way to get rid of them. There are many rescue groups, over taking them to the local pounds where they do put them to sleep. WE got involved with the Kitten Rescue group in Los Angeles, and found homes for a litter of wild cats born in our yard. We ended up adopting 2 of them and found homes for 5. Many pets are being abandoned, and the honest truth is they will starve or die when the winter comes in some areas, or just meet with a bad end in traffic. Dumping is the wrong thing to do, for so many reasons.

Best way to honor your kitty, is to adopt a kitty. You will give an animal a home forever, and forever that dog or cat, will love you right back.

blackvault wrote:Venus: Yeah, unfortunately, you are far from understanding pets, or pet people. That said, I feel kind of bad. I can say in my 31 years of living, you are SORELY missing out.

Ya know what....I really missed the OPs point. I was focusing on the fact that he had to explain to his son that the cat was no more. That's a big reason I'm not a pet person. There's a lot of heartbreak. Anyways...I too am sorry for his family's loss. Those that dump their pets must surely be souls without a conscious.

Venus wrote:Ya know what....I really missed the OPs point. I was focusing on the fact that he had to explain to his son that the cat was no more. That's a big reason I'm not a pet person. There's a lot of heartbreak. Anyways...I too am sorry for his family's loss. Those that dump their pets must surely be souls without a conscious.

Unfortunately, that is a part of having pets. And it's HARD when you lose one. As I said, I've lost quite a few over the years, and some at a very young age. Going through that are life lessons you have to learn sometime, whether it be a pet, person, family member, etc.

I feel that learning those lessons earlier in my life, helped me deal with deaths later on. Sounds crazy if you aren't a pet person, but I believe it to be true.

Nah, It doesn't sound crazy! I understand. I just hope I didn't offend the pet people here... especially the OP.

Not at all All opinions are welcomed here. Welcome to the site.

Not at all venus, I think many people just are not into having pets, and its better they declare this and have none, rather than having an unwanted pet. John's Grandmother, who was a great dog lover and showed dogs, use to say " When you buy life, you also buy death", and since our pets have shorter lifespans, it is a part of it. Some pets have very long lifespans and some short, like our beloved Rottweilers, gentle giants. You have to remember the good things, like when my wife wanted the horse she always dreamed of, so we bought her an Appoloosa mare. Little did we know, that the previous owner, put her in a corral with a stallion he was about to geld, and we ended up with a Mare in foal. Her colt was born in our back yard, and looked like a newborn fawn with a freckeled rump. She live to be 27 and the colt to 21 until we lost them. But the great memories we had with them outweigh that.

The kitten rescue organization we joined goes to the lengths to only adopt to homes that are inspected, to be sure cats are indoor cats only. Personally I think it may be too extreme, but the points are raised about the many perils of cats roaming. They check if they are in high risk areas, like victims of coyotes, etc. Dogs generally are in fenced yards, but most of the rescue groups do home checks.

Having pets takes a special kind of committment, and its not for everyone. But the rewards are great, that no matter how bad you think you life is on some days, that faithful dog or cat, loves you just the same. Somehow they can just make everything better when they look at you with nothing but love in their eyes.

AS I said the best way to honor your cat, when you are ready is to give another a home for life.