My Beloved Vicki Is Dead, My pet cat died just over 48 hours ago Options

[Cathy]

I'm glad I found this site. It has just been over 48 hours since I lost my precious kitty. She was 7 years old, named Vicki, pure black. (I have a thing for black cats; I think they are the most beautiful creatures on earth!) She was a housecat, but she had lately gotten into the habit of slipping out the front door whenever someone opened it, going out onto the porch, and rolling around on her back. I mistakingly thought, oh, she's right here in our yard, she'll be all right.

Day before yesterday, my 12-year-old daughter was returning from a 3-day field trip at about 5:30 p.m. She told me that when she opened the door, Vicki scooted out. I was downstairs in the basement. A couple of minutes later, it was that quick, she ran down screaming, "Vicki!" and "dogs!" I ran, my heart in my throat.

My husband was in the back yard, yelling at a large black dog. My poor baby was lying on the wet grass (it was raining), not moving, still trying to breathe but her eyes already glazing over. I ran and got a box, and we tenderly lifted her into it. My husband and I ran to try to phone the vet. He had to call, I was so hysterical. I ran back out to the front porch, where my daughter was stroking her, in tears, begging her, "Hang on, Vicki, please hang on." She was still trying to breathe. In a minute, though, she was breathing no more. Her glazed eyes and perfectly still body showed all too clearly that she was gone.

My poor daughter cried, "Mommy, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I should have made her come back inside!" And I hugged her and said, "No, honey, it's not your fault." I was feeling that it was MY fault for not coming up and getting Vicki inside, but I had no idea at all, and neither did my husband.

There were 2 dogs, and they grabbed her and mauled her. I did not see this, but my daughter did. She said they had her up in the air, chewing on her. We couldn't have done anything. It happened so fast. I have never felt so devastated. I picked her poor still body up and practically howled with pain and grief. I must have stood there crying for 15 minutes, holding her like a baby. I didn't feel this bad with our last cat, who died of old age back in 2001. I cried when she died, but she died peacefully, just crawled under a chair and went to sleep and never woke up. But my poor Vicki--I can still see her gasping for breath, her eyes already glazed over. I hope she was able to feel our gentle hands trying to comfort her in her last moments.

We have already buried her. The night of her death she spent in our freezer, wrapped in a garbage bag. I went out several times to pet her cold, stiff body and cry. I cut some of her black fur, which I put into an envelope as a keepsake. I think I will sleep with it under my pillow tonight. A friend of my older daughter's dug a grave yesterday, and we buried her yesterday afternoon. I wrote her a farewell note and put it under her paws and kissed her goodbye. I put a vase of black silk roses at the grave and wrote her name on a rock with Liquid Paper.

How I miss her! She used to lounge on my bed all day, and whenever I go into my room I remember her being there. She would lay at my feet while I was in bed and walk up to my head and butt my face with hers. And if I got up to go to the bathroom, she would follow me in there. If I shut the door she would scratch at the door, meow, and even extend her paws under the door until I opened it, and then she'd come in with her fussy little "meow" to scold me!

The night before she died, she was real lovey-dovey, in a way she had not been for a long time. She went back and forth, rubbing my leg, and she spent over half an hour lying in my lap. Now I wonder if the Lord had her do this to tell me good-bye. I will cherish it always.

I have to pull myself together because I have so much to do that cannot wait. We are in financial difficulties and do not even answer the phone if we don't know who it is because creditors are calling us all day long. I'm also the primary caregiver for my elderly mother-in-law, who is here with us and has advanced Alzheimer's. Plus we are concerned about our 17-year-old daughter, who has diabetes and is missing too much school. I'm trying to cope with all this, and I have bipolar disorder, and I'm just hoping that my grief over Vicki won't send me into another episode. Vicki helped me chill out in the midst of all this. And now she is gone.

I feel so bad for my 12-year-old daughter. She blames herself for not bringing Vicki back into the house. She also saw the dogs attacking Vicki. How I wish she had not seen that.

We have 2 other cats, and they are sweet, but it won't be the same without my Vicki. She was my kitty cat, and I was her pet person. I just hope that she remembers her pet person where she is now.

Thanks for reading this long post. Please remember us in your prayers.

Cathy in GA

[Cathy]

Thank you very much. It's been just about 72 hours now (she was killed on Wednesday at about 5:30 p.m.) I've fixed up her grave with a rock marker, name written on it with Liquid Paper, a vase of 3 black silk roses, and 2 black cat statuettes (from my older daughter's Egyptian phase back in grade school). Last night I slept with her fur in its envelope under my pillow.

Our town is supposed to have a very strict leash law. In fact, it's supposed to apply to cats as well as dogs, though I must say I have never seen a cat on a leash. Most dogs I've seen around here are on leashes. We have no idea where these dogs came from. There appeared to be no one with them. I don't know if the owner let them run loose or if they got out of an enclosure by accident. My husband only said that they had collars on and that on the collars were small blue boxes of some sort. My daughter said that somebody did call the police. My younger daughter and I had to go pick up my older daughter, and while we were gone my husband said a police officer came to our door. Apparently the dogs had killed another cat in the neighborhood. (My daughter said she heard that the dogs went through a screen door into a house to get that cat!) When I later called the police, I was referred to Animal Control, and on speaking with a gentleman in that office, I was informed by him that the dogs had been caught. I have no idea what's going to be done with them. He told me that the owner would probably have to pay a hefty fine and follow the special precautions owners of vicious animals have to follow. (Interestingly, though, both my husband and my daughter told me that the dogs were not at all threatening towards them. They just seem to be bent on being vicious to cats.) I feel like going down to the county animal shelter on Monday, asking if the dogs were caught, and what is going to be done with them.

My other fur babies have been a comfort. My older daughter has a little female kitten she's named Leah, and my younger daughter has an adult female cat, whom we've had for about 3 years, named Anna, who is white and has a tail that looks like a raccoon's tail. This little gray kitten, Leah, is a feisty one. She gobbles down all the food we feed her, and if a cat, even a bigger one, approaches, she growls at them!

How I wish my big girl was still with me. (She weighed 10 pounds.) I miss her every time I go to the bathroom, every time I'm in my bed. I can't even bear to look at our backyard; I've kept the curtains drawn. (I did look out long enough to see a deer in our yard yesterday, though.) I felt so sad when I called our vet and told them they could close their file on Vicki.

Still trying to hang on...and on.