Need Help Coping

Hello to all here. I’m so glad I found this site almost 2 weeks ago when my cat disappeared. I’m dealing with this alone, and felt the kind people here would understand what I’m going through. My sweet kitty’s name was “Big Cat” and she was a beautiful 16lb calico with a fun and quirky personality, and the softest fur you could imagine.

Within the last few months we were told that someone had seen a coyote around a small park in our neighborhood. Most people dismissed this as rumor since we live just minutes from downtown Atlanta. On June 27th, a neighbor told us he saw what he thought was a coyote walking down our street at 6:45am. He ran away when the neighbor stepped outside to take a closer look. People in our area are very good about keeping their dogs up. In 8 years I have never seen dogs running the neighborhood, so I knew it wasn’t someone’s pet he spotted. My husband and foster son said there was no way we had coyotes in our area, and told me not to worry about it. I called animal control. They told me that was rumor, and there were no coyotes in our county.

During the summer my cats like to stay outside during the day. Luckily, they stay in our front or back yard and do not wander. With very few exceptions, I have always brought them in before we go to bed. I told my husband I believed our neighbor did see a coyote, and we needed to make double sure our cats were in during the evening. On July 11th I went outside to get our cats. They were rolling around on the porch (their signal that they weren’t ready to come in.) I told them I would let them stay out a little longer, and bring them in before I went to bed. I had been sick that week, and was feeling badly that night. Later when I went to bed, I didn’t remember my cats were still outside. This is a mistake I will regret the rest of my life.

On Thursday morning my husband opened the front door, and only one of my cats (Fezzie) came in. Big Cat likes to sleep in the bushes close to our house and porch, so he didn’t think anything of her not coming in. I got up later, and didn’t see her in the yard. I started searching more thoroughly and found her collar (the stretchy kind) and two small tuffs of fur in our front yard. I’ve always had excellent intuition, and I instantly felt she had been taken by a coyote. My husband and foster son told me that was ridiculous, and I was jumping to the worst possible scenario. They said she probably got in a tussle with another cat, and got chased off, and was either hiding, or out roaming the neighborhood. I felt this was unlikely since she had never left our yard.

I was panic stricken, and immediately began the search. I made up flyers and took them to every house in our neighborhood. Posted on craigslist, visited the animal control shelter every few days (even ones in neighboring counties,) searched mine, and my neighbor’s front and back yards thoroughly. I looked in and under everything I could find. I went to the park where the neighbors thought they seen a coyote and searched the area thoroughly. Found nothing, no remains, no tracks or sighs of coyotes. Again, with a lot of neighbors helping, we searched their yards again, and again, and again, widening the circle each time. During the evenings I researched everything I could find on coyotes. I was sickened and horrified at what I learned about these insidious predators.

I learned they have regular hunting patterns and routes they follow, and will go back to a successful hunting area. My cat had been taken 2 weeks to the day after my neighbor spotted the coyote, so I figured he most likely came through our area every 2 weeks or so. My husband thought I was crazy, but I began staying up every night, and getting up early every morning to see if I could spot him. Last Wednesday evening marked 2 weeks since my cat disappeared. At 11:00pm I turned off all the lights, and sat in front of my den window with the blinds lifted just enough for me to see out. We have a street light that illuminates our street and front yard. At 12:45am from out of nowhere, a coyote appeared in the left hand corner of our front yard where I found Big Cat’s collar. It came diagonally across the yard, onto our porch and began sniffing around. It was 3ft from me. He sniffed a bit more then took off exactly the way he came. At that instant, I knew a coyote had taken my Big Cat off my own front porch. I woke my husband and foster son and told them what happened. They couldn’t believe it. My husband even told me I must have been dreaming. I told him I was not dreaming; that I was starring a coyote in the face not 3ft. from me. So at it turns out, my intuition was correct. The next day I informed my neighbors since most everyone has small pets. They were shocked beyond belief.

I am utterly devastated, I feel violated, and I'm angry. I’m angry that the one day I’m sick and accidentally forget to bring my cats in, a scourge of the earth passes dozens of pets (that others leave out 24/7) and comes straight to my front porch and takes mine. And almost in the heart of a bustling city no less! Since the day my cat disappeared I cry uncontrollably all the time. My husband and foster son don’t understand why I’m so upset. To them “it’s just a cat.” Not to me, to me my cats are members of our family, and I love them dearly. I only had a year with my beautiful Big Cat. I rescued her from a lady that was taking her to the humane society. I took one look at her and thought she was the most beautiful cat I had ever seen. I feel so horribly guilty for leaving my cats out all night for something terrible to happen to them. I might as well have put them on a silver platter and rang the coyote dinner bell. This is so incredibly painful. My innocent pet had to pay the price for my error, and I’m never going to see my Big Cat again. How am I ever going to forgive myself for this mistake?

For those of you waiting for your much loved pets to come home, I read your stories and cried with you. I know exactly how you feel. I pray that God surrounds them with a circle of protection to see them safely home.

I know this was long, but thanks reading.
April