My cat was eaten by a coyote!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I’m not really an animal guy. We got the cat for my little girl and my wife (mainly my wife) about 8 months ago. My daughter, aged 2, doted on the creature, merrily chasing it around the house. However, I was by far its favorite. It jumped on my lap everytime I sat down. It lay on my head every night. It was annoying.

But, I got used to it. It was sweet. And it liked me.

We recently moved out of town, and we knew that there were coyotes around. The cat liked being out-of-doors most of the time. We curtailed its outdoor hijinks in the beginning, but eventually caved, letting her out during the day. She would always howl to be let back in around 6:00 pm or so. The coyotes would usually start howling around 9 or 10.

She has disappeared for a couple of days from time to time, but has always come back.

Last Tuesday, my wife and daughter left to go on a two week trip to visit my in-laws. Friday, the cat didn’t come home. On Saturday, I was getting concerned. I left some food out, hoping that she might return and want let in.

Sunday morning, I check the food and see that part of it was eaten. I was relieved, and expected to see the little thing around sometime soon.

Sunday evening, a neighbor comes to the door. Asks me if I had a cat with a green collar. “Sure,” I said. “The coyotes got it,” he says.

He led me over to the fence separating his property from the road. There, its lips pulled back in a rictus of pain, was half of my cat.

Stupid cat.

My neighbor and I made small talk over my cat’s corpse (“Look, they ripped it’s spine out.”), while his wife was searching for a garbage bag. After standing there for a few minutes, still waiting for his wife, he said that he will get rid of it if I wanted him to. I briefly considered burying the cat, but it was only half of it. I asked him to throw it away for me.

Man, I threw this thing off my lap countless times. It got hair everywhere.

Damn cat. Now, I have to explain to a two-year old that her pet won’t be around anymore.

Damn. . .

2

:frowning:

3

a perfect example of how often we don’t appreciate what we have until we don’t have it any longer.

Rico and I send our best to you and your family.

4

I’m sorry,Sidd.
Read both wife and daughter “Lend Me a Kitten” and it might help.Having lost various cats over the years to wild critters,I understand what it feels like to be in your shoes.

IDBB

5

As the father of a 2 year old, I don’t admire your task. Best of luck.

6

I had a terrier who was badly bit by a coyote, required surgery, and survived. They generally stayed in at night; he got bit in the early evening, around 8 or 9 pm IIRC.

On the other hand, my cat was an outside cat, and lived to the ripe old age of 17.

Were there trees in your yard for the cat to hide in?

7

God that sucks. I love my cat to death, if that ever happened to me, I’d be hunting coyote for the next few months.

Good thing for me and the wild animals out there I live in a big city.

8

It is cruel to let your domesticated pet outside in an area where coyotes live. Why do you say your cat was stupid? He had no chance against predators who hunt in packs.

9

I’d probably just tell her that her cat died, and leave it at that. The image of her cute pet being devoured alive by ravenous coyotes is a guaranteed nightmare-generator, and might make her afraid to go outside, and might even instill a fear of dogs in her (assuming she knows what a coyote is.)

As young as she is, the very concept of “death” might be very hard to understand. You might want to visit some online sites which have tips on how to talk about it to very young children before broaching the subject.

10

i’m sorry for you, your family, and kitty. what a horrible way to die.

11

You’re right. The cat wasn’t stupid. I was.

I’m just mad about the whole situation.

We do have a fence around our yard, which the cat would climb to get out. We knew that she climbed the fence. We would let her out anyway.

12

I’ve known coyotes to breach a fence if they’re motivated. Fences are not usually an obstacle to cats.

What a horrible death. Poor kitty. :frowning:

At two years old, your daughter will get over it fairly quickly. Maybe you could just tell her the cat ran away.

This is why I’m against letting cats outdoors. Even if some live long lives, some die violent painful deaths. Why take the chance?

13

Nice, real nice Spooky. You think no lesson was learned? How many pounds of salt did you pour?

I think the cat was loved and the loss hurts much.

14

My apartment complex (which allows ‘inside’ cats only) sits right on the edge of a canyon. Without fail, people will move in and let their kitties out to cruise around. Usually within about a week, I’ll see notes posted by the mailboxes: “Lost Cat”. I told a new neighbor about the coyotes, but he laughed it off, and said that his pet was an alpha male…that one disappeared, too.

15

i have the misfortune of having almost witnessed a family members cat being chewed to death by their other family pets, one pit bull, one rott/pit mix and another rott/something mix. i was the first to accurately identify the poor thing, believe me it took awhile before the scope of this tragedy sunk in. i looked at the cat and just couldn’t believe it. Poor thing. i feel your pain. It sucks. But best to soften the blow to your little ones. You child doesn’t have to know the truth.

16

Well, I don’t want to get jumped on, but since I hate cats … I think this is pretty amusing. Especially the way you just stood around this fetid half-corpse and chatted.

[Yokel]

Ayuh. Gotta keep ah eye on dem dere kay-yotes. Eat yer little kitty up sompin fierce. Ayuh. You bet yer fur, they do.

[/Yokel]

17

My neighbors had a little dog they’d let run around during the day sometimes. They were usually out watching it, making sure it didn’t run away. One day, they were watching it run around outside in the street, when suddenly a coyote comes out of nowhere, snatches the dog, and runs away. They never see the dog again.

I would hate to be witness to something like that. They weren’t little children, teenagers I think, but that’s still horrible.

18

You think it’s amusing that a little two-year old’s cat was eaten? Your sense of humor could stand a little, shall we say, refinement? And if you don;t wish to be “jumped on” for your views, it would be best to not make them public.

19

I’m so sorry. And I understand about cats wanting to be outside. I had a former stray, Simon, who craved the outdoors. You just wouldn’t believe how hard it was to keep him inside. He’d spent too much time out there; he acted like the house was prison if he didn’t get to go out every now and then.

20

Happens all the time in Vancouver. Heck, I’ve talked to people who were walking their lapdog and had a coyote snatch it right off their leash.

I’ve seen coyotes on the prowl, and they’re always solo-- not hunting in packs, as Spooky thinks.

In my neck of the city, the problem is people actually feed them because they think the canines are starving. Trust me, there’s enough rats and ducklings for them to survive on.