# What killed our cat?



## Junho Kim

Nessie was just coming up to 1 year old. 
We had been letting her out of the house since she was about 7 months old. She only stayed in the garden for while but about a month ago she started venturing outside the garden. She only stayed really close to the house at first and was always within earshot. She'd come running in as soon as we called out to her telling her to have food. 

A couple of weeks ago she started venturing out further and for longer periods. A few nights ago she went out about 9 ish and didn't come home to our calls until well into the night so we went to bed. We were worried but we d heard it's quite normal for cats to spend the night away from the house sometimes. Thankfully the next morning she came running in as soon as we called out. 

2 nights ago she went out again and didn't come home. The next morning she was still missing but we weren't too worried as shed done this before and cats can spend days away from home sometimes.

In the evening that day we got a call from a neighbour just accross the road telling us that they're really sorry but our cat was found dead in their garden. We were devastated. 

The neighbours wrapped her in a blanket and put her in a box for us. 
When we brought her back home she was already cold and stiff so it seemed like she died during the night.

We looked her over and couldn't see any obvious big wounds or broken bones. But when we brushes some of her fur away, we found a single puncture wound. It wasn't big and obviously wasn't bleeding severely as the fur around the wound was quite clean. It only produced a penny sized blood spot on the towel she was wrapped in aswell. 

What do you think could have killed her. If it was a fox wouldn't they have bit more or even taken her away to eat her? 
I'd have thought a dog attack would have been more gruesome. 
And a puncture wound from a cat wouldn't have been deep enough to kill her. 

Also what could have left a single puncture wound. 

We re devastated to have lost her she was such a good cat. It's difficult not knowing how or why she died and heartbreaking to think what her last moments could have been. 

Thank you for reading. 
We d really appreciate any ideas or advice.


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## Babyshoes

I'm so sorry you lost your youngster so suddenly.

The first thought that comes to mind is a pellet gun, but only because there have been a number of cats in my area (Hemel Hempstead) that have recently been shot - some survived, some didn't. A vet would be able to check for you. If it does turn out to be a pellet, please do report to the police - they probably won't do much for one cat, but if there are several they're more likely to investigate.

One of mine passed away recently, but after he passed, the foxes found him before we did, so we can never know why he died (I was only able to confirm it was him because of his collar and fur). I strongly suspect he may have been another shooting victim though. The place he was found in the middle of a large field was well away from any main roads, and he was quite young and healthy so should have been able to outrun a dog or fox. It's also highly unusual for foxes to kill healthy cats when there is plenty of other, easier food around. 

There was another incident nearby last night - they missed the cat but accidently shot the owner in the leg, so hopefully the police will actually try to do something this time. Fortunately, it's only caused a nasty bruise on a human, but at close range could definitely kill a cat.


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## Kittynanna

Oh how awful I am so sorry for your loss x


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## Junho Kim

Babyshoes said:


> I'm so sorry you lost your youngster so suddenly.
> 
> The first thought that comes to mind is a pellet gun, but only because there have been a number of cats in my area (Hemel Hempstead) that have recently been shot - some survived, some didn't. A vet would be able to check for you. If it does turn out to be a pellet, please do report to the police - they probably won't do much for one cat, but if there are several they're more likely to investigate.
> 
> One of mine passed away recently, but after he passed, the foxes found him before we did, so we can never know why he died (I was only able to confirm it was him because of his collar and fur). I strongly suspect he may have been another shooting victim though. The place he was found in the middle of a large field was well away from any main roads, and he was quite young and healthy so should have been able to outrun a dog or fox. It's also highly unusual for foxes to kill healthy cats when there is plenty of other, easier food around.
> 
> There was another incident nearby last night - they missed the cat but accidently shot the owner in the leg, so hopefully the police will actually try to do something this time. Fortunately, it's only caused a nasty bruise on a human, but at close range could definitely kill a cat.


Thank you for your sympathy. 
Why anyone would want to do that to an animal. Absolutely disgusting psychotic behaviour. I hope the criminal in your area gets caught soon.

We already buried our cat as soon as we found her. We didn't even think to take her to vet, the first thing we wanted to do was let her rest peacefully. We ll never know for sure what got her.

I'm really sorry to hear about your cat also, that's terrible. Wish you all the best


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## Junho Kim

Kittynanna said:


> Oh how awful I am so sorry for your loss x


Thank you


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## Annealise

What an awful shock for you. Sorry for your loss.


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## Annealise

@Babyshoes So sorry to hear about your cats circumstances, it brought tears to my eyes.
Why would people shoot cats - I hoped they find the sick culprits in your area.


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## tabelmabel

This is awful but sadly there are folk who hate cats and others that just like to take shots at anything for 'fun'

Back in 1979, i was heartbroken when our 12 yr old cat was found dead with a pellet wound. We had a strong suspicion who was responsible but my parents didnt take it further.

A couple of years later, our dog developed an infection that wasnt healing at a wound site. We took her to the vet, never suspecting anything sinister and the vet found a 2.2 pellet in her. She thankfully made a full recovery.

My parents got the police involved and the neighbour we suspected admitted having a 2.2 rifle but denied shooting our dog. He was spoken to and that was it. No further incidents. He was a retired headmaster who was a bit crazed we think.

It might be worth getting the vet to see if the pellet is still in your cat. Then the police might see who has a gun license in your area. I doubt much will be done but if they find who did it and speak to them, it could prevent potential future incidents.

Im really sorry you lost such a young cat; very sad


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## Jim40

I'm sorry to hear your news. I would be thinking the same as @Babyshoes who replied to you earlier. Other animals would probably leave at least a couple of puncture wounds. The little blood you found on her could she have maybe licked some blood in an effort to clean the wound before losing consiousness. Its difficult to tell without a vet seeing her. Also if your local police are interested there would be no harm going to your local station and asking if any other incidents like this have occured. Hope you get some answers.


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## Guest

Very sorry to hear about your loss. Some people are sick and think cats are target practice. Our boy was shot at multiple times with an air rifle but luckily it wasn’t fatal though he needed surgery. It really makes you wonder about the state of the world.


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