[Bramblecot]

Some time ago I posted about Swipey, the old stray that turned up 4 years ago.  Deaf, possible broken hip and had fits.  She attacked anything and everything for food and we think she was a laboratory cat as she had a tatoo in her ear (4342).  We could not get near her for months. but in recent years she became a lap cat    

This evening I fed the (outdoor) cats at 1800, all well.  A friend arrived at 1845 and asked what was wrong with the old rescue cat.  she was by the front doorhaving spasms.  Her right eye was ripped out and the skin torn from her front leg.  She had been attacked on the drive where she slept in the evening sun.

Why, oh why, will people not put their bloody dogs on a lead if they are unreliable around other pets and livestock? 

RIP Swipey cat - you deserved better

[SallyintNorth]

 

Swipey had 4 lovely years with you.  It's tragic and terrible that her life ended this way, but at least you were there to take care of her and make sure she didn't suffer any longer.

I don't know what is the answer.  When I had a cat shot dead I wrote him a eulogy in the local newspaper, hoping to get people to realise that, to a cat lover, the cat is every bit as much a member of the family as the family dog, and the trauma and grief to the owner is every bit as painful.  I don't think it worked; 18 months later my next cat was shot. 

[Bramblecot]

SITN, you are right.  I have dealt with so much animal cruelty over the years that not a lot shocks me now, although it still saddens me.  And we have so many cats and dogs pts at work.
But I think that my pets should be safe on my own property, next to my front door .  It was a chicken last time, what next?

I'm sorry about your cats too

[shygirl]

thats so awful 

[doganjo]

That really annoys me.  I know that my dogs would probably chase a strange cat and they would never kill or harm it, but they would never be given the opportunity anyway.  Do you know which dog did it?

My two girls would clamp hard on a bird if they caught it - whether game or domestic so again they don't get the opportunity.  A baby magpie was wandering around yesterday with Momma screeching up in the trees.  I sent Allez in the run to see if he could find it - out he came with the wee one in his mouth - not a single mark on it. So I took it round to the front and reunited it with it's parents - and yes I know they steal eggs and young birds - but I couldn't kill a baby bird.

I'm so sorry about your poor cat. 

[honeyend]

So sad to hear about your cat. As I write my Rottweilerx is sat licking the tom cats ears out, I do know who is having the greater treat. The tom cat is her best friend, he will go up to her and nudge for attention but she's so huge and her paws so powerful he often gets squashed by accident but comes back for more. When the cat going out in the evening she will stand at the back door and whine for you to let in when he is ready to come back in.
 I have five cats and two dogs, the dogs always chase the cats if the cat runs, but sleep on the same sofa and the dogs usually differ to the cats in the house for the best spot and the cats eat the dog food out of the bowl. I think is very much instinct for dogs to chase but for me it seems very easy for them to learn not to harm. 

[Clarebelle]

How awful, your poor cat, and like you say, pets should be safe on your own property. My cat sleeps in my dogs bed with her and kneads her! It is a lovely thing to watch but that doesn't mean I would risk someone else's cat around my dog. Dog owners who refuse to be responsible for theirs dogs are so infuriating. 

[plumseverywhere]

Poor Swipey. What a horrible attack 

The dangerous dogs act was amended yesterday...do you know who's dog it was? action could be feasible now...

[in the hills]

 

[Bramblecot]

Thanks for the kind messages. 
I'm waiting to see if the local paper publish my letter tomorrow, and I have put signs up along the path.  I am showing all my visitors the blood splatter on the drive (shock tactic).
There is a strong suspect who always lets his ruddy terrier run amok as he walks along the bridlepath by my garden - but I did not see the attack.  This is a small village and someone will know who it is - revenge is sweet and a dish best eaten cold - I can wait. 
The other two cats are behaving very strangely today and Swipey  is now buried by the front door.

[SallyintNorth]

 

[Rosemary]

So sorry to hear about Swipey (great name btw). A cat was shot with an airgun in our village the other day and had to be pts. Bastards. They should get the same treatment.

[ladyK]

Poor Swipey, how horrible and devastating... 

Our neighbour's cat was killed in a similar way, there is a local lad who 'walks' his lurchers by driving his Landy up and down the narrow lanes around here, with the dogs running behind the car... outrageous really. He can't even see what they are doing let alone control them. It's not the dog's fault if they follow their instincts, as Doganjo says, it's about whether they get an opportunity or not to do any har.
He still continued doing this after the cat was killed, a couple of weeks ago he lost the dogs though (one ended up in my garden, thankfully my cats/chickens were safe...) not sure that will teach him a lesson though.

[Porterlauren]

That's terrible! It makes me mad when people can't or don't control their dogs.

But I have had a few close calls, when walking my dogs on my own land, where there shouldn't be any cats . . . . and one has popped up. They do get everywhere.

As a result, we've adopted a stray that's been hanging round the barns, and i'm trying to use it to break my dogs to cats. Better safe than sorry!

[doganjo]

As a result, we've adopted a stray that's been hanging round the barns, and i'm trying to use it to break my dogs to cats. Better safe than sorry!

Be prepared it may not work.  I had a GWP - they are used to kill feral cats in Australia.  She loved my own cats, but any other were fair game no matter how much I yelled at her for chasing them.  Fortunately she never caught any. She'd have killed them straight off!

My Brits are controlled by my present cat, even the 5 month pup, but they'd certainly investigate a strange one, but wouldn't kill it.