Sunday, April 12, 2009

Ode to the kitty

One of our cats was killed by a pitbull yesterday. She (the cat) was on the porch watching Kevin mow the lawn. Kevin saw the dog come from nowhere, running into our open garage to explore. The cat sort of stalked towards the garage to keep her eyes on the dog. The dog saw her and gave chase. She ran into the garage where he snapped her up, shook her, and came out with her still in his jaws. Kevin grabbed the garden hose and hosed him down. The dog dropped the cat and ran down the street.

She wasn't torn up, but she's an old frail cat and she was obviously dying. He called me out wondering what to do. She just laid on her side moaning. Within minutes she died. Kevin wrapped and put her in the garbage can.

Right then Chanel arrived from Boise for her family b-day party. This cat was her childhood pet, born in 1996.

We went in the house crying & Kevin continued mowing. About 10 minutes later a lady was walking her min-pin across the street from our house. The pitbull showed up again, spun the lady, grabbed her dog, shook it, and ran. Traffic stopped in both directions and Kevin called the police. Police & animal control officer arrived. The min pin lost a piece of one haunch and it's back skin was hanging. It wasn't dead but wouldn't let anyone touch it.

While the police took Kevin's & the lady's story, the pit bull owner showed up. He was a kid in his 20's who said the dog had escaped his yard through his open garage and had only been gone 10 minutes before coming home.
The owner was very upset to hear what the dog had done, but he signed papers to have it put down Monday morning and animal control hauled him off. Meanwhile the min-pin was rolled into a carrier box and taken to a vet.

That's the story. We're surprised by our grief for an animal and to have a member of the family gone so suddenly and so strangely. She was our bulemic cat whom I thought would die from old age or starvation eventually. Never occurred to me that sitting on the porch was dangerous. Our big cat, who is 2 years older and never cared for the other that much, has paced the floors tonight.

I will not miss Pooperki's carpet messes or her Siamese voice, but she was very affectionate and good to have on a lap when watching TV. She liked us. The big cat barely tolerates us.

6 comments:

Melanie said...

I don't see why anyone would want to own a pitt bull.
I'm sad for you all.

Megan said...

So sorry to hear about your cat. Hope everyone is okay. Pit bull's should be outlawed!

A*Waite said...

How sad. I have heard so many terrible stories about pitbulls lately. I am glad the dog was put to sleep before any more were hurt.

Arianne said...

So sad about your kitty. I'm glad they took care of the dog. Jeron got bit by a pit bull when we were kids, they are scary dogs.

Smullin Family said...

I am the first to admit, I am not an animal lover, but I too was surprised by the "emptiness" I felt when a family pet was gone. You just expect them to be there...as they have always been.

So sorry for the loss of your kitty. Glad to hear that the dog will be taken care of.

tmataitusi said...

I'm sorry Jana (and Chanel and Arielle). Our little chihuahua puppy Lily died (parasite) the weekend after Easter, and even after only 5 months, we all cried. I also cried over the $530 I spent trying to save her!