TreeHugger
Songster
- Apr 7, 2008
- 342
- 13
- 196
Around 5pm today I was outside and my cat Cain was fine. At 6pm I walked down to my chicken house to collect eggs and Cain was laying near the side of the chicken house with severe injuries. I will not go into detail but the injuries were to his stomach area and I instantly know he had to be put down. I am not afraid of vet bills and if I thought he could have been saved I would have spent the money. However, he was beyond help. Cain was great and full of personality - it makes me sick. His favorite place to hang out was near the chicken house. My first suspect was my dog - he is not mean but will snap at the cats if he thinks they are eating something he might want. He was quickly cleared by wiping a wet papertowel around his mouth. Whatever attacked Cain would have had blood on him. It had to have been another dog or a coyote.
My chicken house is in the corner of my property. There is a large open hay field behind me and a large tree line to the side of me. The chicken house is located where the hay field and tree line intersect which makes great cover for anything. I have occasionally seen a neighbors' dog eyeballing my birds through the fence. I also know there are coyotes in the area.
The cat had no visual head injuries. It looks like whatever grabbed him went straight for his stomach. He was not afraid of dogs so I don't know if he rolled over in front of whatever attacked him or if they chased him and grabbed him there. I thought this was a dog since it did not pack him off to eat him. However, I found blood on the other side of the chicken house so he managed to get under it. Also, my dog was in the yard so he could have chased whatever was after him off.
I'm sorry I'm ranting but here is my question:
What would go for his stomach instead of his head? Would a coyote attack between 5-6pm in the evening when the neighbors that live on the other side of the tree line are out in their yard talking, plus my dog was laying in the yard? As gross and indecent as this sounds I'm considering leaving my poor deceased cat out instead of burying him. I'm thinking a coyote would come back and pack him off. This was a horrible end to an otherwise enjoyable weekend.
BTW - my chickens are in an enclosed pen so they are safe. However, my cats apparently are not
My chicken house is in the corner of my property. There is a large open hay field behind me and a large tree line to the side of me. The chicken house is located where the hay field and tree line intersect which makes great cover for anything. I have occasionally seen a neighbors' dog eyeballing my birds through the fence. I also know there are coyotes in the area.
The cat had no visual head injuries. It looks like whatever grabbed him went straight for his stomach. He was not afraid of dogs so I don't know if he rolled over in front of whatever attacked him or if they chased him and grabbed him there. I thought this was a dog since it did not pack him off to eat him. However, I found blood on the other side of the chicken house so he managed to get under it. Also, my dog was in the yard so he could have chased whatever was after him off.
I'm sorry I'm ranting but here is my question:
What would go for his stomach instead of his head? Would a coyote attack between 5-6pm in the evening when the neighbors that live on the other side of the tree line are out in their yard talking, plus my dog was laying in the yard? As gross and indecent as this sounds I'm considering leaving my poor deceased cat out instead of burying him. I'm thinking a coyote would come back and pack him off. This was a horrible end to an otherwise enjoyable weekend.
BTW - my chickens are in an enclosed pen so they are safe. However, my cats apparently are not
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