I can't believe there's a place where I can go to that people will listen and understand my loss.
My baby Scarlett, a beautiful lilac siamese was brutally killed last month and I haven't been able to get over it, or should I say, I'm having such a hard time dealing with it. People have said to me that I'll "get over it" in time. I disagree. It's not something that you "get over" I feel like I have to "live with it."
I guess I should start at the beginning. I had a sweet cat and she was old and died but I had a very hard time dealing with her loss. I could only think to get another kitty. Four months later, I found Scarlett in the next state from an ad and loved her the minute that I saw her. Because she was in a litter of 2, I also got her beautiful sister, Melanie. I named the two cats Scarlett and Melanie from the book, Gone With the Wind as it's my favorite book of all time. I prayed for a cat that loves to sit on laps and that was affectionate and loved to be loved. It must have been fate that I found them. I named them before I got them and Melanie has an "M" and "W" for Melanie Wilkes, a character of the book, on her head. The two of them were a joy. I lavished all of my love on these cats. Melanie is quiet and sweet and Scarlett was full of life and had a personality and a half, plus extremely smart and sweet. Both of them are just pure beauty to me. Scarlett followed me around like a dog would and understood everything I said to her. She loved to be scratched and loved and put her head up to me to be kissed as she loved kisses too.
June 13th approximately 7 PM: My neighbor rang my bell and said that she thought that my cat was dead in my backyard! I ran out to the back and saw her but couldn't bring myself to go up close to see which cat that it was, as my father was told that our neighbor across the street with 2 rottweiler mixed dogs attacked Scarlett and killed her on our property! My father ran to their house and I followed screaming "what cat is it?!!" My father yelled, "It's Scarlett. He was extremely attached to Scarlett too. The guilty neighbor denied that it was her dogs. I knew it was her dogs as the neighbor that came to the door told us whose dogs did it. I just remember screaming and my father picking me up as I had collapsed in grief. For an hour I sat in my room screaming "it's not true!" and "why God?" I've had many cats die from sickness or age but never a brutal death like this. When the police came, I had to give a statement, which I don't remember what I said. My poor father had to pick up Scarlett and put her into a kitty taxi as she was to be cremated the next day. My mother then told me in her grief that her tail was fat and her claws were still extended. Scarlett stayed downstairs in that box all night until the next morning where my father brought her to the vet. A very black day. Animal Control was called by the police due to a death involved. The guilty neighbor admitted that her dogs were loose to the police but then got a lawyer and now is saying again that it wasn't her dogs. It's a mess. Not only am I dealing with Scarlett's death but now I have to go to court with Animal Control. I've found out from several neighbors that these dogs were let out on many occasions and were warned numberous times. I then realize that these were 2 dogs that attacked me 3 months earlier and that I warned the neighbor myself! They jumped up on me and was snarling and growling. One of them had their paws wrapped around my leg and luckily, I was released and got to safety. Now, 3 months later, my beloved cat is dead. After talking to my neighbors, 2 of them saw the whole thing and didn't do anything! They didn't even yell at them! The dogs didn't bark even once. They just attacked. If any of us had heard one bark, we would have been out there in a heart beat. I find out that the dogs chased Scarlett 3 times around my house and then finally both attacked her in the back yard where they tugged on her until her death. I can't go to the place in the back where she was killed any more. When she was killed, I was in my bedroom, about 20 yards away which I can't get away from that guilt. If only the dogs would have barked once!
The legal side: I've found out that pets are seen as property in the eyes of the law and that if someone's dog kills your cat that you are only compensated for the price of the cat and it's disposal?!! I don't understand that. Scarlett was my baby. I don't want money, I want Scarlett back but, that being impossible, I don't understand the courts. I honestly would give my arm to have her back. Another thing.....no lawyer will help me because it's not a "money" case. It's a lose/lose situation that I'm in. Why are the laws protecting the very vicious dogs that killed my Scarlett?
So, I just needed to vent with people like yourselves.....cat lovers. I still cry every day and can't really talk to anyone about how much I miss her. Most people look at me like there's something wrong with me that I haven't "gotten over it." Every morning I wake up and think that it was all a nighmare only to realize that she's gone. Her poor sister, Melanie became sick the week after her death as she has a heart condition. She's getting better, but slowly. I don't know how to live with this. I love her still.
I sincerely hope that no one has been through something like this but, if there is, how did you cope?
Sincerely,
A Mourning Mommy
My baby Scarlett, a beautiful lilac siamese was brutally killed last month and I haven't been able to get over it, or should I say, I'm having such a hard time dealing with it. People have said to me that I'll "get over it" in time. I disagree. It's not something that you "get over" I feel like I have to "live with it."
I guess I should start at the beginning. I had a sweet cat and she was old and died but I had a very hard time dealing with her loss. I could only think to get another kitty. Four months later, I found Scarlett in the next state from an ad and loved her the minute that I saw her. Because she was in a litter of 2, I also got her beautiful sister, Melanie. I named the two cats Scarlett and Melanie from the book, Gone With the Wind as it's my favorite book of all time. I prayed for a cat that loves to sit on laps and that was affectionate and loved to be loved. It must have been fate that I found them. I named them before I got them and Melanie has an "M" and "W" for Melanie Wilkes, a character of the book, on her head. The two of them were a joy. I lavished all of my love on these cats. Melanie is quiet and sweet and Scarlett was full of life and had a personality and a half, plus extremely smart and sweet. Both of them are just pure beauty to me. Scarlett followed me around like a dog would and understood everything I said to her. She loved to be scratched and loved and put her head up to me to be kissed as she loved kisses too.
June 13th approximately 7 PM: My neighbor rang my bell and said that she thought that my cat was dead in my backyard! I ran out to the back and saw her but couldn't bring myself to go up close to see which cat that it was, as my father was told that our neighbor across the street with 2 rottweiler mixed dogs attacked Scarlett and killed her on our property! My father ran to their house and I followed screaming "what cat is it?!!" My father yelled, "It's Scarlett. He was extremely attached to Scarlett too. The guilty neighbor denied that it was her dogs. I knew it was her dogs as the neighbor that came to the door told us whose dogs did it. I just remember screaming and my father picking me up as I had collapsed in grief. For an hour I sat in my room screaming "it's not true!" and "why God?" I've had many cats die from sickness or age but never a brutal death like this. When the police came, I had to give a statement, which I don't remember what I said. My poor father had to pick up Scarlett and put her into a kitty taxi as she was to be cremated the next day. My mother then told me in her grief that her tail was fat and her claws were still extended. Scarlett stayed downstairs in that box all night until the next morning where my father brought her to the vet. A very black day. Animal Control was called by the police due to a death involved. The guilty neighbor admitted that her dogs were loose to the police but then got a lawyer and now is saying again that it wasn't her dogs. It's a mess. Not only am I dealing with Scarlett's death but now I have to go to court with Animal Control. I've found out from several neighbors that these dogs were let out on many occasions and were warned numberous times. I then realize that these were 2 dogs that attacked me 3 months earlier and that I warned the neighbor myself! They jumped up on me and was snarling and growling. One of them had their paws wrapped around my leg and luckily, I was released and got to safety. Now, 3 months later, my beloved cat is dead. After talking to my neighbors, 2 of them saw the whole thing and didn't do anything! They didn't even yell at them! The dogs didn't bark even once. They just attacked. If any of us had heard one bark, we would have been out there in a heart beat. I find out that the dogs chased Scarlett 3 times around my house and then finally both attacked her in the back yard where they tugged on her until her death. I can't go to the place in the back where she was killed any more. When she was killed, I was in my bedroom, about 20 yards away which I can't get away from that guilt. If only the dogs would have barked once!
The legal side: I've found out that pets are seen as property in the eyes of the law and that if someone's dog kills your cat that you are only compensated for the price of the cat and it's disposal?!! I don't understand that. Scarlett was my baby. I don't want money, I want Scarlett back but, that being impossible, I don't understand the courts. I honestly would give my arm to have her back. Another thing.....no lawyer will help me because it's not a "money" case. It's a lose/lose situation that I'm in. Why are the laws protecting the very vicious dogs that killed my Scarlett?
So, I just needed to vent with people like yourselves.....cat lovers. I still cry every day and can't really talk to anyone about how much I miss her. Most people look at me like there's something wrong with me that I haven't "gotten over it." Every morning I wake up and think that it was all a nighmare only to realize that she's gone. Her poor sister, Melanie became sick the week after her death as she has a heart condition. She's getting better, but slowly. I don't know how to live with this. I love her still.
I sincerely hope that no one has been through something like this but, if there is, how did you cope?
Sincerely,
A Mourning Mommy
