My cat has been shot!

I just found out after taking my cat to the vet this morning that he has been shot! They found a pellet in his chest and they told me they can't operate because it is too close to his heart. They don't know if he will be ok or not. He isn't too good right now. I want to cry.

I am so angry that someone could do this. Apparently it was close range too because of the depth it was lodged at.

I have just reported it to the police and maybe we can catch them. I just want my boy to be ok.

The odd thing is that my other cat may have been shot too because he has had breathing problems for ages and they haven't taken an xray assuming it was allergies. Now the vet thinks we should confirm it one way or another.

Why would someone want to do this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!????????????????????????????

Some people unforunately put other values before the welfare of animals. It may just have been some sick individual that gets kicks from hurting animals.

If your cat was contained within your property, you have every right to be livid. As well as scared for your own safety. I hope the police are very active in their investigation.

You didn't say if your let your cat roam or if he was contained within an enclosure. If he roams, some people put their property rights well ahead of the animal who doesn't understand property boundries. While I don't agree with this in anyway, I can reluctantly understand it.

I'll pray for your little one and hope he improves rapidly. Best wishes and all the positive energy I can manage are coming your way.

Sincerely
Brad

I am so terribly sorry to hear about your kitties. How a person could shot an innocent animal is beyond me

You and our cats are in my prayers. You are right to report this action to the police. The shooter is probably a very dangerous person.

I am so sad about it - I doubt the police will get anywhere but they might. you never know. What matters now is that Smoky manages to recover. I don't know what I would do without him.

We don't have enclosures - the cats stay relatively near to our garden. It wouldn't be fair to close them in and I wouldn't want to. I am wary about them being out now but they have been used to freedom all their lives so i am not changing it now and making them miserable.

I'm so sorry to hear about your cat, and hope the police take this matter seriously. I'm so paranoid about this sort of thing happening to one of my cats that I only let them out when I can watch them, which isn't very often. Best of luck to you and your kitties.

I hope he recovers from this!! It is a harsh world we live in these days. A lot of people dont seem to care that these guys might be part of a loving home!! My mom thinks I am crazy because I keep all my cats indoors, now I can share your story with her.

Thanks everyone for your concern. I saw the X-ray last night and the pellet is big and definately in a dangerous place to try to remove it so we can't risk it.

Smoky was ok last night but he isn't well this morning. I hope he feels better when I get home from work later. He can't go back outside for a week anyway.

The police came but they weren't really interested. Makes you wonder why you pay your taxes really. We fund the police and when we need them, they don't want to know.

This is infuriating!

Shooting animals is practically unheard of in Israel. Any use of firearms will be taken very seriously by the police. Almost everyone here has access to guns (becuase of the compulsory military service), but people are very very cautios about using them.

I don't think anything justifies shootin an animal. Not even if that animal has walked inside his home. What if a kid went into his yard? Would he shoot him as well?

I do hope your baby gets well soon! Please keep us posted.

It makes you think about America, and how backwards it can be sometimes. It is illegal in most states to declaw an animal and shooting one is unheard of in Israel. Yet in America kids are shooting eachother at school on a daily basis and animals are being shot, burned, tortured and killed. I will never understand why we don't have tougher laws. From drinking and driving to Murder. It is beyond me.

I am so sorry about your baby scatcat. Are you really going to let him back outside when he recovers? I couldn't bare to do it. Do you have any clue who might have done it? My thoughts are with you and Smoky.

Hi, I just had to wiegh in on this one. My friend had a 6 month old kitten, Shmee who was shot and killed about 5 years ago. I also, had 7 outdoor cats that one night disappeared and were never seen again. When the cats in my neighborhood began to disappear, I took it very seriously. I posted signs warning whoever was responsible about the laws they were breaking and begged them to contact those of us who were losing our kids. No response. I warned a neighbor who still, after all the disappearences, let her beautiful sweet girl out. I warned her of the cats being taken and she told me, "Oh she, won't go to anyone! She just stays close to home." I tried again after I picked up her cat and brought her to her door and told her if she would allow me to pick her up and carry her, she would respond the same way with anyone. A week or so later, the police were up the street and the woman was standing in her yard sobbing because her beautiful, sweet girl was in pieces arranged neatly on her grass. I almost fainted. It took everything in me to not scream. I fell to my knees and sobbed. Why didn't she LISTEN? Please, please listen. I pray it never happens to any of your kids. But even though I never know the fate of my own 7 lost souls, I think of them daily. I cry and pray for them. Pray they didn't have the same fate as my neighbors. PLEASE, KEEP YOUR KIDS INSIDE! Next time they want out, look deep into their eyes and remember the picture I just painted of the sweet little girl up the street and what torture and horror she must have gone through. Don't let that happen to your kids. I hope nothing but good things for all you and your furry family. Lisa

For the record guys, I live in the UK.

Smoky is out today because he needed the toilet and won't use the litter unless he is totally desperate.

He has been an outdoor cat all of his life, as has his brother. They come in when they like and go out when they like. It would be cruel to prevent him from going out and I won't do that to him. He wouldn't be happy so what gives me the right to make him unhappy?

We are off to the vets tonight for another antibiotic injection..

Hey ScatCat,

I have to agree with Lisarenee. First of all, what gives YOU the right to jeopardize your cats life after what he's already been though??

Your cat was already shot once. Wake up! What is to prevent the suspects from doing it again?? Outdoor cats can and do become indoor cats with patience. When you adopted your cat, you were committing to it's care and well being. Letting him outside after what he's already been through is asking for trouble and is a death sentence for your cat.

Think about it! If you decide to let him out and he doesn't come back, it'll be on your shoulders.

Another vote in favor of keeping your furry friends inside or at least in a supervised environment when outside!

Having just lost (needlessly) my sixteen year old 'baby' less than two months ago I know that I would take what ever measures needed to ensure he was still with me.

Sometimes we have to put safety ahead of happiness when it comes to our cat's welfare. The unhappiness with being confined indoors will only last a short while. The effects of being allowed to roam in what is obviously a dangerous environment will last forever.

I just spent the past week 'babysitting' a friend's cat. He was used to spending extended time outdoors as were most of the cats in my neighbourhood. His owners insisted that he would be alright outside. I personally didn't let my Frisky outside unless he was on his tie out leash.

After I let our friend's cat out the first day he didn't return until ten hours later. Even then he was very relunctant to come inside because the area was strange to him. After that I made my mind up that he was staying in. He started getting used to it and by the end of his six days with us would sit on the back of the sofa to look out the window. If he was determined to go out I would let him in our garage for a while.

His owners insisted that he wasn't liter trained but I found that when I filled our liter box up and showed him where it was he didn't need any coaching to use it.

Outdoor cats can learn to be happy inside. As a result they will live longer and happy lives!!!


[Edited by Sue on 03-28-2001 at 01:57 PM]

I have read a lot about the issue and have decided that it all depends on where you live. While we lived in the big city we never dreamt about letting the cats outside. With all the cars and crowded people we felt it was too dangerous. Now that we live in the country, in a peaceful village with very little traffic and fewer people (and a nice community where everyone knows each other), I do let the cats out. They have a choice - we still keep their litter box at home. I can tell you with certainty that they love it outside. We call them inside and lock the catflap at night.

Yes, I do realize that keeping them outside is more dangerous, but the same is true for our 2-legged children and you wouldn't think of making them stay at home all their life. I think that I would be just as scared to let my 6-7 years old kid go outside, for the same reasons (traffic and mean people and dogs), but my fear doesn't mean I should keep a child locked in all the time. In short, I'm taking a risk here, but I think that my cats have better lives that way.

Having said all that, I do think that if, God forbid, one of my cats would have come back home shot I wouldn't let either of them out again until I made sure this wouldn't happen again. I don't know how many people live in your neighborhood Scatcat, I would just go from door to door talking to everyone and trying to find out who did it and why.

By the way, I thought carrying weapons was illegal in the UK. I thought that was why the policemen don't carry guns over there.

You are absolutely right that the decision whether or not to confine a cat indoors depends on the location ... and more importantly the cat and its owner.

When Frisky first came to live with us sixteen years ago we also lived in a town with a fair amount of traffic. We automatically made the decision to supervise him on a tie out leash when outside. When we opened the door he would usually wait for us to put the leash on his collar. When we moved to a more rural area ten years ago we decided to continue using the tie out leash - but this time a longer one.

In our area all the cats roamed free except Frisky. But I noticed that the neighbouring cats also starting disappearing. Some were victims of the highway running past our area. Some I assume came up against the coyotes that inhabited the area. Others fell victim to various diseases that they were more exposed to when they roamed.

And I also agree that we wouldn't dream of imposing the same restrictions on our two legged children. But the difference I see here is that whenever I've told my two legged neices or nephews that they could go outside if they stayed away from the highway - they would listen and stay away from the highway.

I coud never get my Frisky to listen as attentatively. :-) On the rare occassions that he did get away from us and sneak off he came back much worse for his adventures. It usually meant a trip to the vet, which was also hard on him.

So, ultimately, Scatcat, it is your decision. You must decide what is best for your cat. I, and I am sure most of the others here, are just stating our oppinion as to what we would do. You know your cats best.

I wish you all the best in finding the culpirt that shot your cat. Some people have no heart.

I am so sorry that someone could be so inhumane as to shoot another person's pet without a second thought. It is a cruel world that we live in. I do not blame you for being worried but it is your decision as a pet owner how to protect your pet. Myself, I have raised many pets over the years. We have always lived in the country and I have never had to permanetly restrain one of my "babies". Just remember that those are your pets and it is your decision how to care for them. I hope that you little darlings recover and live a long and healthy life. I also hope that whoever did this will somehow learn how wrong and inhumane it is to shoot an animal out of fun or sport. We only hunt what we will consume. Anything else wouldn't be right. Godbless.

I am not going to condem anyone for what they do at this point. I choose to keep all 11 in the house and I feel very okay with that and I have never had one even try to sneak out. They live very happy lives inside.
Anne, I would like to say though, that I do have a 6 soon to be 7 year old child. I DO NOT let her out of the fenced backyard without one of us. However, I can tell her to stay in the backyard and she will, the cats dont listen like that. So I dont take any chances on my kids with or without furr.

I do know my cats and I look after them extremely well. I was really upset by donna's response because I worship my cats and I always have. But I don't agree on keeping them in 'just in case'. They would hate that and they would be so unhappy! I know what I took on and why and I don't need to be told I am not caring for my cats by letting them out.

I was only telling everyone what happened to make them aware of it but I wasn't asking how I should look after them. I have had cats for most of my life and I am very experienced with them and I do know what I am doing. I know them better than anyone and I even bought my house so that it suited their needs first and foremost.

I agree with Anne in that where you live has a lot to do with it. Enclosures are not an option. Neither is shutting them inside for the rest of their lives.

Thanks for the support in the main, but next time I shall probably just keep quiet.

Scatcat, please don't be offened. I'm sure that's not what Donna meant. I do hope that you'll keep sharing your problems here with us on the forums (and the happy things too )

This type of behavior angers me so much! I have often observed that cats are the target of senseless cruelty. It is clearly the sign of a disturbed person. I suppose that this type of person picks on cats, because they perceive them to be less of a threat than dogs, ie, less chance that a cat will injure THEM in an attempt to defend itself.

The students in the school I work in are living in disadvantaged homes, with many of today's social problems present: abuse, poverty, drugs, etc. etc. Just the other day some of them told me of examples of how they chase, throw things, etc. at cats, and clearly enjoy this type of "fun".

As much as I know my boys would love to be outside, I fear too much for their safety. People seem to cluster in one of 2 camps regarding cats; either they love them or they hate them. The cat haters definitely pose a threat.