oh Susan how incredibly sad
Originally Posted by xocats
My guess is that when cats are ill or injured...instead of going away to die, their instinct tells them to hide, in an attempt to avoid becoming the prey of a stronger predator.
I would exhaust all attempts to find this kitty before I gave up.
Well, I know this isn't a cat, but my mother's childhood bulldog, Tuffy, supposedly committed suicide. When she and her mother were moving into another apartment, they left the dog at their old house at night until they got everything settled. They were there every day moving things and checked on him at night. (He was still young, totally healthy and had been left home during certain trips in years before with someone who would check on him, etc..) During one of these checkups my uncle let him out front to go potty when he got out the front gate and walked into the street, standing where the dump truck pulls in. Despite calling him, he just stared out at the dump truck that was a few houses up, so my uncle went out, picked him up and brought him back inside. My uncle must not have closed the door completely because minutes later, after he retrieved the last of the boxes, he saw Tuffy outside again through a window, standing in the exact same spot and staring at the dump truck (now at their house). He dropped everything and ran to get him, but halfway through the yard the truck ran him over. Tuffy didn't react in the slightest.Originally Posted by lostmary
I also think they go away to die. I am an old time vet tech, and I remember the dr. I was working for tell me that cats want to be alone at the end. He also told me that sometimes when they know the time is up, that they will put them selves out of their misery. Ex. He knew of a cat that scratched out a small indent into the ground and put his face in it to die. It may just have been a story, I don't know, but I do think it is possible.
Mary
I also think that this is what actually happens when they 'go away to die'.Originally Posted by xocats
My guess is that when cats are ill or injured...instead of going away to die, their instinct tells them to hide, in an attempt to avoid becoming the prey of a stronger predator.