When we first arrived on the Farm, 6 years ago, there was a white cat. A week later, she gave birth to 2 cats, on July 1st. One was left alone, he wasn't meant to live. We saved him and he lived 6 months, before he got hit by a car.
The other one, Cookie, had long hair, and was the most beautiful cat. Since he wasn't fixed, he could dissapear for days and always returned on the farm. We brought him a few times at the Vet, he was saved in extremis 2 times.
Last September, a new cat came at the Farm. He had a collar and was abandonned here. We noticed that he didn't get along with the other cats of the Farm. Two males dissapeared, and the last one, Cookie, died a couple of days ago.
While, looking at my plants, we discovered Cookie, with flies all over him. It took me a second to realized that he died. He was attacked numerous times by the "new" cat. He had holes in his flesh. A couple of weeks ago, Cookie wanted to stay inside the house and I thought he was burning hot compared to the other cats. He still had his appetite so I didn't worry too much. A couple of days ago, I was looking for him, I thought he left to seek other female cats. In fact, he layed in the ground near the house, and we didn't find him until today. We digged a hole on the farm and burried him with a blanket. He was sick for a leat 2 weeks and we didn't take it seriously. He must have died of infection due to the wounds.
The other one, Cookie, had long hair, and was the most beautiful cat. Since he wasn't fixed, he could dissapear for days and always returned on the farm. We brought him a few times at the Vet, he was saved in extremis 2 times.
Last September, a new cat came at the Farm. He had a collar and was abandonned here. We noticed that he didn't get along with the other cats of the Farm. Two males dissapeared, and the last one, Cookie, died a couple of days ago.
While, looking at my plants, we discovered Cookie, with flies all over him. It took me a second to realized that he died. He was attacked numerous times by the "new" cat. He had holes in his flesh. A couple of weeks ago, Cookie wanted to stay inside the house and I thought he was burning hot compared to the other cats. He still had his appetite so I didn't worry too much. A couple of days ago, I was looking for him, I thought he left to seek other female cats. In fact, he layed in the ground near the house, and we didn't find him until today. We digged a hole on the farm and burried him with a blanket. He was sick for a leat 2 weeks and we didn't take it seriously. He must have died of infection due to the wounds.
Note to self, when a cat has a weird behaviour, chances are that he is sick and tries to tell you that he is not well. I will miss you Cookie.
That's sad. Poor cat...
ReplyDeleteoui pauvre bête. Il était pas assez costaud.
DeleteI'm sorry to hear about your cat. It kind of makes me mad to hear that your cat was bullied and killed by an abandoned cat. I know that it is animal instinct that makes them do it, but it still makes me sad.
ReplyDeleteYes I am mad too. This cat was special, he was born since we were here. I did not do the right thing by not taking action. Male cats will never resolve their territory issues. I watched a few days ago on Arte that Tigers have ennemies and it is mainly other male tigers. They can get killed to fight their territory. I should have done research before and not after this. One other cat was also dropped last year, a 3 month old small female, we had her fixed but didn't bother about the other grown cat. It seems that people in the country abandon cats on farms and assume that they will be taken care of.
DeleteTry not to be too hard on yourself. There must be a lot of stray and abandoned animals that wander/are dropped off onto to your farm. You can't possibly look after all of them. You could take them to the shelter, but they would probably be killed there.
DeleteI remember in Sicily I would hear the cats outside in the mountain at night mating or fighting. They would howl so loudly that they would wake me up. There was one cat, I felt so sorry for him, an orange tabby type cat, that was being bullied by a "neighbouring" cat. When I saw "neighbouring" I mean that he came from around the same area, but since they are all strays no one knew where a lot of them come from, but he wasn't from our farm. So he kept attacking the orange tabby. One night I heard howling that was so bad I was sure that a cat had been killed. And sure enough, the next day the orange tabby had a part of his tail missing. It was horrible - the bully had taken so much of his upper tail that you could almost see the bone. But what are you supposed to do, kill the bully? After all, it is in their instinct to fight and mark their territory. What can you do, punish the bully for doing something that only came naturally to him? We as humans would want to punish the bully and protect the weak cat, but if you do that, there's just another bully and victim waiting behind the curtains.
Thanks for your comments. It's just that all the other cats were brothers, this one really caused trouble as an outsider. Cats are fragile they can easily die of infection within days. Farmers have lots of cats, they don't really care about them, they are useful for mice control.
Delete