My girlfriend's cat went missing...

[WolfeMacleod]

...three weeks ago.
Scratch had been with her for 13 years. He was getting old, but still very active. He was one of the nicest cat I've known, if a little annoying with all the in/out/in/out/in/outing that he did. He was a hunter.
I warned her often not to let him out all the time. I warned her that we have raccoons that are just plain deadly.
We have cars, eagles, all sorts of things that can take nine lives away in under nine seconds.
But, Scratch continued to go in, out, in out despite my warnings.
(let me add that my ex wife worked as a vet tech, and I've heard the stories of horrid things that have happened to animals brought in, who were let outside)
Three weeks ago I was outside at night, when someone let him out the back door. He came down the back steps, meowed like he wanted to be let in again. When I opened the door, he trotted off telling me "haha, just kidding..."

Come morning, he hadn't come home again. We chalked it up to one of his adventures. He'd gone off for a few days just after we moved in here... Come evening, still no signs. Come the end of the weekend, we were getting worried.
We started checking craigslist and the shelter postings. Nothing. We walked the neighborhood, calling his name.
On Saturday morning she got a call. Someone had found his collar. Being chewed on by some coyote pups about two miles away.
Coyotes.

We went and collected the collar, which was pretty badly mangled. She holds out hope he escaped, but I know there's no way for the collar to have come off...without his head coming off.
While we were collecting the collar, we looked through the brush where the pups were, since they were in someone's back yard. The den is literally 20-30 feet from the man's gazebo, but we were unable to get close enough because of the thickness of the brush. We could hear the pups. Once we moved away from the den area, they came out with mom and dad on another part of the hill.
I don't know what she expected to find there, but if she'd found anything it would have been a carcass of long black fur. Maybe a bone or two.

She's been in tears ever since, her head not accepting that he's gone, with her heart telling her the awful truth.

In 2009 one of my cats went missing for about an hour or two. I think she got out the back door when it was left open, or she could have been hiding in the house. I was a basketcase until she was found.
I love my cats, and do not let them outside.

I feel awful for her.

Bye, Scratch. It was nice knowing you.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Very sorry to hear this. There's very little chance he survived bit thankfully lived a good and full life. If you love them, keep them inside! Statistically the life expectancy of an indoor cat is about 2-3 times an "indoor/outdoor" cat and even longer for an outdoor cat... Not to mention greater likelihood of injury, disease, infestation, etc. If you love them, keep them inside and give them lots of attention...

[rnln]

Sorry to hear your lost.
Something about women. They seem to never worry/care if things doesn't happen yet.

[URY914]

Show us a picture of this ..........................cat.

[Mark Henry]

Fact of life around here. I was pissed because the wife let both kids have a cat and we already had one, they didn't last too long.
The original cat was attacked the same time, great big puncture wound on it's hip, she was in the hurt locker for 3 weeks.
In the 16 years we've lived here we've gone through half-dozen cats.

[stomachmonkey]

Sorry to hear.

[billybek]

I always feel a bad when I see lost cat posters in the neighborhood. Lots of coyotes around here.
Sorry to hear of Scratch's demise.

[pwd72s]

Nobody shoots Coyotes these days? Once they've lost their fear of man, it's over.

[widebody911]

Next time, have this guy make you a poster

[pwd72s]

Really...it's a predictable story on the nightly liberal views out of Portland. Coyotes move in, small dogs & cats go missing. Interview with somebody appointed "expert" by the media telling all to leave the Coyotes alone because we have invaded their space. What a load of krap!

See a Coyote? Shoot the critter!

Funny how Coyotes are NOT a problem in my semi rural area. People with livestock know how to protect same.

[5String43]

What a heartbreaker. It does indeed hurt to lose a wonderful furry friend, especially in such an awful way. This is awfully close to home because we have lost several cats to coyotes. And that's here in the norternmost reaches of Los Angeles. Having learned our lesson the hard way, our cats now remain indoors at all times. It just isn't safe for them out there, and here, at least, it doesn't much matter where you live. Coyotes will range up to 45 miles in a night, so they're everywhere.

[widebody911]

We lost an outside cat a few months ago, and we live in the 'burbs. No idea what got him, but the wife heard a horrible cat-scream in the middle of the night. Never saw him again. His sister got into a tussle with something nasty as well. These are strays that we've fed and tamed. We tried to convert them to 'indoor' status but they're having none of it. The last time we brought one inside, she ran around like crazy for 5 minutes and then puked.

TL;DR: cats are part of the food chain, irrespective of where you live.

[Evans, Marv]

Cats don't have to be outside to be in danger of attack. Years ago when my cat was still alive, my wife was sitting on the side of our bed when the cat ran under her legs. An instant later something else ran under her legs. It was a fox that had followed the cat inside through the front door we kept chained open for her to come in & out of. I was outside and didn't believe her at first when she called out there was a fox in the house. I came inside, and sure enough there was a fox. I opened the front door all the way, trapped it behind a day bed & sprayed it with pepper spray. After I let it go, it exited out the front door immediately. At that time, construction of large tracts of homes was going on in the surrounding area. We had all kinds of animals - coyotes, foxes, racoons, skunks, etc., etc. always coming around since their habitat was less available. There would be coyotes trotting down the street, foxes with kits in the back yard, and groups 6 or more racoons around the house some nights.

[pwd72s]

The solution?

Suncatcher-Walk-In-Outdoor-Cat-Enclosures-Cat-Cages-Cat-Condos-5x8-Foot-Sectional-Outdoor-Cat-Enclosure

[McLovin]

Originally Posted by widebody911

Next time, have this guy make you a poster

You are the Babe Ruth, Michael Jordan and Muhammed Ali, all wrapped into one, of this board.

[teenerted1]

tell animal control where the den is so they can get rid of the problem.

[Superman]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

Nobody shoots Coyotes these days? Once they've lost their fear of man, it's over.

Where I come from, coyote sightings are target practice.

My GF loves cats, but lives in the wilderness. Indoor/Outdoor cats invariably stop returning home.

[teenerted1]

Originally Posted by widebody911

Next time, have this guy make you a poster

fooking awsome

[Superman]

Originally Posted by teenerted1

fooking awsome

Tears are falling down my cheeks.