What made you sad today?

[Tannin]

I ran over my cat. Stone dead. Poor old girl, she has always played a bit fast and loose with the car in the driveway and often stays just barely far enough away from the wheels when I pull into the driveway - and of course, you can't see her when she is under the overhang of the bonnet escorting me in. It's annoying, but there isn't anything much you can do about it except what I have done for the last 15 or 20 years, which is to go really slowly and mumble "stupid cat" for the 5914th time.

Then she gets underfoot and escorts me all the way into the kitchen, just in case there is a feed in it, or possibly because she thinks I might have forgotten the way.

She has grown old, these last few years, only has one eye now, and spends a lot of time sleeping, but she is still as slim as ever, slimmer actually, I try to feed her up as much as I can. Always an uncomfortable, spiky, feisty character with very little time for anything except her own comfort and amusement, after the other one died three or four years ago she suddenly turned into a contented, even loving companion. And despite her age, I never, ever saw a mouse around the place. That's important in this old house, a vital job.

Yesterday, she was up to her same-old, same-old trick of not-quite getting out of the way of the car and, as always, I drove forward at a crawling pace for the last couple of metres to make sure she had plenty of time to avoid the wheels. Not this time. There was a yelp - that same familiar yelp I've heard a thousand times when she gets underfoot in the kitchen and I tread on her tail - and that was that. She must have gone under the back wheel.

So I buried her under the Liquid Amber tree in the front yard. She'd have liked that; it's as far as possible away from where I buried the other one a few years ago in the back yard, and they never did get on.

[pietillidie]

^Sorry to hear; love cats as much as dogs. They do get under your feet (and wheels), the little buggers.

Nothing beats watching them when they're all fired up and on the prowl, eyes like they've just popped a pill at a rave party, tail twitching, arse wriggling...most of the time just to pounce on some inanimate bit of fluff or such. We had a chocolate brown Burmese that lived a good 18 years, and must have been presumed run over a hundred times.

In addition to mice, they're also great snake catchers around the farm house, too, my brother-in-law tells me, though possibly after several generations of natural selection have taken effect!

[laird]

Sorry to hear that mate. Enjoyed this post of yours/this side of you, it is easy to 'feel' your loss. It is honestly quite sad to hear.
Dogs are good but cats are great! They take no shit


Hope your day gets much better!

[HAL]

Oh that is a shame.

[Mugwump]

A long life, lived on its own terms, a quick end in a well-known place, and a spot under the liquid amber. Sorry it happened, but some consolations, there, i hope.

[stui magpie]

Sorry to see about the mouse catcher. Not a great way to go but still, quick, and preferable to lying round in pain going slowly.

[David]

Sorry to hear, Tannin. Must have been very upsetting.

At least, as others have said, it was a relatively quick and painless death.

[Tannin]

Thanks guys. Yep, for the best in the end, I think. She had reached the end of her good years and this was very quick.

Now I have to decide whether to get another one. This old house really needs a working cat to keep it vermin-free. (Not counting my good self as vermin here, though I know that might be a little controversial.) On the other hand, it's a right pain organising someone to feed her when I go away, which is often. B lives 25 kilometres away, so it's not really fair to expect her to drive all that way every day or two to feed a cat while I'm in Queensland or somewhere for a month. Maybe I could rig up some sort of automatic device. Mind you, in the right season of a good year, a good cat feeds herself, and goes a fair way towards feeding me as well. Pity I don't care for fried rat.

[HAL]

What is stopping you?

[think positive]

Thanks guys. Yep, for the best in the end, I think. She had reached the end of her good years and this was very quick.

Now I have to decide whether to get another one. This old house really needs a working cat to keep it vermin-free. (Not counting my good self as vermin here, though I know that might be a little controversial.) On the other hand, it's a right pain organising someone to feed her when I go away, which is often. B lives 25 kilometres away, so it's not really fair to expect her to drive all that way every day or two to feed a cat while I'm in Queensland or somewhere for a month. Maybe I could rig up some sort of automatic device. Mind you, in the right season of a good year, a good cat feeds herself, and goes a fair way towards feeding me as well. Pity I don't care for fried rat.

bugger mate, sorry for your loss. and RIP to (name?)

if you do decide you have some more love to give, here's a great place to start:

http://www.rspcavic.org/adoption/Search ... d=9&page=1

Bauble or George could easily be renamed Pendles!!

though I quite like sparkles!

there is also kittens on page 2

( some places waive the adoption fee for geriatrics too - geriatric cat not you!)

http://www.ingridshaven.net.au/

cheers mate

jo xxxxx

[watt price tully]

Oh Tannin. Sorry to hear that mate. It is sad thing.

Poor ol Moggie.

[stui magpie]

Thanks guys. Yep, for the best in the end, I think. She had reached the end of her good years and this was very quick.

Now I have to decide whether to get another one. This old house really needs a working cat to keep it vermin-free. (Not counting my good self as vermin here, though I know that might be a little controversial.) On the other hand, it's a right pain organising someone to feed her when I go away, which is often. B lives 25 kilometres away, so it's not really fair to expect her to drive all that way every day or two to feed a cat while I'm in Queensland or somewhere for a month. Maybe I could rig up some sort of automatic device. Mind you, in the right season of a good year, a good cat feeds herself, and goes a fair way towards feeding me as well. Pity I don't care for fried rat.

Here's some reviews on automatic dry pet food dispensers.

http://www.catfooddispensersreviews.com/

Some of these will hold 2kg of dry cat food which should last a few weeks at least when supplemented with some meeces pieces.

Here's a good one on Gumtree

http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/melbourn ... 1066508031

You can even program a voice message in it so when Puss comes over to get some dry food it can hear your soothing tones saying "WTF are you doing here eating dry food again you lazy good for nothing fur ball, p155 off and catch a mouse"

[think positive]

Hahahahaahahaha!

[swoop42]

Very sorry to hear that Tannin.

While an accident I'm sure you still feel like shite about it.

I know I'd be devastated.

Still having a D day when you have your old and sick cat booked in to be put to sleep is just as bad and perhaps even worse.

Me and my mum had that experience late last year with our cat and it was close to the worse day off my life.

I wasn't just losing a much loved pet I was losing a close friend of 18 years.

Just thinking about it now has me tearing up and I don't tear up easily.

[KenH]

Sorry to hear about your cat Tannin, simply hate losing pets bloody hard when they go.