totally devastated

[kimkat7]

IM so sad today and feel sick in my stomach. A few days ago I got a new kitten and she was beautiful. I have 2 other female cats one 7yrs the other 3yrs everything seemed to be fine the older cat was taking to her quite well and although the other one was not overjoyed with another kitten in the house she never attacked her. anyway came home today and found that the kitten had been killed by my 3 yr old cat I found her in a pool of blood underneath my bed.Words cannot describe how upset I am today Ijust feel so totally devastated . I have had cats and kittens all my life yet although cats take time to get to know each other I never in a million years one would actually resort to killing a young kitten . Does anyone know of this happen ing ?

[alexgirl73]

I am so very sorry! I have never heard of this happening before, some of the others will be along soon who may be able to advise you somewhat. ((hugs))

[kimkat7]

thankyou for you sympathy im feeling so much grief right now

[Mags]

What a tragic thing to happen, you must feel so devastated. I have never heard of anything like this happening before either...

If you feel the need to share your grief, we are all good listeners here and we will help you through this awful period.... (((hugs)))

[EmmaG]

So sorry to hear this, please don't blame yourself. I have never heard of a female cat doing this to a kitten as well (although I have heard of mother cats killing their own kittens)

How old was the kitten?

[kimkat7]

6 / 7wks apparently

[kado]

Oh i am so sorry. I dont know what to say.

[Moli]

So sorry, I have heard of a mother killing her kittens too....
We are good listeners on here, and will help all we can....Hugs..x

[kimkat7]

another thing what is upsetting me is her previous owner. She replied to my ad when I said I looking for a kitten to join my other 2 cats . She is a young girl in her twenties and really seemed to care about her cats and not just to make money out of the kittens .Shes been emailing and texting loads about this kitten . When she came to my house to drop the kitten of she said she was really happy that she was giving her kitten to her a good home and she chose me to home her kitten because I had other cats fo company . Since then she has texted me to find out if the kitten has been settling in well and what I have decided to call her etc I Texted her back yesterday to say everthing was fantastic , which it was and I was delighted to have such a cute kitten around . How on earth do I tell her todays events and how one of my cats with no previous behavioral problems has killed her kitten

[EmmaG]

Hmmm not sure I would tell her if she as she is quite young. Do you think she would keep trying to contact you if you didn't reply back to her ??

If I was you I would contact my vet and get the cat who killed the kitten checked over to make sure she is ok. I think it is very unsual for a female cat to do this to a kitten. How is she now??

[dandysmom]

How terrible; you must be devastated! I have never heard of a case like this before; not something you would ever anticipate. I agree that it might be good to get the 3 year old checked at the vet......

It will be difficult telling the previous owner, but if you don't and she comes by unexpectedly to see her kitten......???

[angieh]

I am very sorry about this tragedy. Poor little kitten - a very strange thing for your female cat to do. ****HUGS****

[kimkat7]

well this is the strange part . when I showed her the dead kitten she went a bit berserk and scratched me then ran of to the top of the cupboard and refused to come down eventually she did I stroked her she growled at me which is quite out of character for this cat she is actually quite affectionate then shes disappeared out of the cat flap and I have not seen her since . What on earth goes through these cats minds is a complete mystery

[EmmaG]

It is quite possible that she detected something wrong with the kitten ??? Had you taken the kitten to the vet for a checkup?

[alexgirl73]

Does anyone think, and this may be a bit 'out there' that the kitten had some sort of defect or illnesss that only the cat could sense? Just trying to make some sort of sense of this.

[kimkat7]

well I only know the previous owner beacause she replied to my ad we are not freinds or anything . The only thing is I Promised to send her pics and footage of her kitten as she grows up

[Kim]

How terribly said, I am so sorry for you. What a shock! I have had cats & kittens all my life, and worked with them too and have never, ever heard of a case like this. I agree that it is worth getting the cat checked out and asking the vets opinion on this.

[alexgirl73]

Just found this on another site

Females which haven't given birth may treat kittens born to other females as prey. Pregnancy and birthing cause hormones which generally trigger maternal instinct. A female without kittens has not gone thorugh this process and the size and sound of the kittens triggers her hunting instincts.

[kimkat7]

no I had not really had a chance to. As far as i knew the kitten was very heathy she had a very good appetite , used the tray . The girl who had her before actually had taken good care of her it was the first kitten i have ever had who did not have a single flea

[angieh]

Just found this on another site

Females which haven't given birth may treat kittens born to other females as prey. Pregnancy and birthing cause hormones which generally trigger maternal instinct. A female without kittens has not gone thorugh this process and the size and sound of the kittens triggers her hunting instincts.

This would go some way to explaining your cat's behaviour, don't you think?

[kimkat7]

I would not have thought she would have any reproductive hormones both my cats have been neutered at the recommended 5/6mth old time. Another thing there has never been a problem between her and my other female cat

[EmmaG]

I would hazzard a bet that there was something wrong with the kitten. She might have appeared to be totally healthy but perhaps your cat detected something that was wrong.

The only way to find out would be to take the kitten to the vets and see if they can tell you if this was the case.

[EmmaG]

How did your female cat react when you got the second cat? how old was the second cat at that time?

[dandysmom]

I think what it meant was that your cat, having been spayed, had never had reproductive/maternal/nurturing hormones activated, and might have regarded the kitten as prey......
But still seems most unusual....

[kimkat7]

I have had all my cats since they were 8/12 wks old . The eldest one is 7 . I have had the 3 yr old since she was a kitten and she has basically grown up with the older one with no problems

[kimkat7]

that is what I thought . my other cat has always accepted new kittens in the house no problem

[Elaine]

Very very sad and distressing, poor baby. I have to say though, I dont think I would trust Eva around a kitten tbh. I am sure i have heard of feral males killing kittens. Interesting post from Alex, certainly food for thought.
I am very sorry for your loss and i hope it doesnt affect your relationship with the cat that was responsible as she was obviously acting on primal instinct rather than a thought out act of calousness.
I think, hard as it will be, that it would be better to inform the girl you got the kitten from of what has happened.
Once again, I am very sorry.

[EmmaG]

Well as she originally didn't have a problem with the first kitten, she must have felt something/the situation was very wrong with the new kitten.

I could understand perhaps if this was the first time she had come across a kitten before, but not the second time.

[babycakes]

This is so bizarre and I am very sorry for you having to experience this. How did you know it was that cat in particular who did it? (sorry if it was obvious). Had they been introduced slowly? What a terrible death for the kitten and horrible thing for you to find.

[kimkat7]

a new a development has occured and thrown light on the situation . It seems that a neighbourhood un neutered ginger tom likely killed her. He tends enter my house , (i only have a basic cat flap) when i have gone to work for a few hours or when i put the lights out and go to sleep .I found him this morning underneath the bed the same place i found the dead kitten he was also making alot of territorial cat calls in the house , which was stressing out kimberley , the 3 year old i thought killed her . she aswell seems still quite troubled and jumpy and seems to be sniffing around trying to find the kitten . This seems the most likely course of events cat protection league and rspca both told me it would be unusual for my female cat to so brutally kill the kitten , it was real execution style , they have never heard of this happening and from the responses on this thread noone else has either .
anyway be very careful when getting a new kitten as i do think it is quite difficult keeping other cats out and they usually are always toms unneutered ,unless you are going to keep the kitten in a locked room every time you go out which seems quite unfair as i wanted her to get used to her new surroundings .
i have been looking online about microchip cat flaps does anyone know if they work as they are supposed to they are quite pricey about £115 but if it works and keeps this wretched ginger cat out of my house then it would be worth it

[kado]

I realy do feel sorry for you and i feel for you and your other cats.

[dandysmom]

It doesn't lessen the horror of the death, but what a relief to learn that it's very probable that it was the tom! Your poor girl was innocent, bless her, and no doubt very upset about it. Unfortunately, whole toms do that.......

[yola]

I'm just catching up with this thread and reading it in horror. What a tragic thing to happen in your house and to a little kitten - I'm so very sorry. The un-neutered Tom thing does seem the rational explanation and I'm sure a relief to you that your cat wasn't responsible. And the cat flap? Well ultimately it's a no-brainer. It might be £115 but I can bet you're certain you never want a repeat of what has happened.

BTW - did your 3 yr old cat come back after bolting?

[charliebubs]

I'm also only just reading this thread and am so sorry to hear of your loss. At least you have a possible answer now and know that it was probably this Tom rather than your Kimberley. Not that it makes the whole tragedy any better. :(

If I were you I would speak to the girl that you got the kitten from and explain what has happened to her.

What a sad situation.

RIP little kitten - taken so young :(

[tilly]

i am sorry to hear about the loss of such a young kitten in such a horrrible way. **RIP little one**

I would tell the lady you got her from as well as if it was my kitten I would like to know what happened to her. Just make sure she knows it wasn't your fault or your cats fault it was just a terrible unpreidictable attack.

I have never heard of anything like it.


Do you know who owns the tom cat. As if it isn't own it might be an idea to get the Cats protecion or someone like them to catch the tom to neuter him at least and possibe rehome him somewhere well away from you?

Best of luck and hugs to you

Sally

[EmmaG]

I was going to ask you today if it was possible that another animal got into your house.

At least you know now it wasn't your cat. I would try and find out who owns the tom cat and try and educate them on getting him neutered.

glad to hear in the end it wasn't your cat, not sure how I would react if my cats did that.

[babycakes]

To be honest that's why I wondered how you knew it was your cat because you didn't say she had blood on her or anything.

At least that is one thing to know it wasn't yours, but still not a nice thing to come home to poor baby

[angieh]

So glad it's not your lass to blame. Horrible of course all the same. It would be worth almost anything to keep the Tom out - he could attack your girls or spray in your home.

And I would definitely tell the girl who is asking how her kittie is getting on. It's no good trying to hide what's happened from her, no matter how upsetting it will be for you and for her. It will be hard to tell her and you know how we all sympathise with you over this. ***HUG***