Vet just rang to say my cat has been taken in deceased.

[chocolatespiders]

I am in shock they said it looks like she has been attacked by a dog. Someone called local cat charity who collected her and took her to the vets who scanned her.
I will miss her so so much.

I'm so sorry for your loss.

I have terriers. They have an immense prey drive but this does not equate to aggression to humans in any way, shape or form.

If a cat came into our garden they would kill it. If a child walked in they would be go over for a fuss.

It's so ignorant to think prey drive equals an aggressive dog.

I am so, so sorry. You gave her a lovely life.

I think you've done the right thing reporting it. I guess the police can get details from CP about the dog owner. Obviously, I have no idea what they'll do.
I can't make my mind up about the owner. They would have got to cat to the vets quicker themselves than waiting for someone to come out?
Still a very sad and tragic incident for you and your beautiful cat

Nobody knows (apart from the vet and the owner) what sort of dog attacked Chocolatespider's cat or if the owner was in any sense irresponsible. Let's hope it was an awful unavoidable accident but it will help people and pets in the neighbourhood if the police can investigate what happened. If I were chocolatespider, I wouldn't find posts about other dogs' instincts that helpful when my cat was attacked by a dog whose behaviour and owner were unknown to me.

I think you are doing the right thing chocolatespider. I am glad for your lovely cat that she knew the comfort of a loving home in the last year of her life but sad that you have lost her

Im so sorry about your beautiful Dcat

[quote SBTLove]@Lweji
Dog - dog aggression or cat is a completely different behaviour from dog - human aggression.
I’ve worked with dogs for years and trained/socialised dog aggressive dogs who nearly all without fault are absolutely no risk to humans.
It’s this uninformed hysterical attitude that leads to dogs being condemned/ dumped in rescue.[/quote]
So should it be OK for this dog to continue to be a risk to cats? It has killed another animal.

SBTLove must be one of those people who thinks their dog is perfectly safe around babies, despite being aggressive.

I just feel so sad I wasn't with her and feel the person who's dog attacked should have taken her straight to the vets rather than call a charity and wait for them to arrive

If the dog and owner were out for a walk then it would have been impossible for the owner to take the cat straight to the vet. They wouldn't have been able to get an injured cat out of the bush while controlling an over excited dog. And then how would they get both to the vets? Calling someone for advice and to come and help seems like a sensible option in those circumstances.

I'm so sorry for your loss op. The picture of mum and son is gorgeous.

I am so sorry OP. Hope tomorrow goes ok.
What a beautiful cat she was.

I’m so sorry for the loss of your beautiful cat.

I think where the attack happened is key to whether or not it needs to be reported. I have a dog who is (apparently) very aggressive towards cats. If she were to attack a cat in a public place then I would consider that to be my fault as I obviously didn’t have her under adequate control. If a cat got in to our garden and she attacked it (fortunately there are no cats in the vicinity) then that would be quite different, although I would obviously be very upset. She has a strong prey drive but she is very maternal towards puppies and she loves people and children. I understand it’s a very upsetting situation but I don’t think it’s hugely helpful for people to suggest that this dog might attack a child or baby next.

Again, I’m so sorry for your loss. Losing a pet is awful under any circumstances but I can’t imagine how upset you must be

Now I might be a bit controversial here but I don't think it's at all okay for a dog to attack a cat, even in its own garden, and for the owner to excuse it as a "strong prey drive". These animals, cats and dogs, are domestic pets. Responsible owners should train their dogs to behave like the pets they are. It's not acceptable for a pet dog to kill a cat in any circumstances.

@Lweji
What an incredibly ignorant comment, I’ve reiterated the different types of aggressions and behaviours and you’ve decided I have an aggressive dog?? away you go.
My dogs are well balanced sociable dogs that work in training other dogs.
@Plussizejumpsuit
If the dog is a risk to cats it should be on lead and preferably muzzled. At no point have I dismissed this, I have to explain that a dog going after a cat is not a stepping stone to human aggression, I think a few other posters have agreed.

I do know that it didnt happen in the owners garden and my cat was chased into bushes whilst they were out walking but i am not allowed to be told where to protect the dog owner.

I understand that there may have been reasons why the owner did not take my cat to the vets and I wrote that in my post. I have just been having irrational thoughts around this as it has been so difficult to come to terms with as it has been heartbreaking.

@Tavannach , you feel free to take my terrier and train him not to chase cats then because believe me I’ve tried . I warn any neighbours with cats that he will chase them if they come through the garden and I do supervise as much as possible when he’s out there but occasionally he is out on his own . When I’m out I’m very careful about where he goes offlead because I don’t think it’s at all acceptable for him to chase any animal be it a cat or a wild animal / bird because even if he can’t get them it scares them .

@Tavannach I don’t think it would be ‘okay’ for my dog to attack a cat if it came in to our garden. I would be very upset and feel very guilty if she did. But it’s not comparable to her attacking a cat while out on a walk, which is what happened to the OPs poor cat.

And she does have a ‘strong prey drive’. She was abandoned and lived as a stray for a while, so I’m assuming that she caught things and ate them as well as taking things out of bins. I’ve never allowed her to be near a cat, so she might have mellowed now or the people who took her in initially might have been overreacting. I don’t really want to have to use a cat as a ‘guinea pig’ to find out though.

She is however always walked on a lead. I would be very upset if she were to catch and hurt/kill an animal or if she caused an accident by chasing something in to a road.

I’m sorry OP, I’m not meaning to derail anything, I just wanted to clear that up.

Chocolate- there are a number of helplines for bereaved pet owners. I can't link here but it might be worth googling.

As the shock wears off, the feelings can get worse, so speaking to someone who is kind and empathetic does help.

I'm so sorry, what a beautiful girl. Hope ginger boy is doing ok.