My childrens cat has just died, it's christmas eve what do I do?

we have/ had two cats.
and one is mine one is the childrens.
Unloading the presents from the car we discovered the childrens cat dead in our front yard. what makes it worse is thet (comming from a country/rural background I am 90% sure he was poisoned. he was happy and healthy at 7.00am this morning. we went to get them in at 6pm and lock them up, he didn't turn up we assumed it was due to idiots with fireworks. It is now 12.30 am Idont know weather to hide body and pretend he disappeared or tell them on christmas day. as a parent I am a bit lost and being christmas - It is I think too sad.
we always wanted to when the pets passed talk about the life cycle - but poisoned on christmas is a bit too much.

should I tell them or just pretend he has disappeared?

That's horrible! I'm so sorry that it has happened and that you have to deal with it today! I would probably hold off on the telling until tomorrow and tell them the fireworks probably scared him into finding a safe spot for a while. Good luck and big ((hugs))

Oh no, I'm so very sorry

That's a really tough call... if it wasn't Christmas I'd say to tell them outright

Could you tell them boxing day instead? Maybe they won't notice him not around or at least dwell on it, because they'll be busy with Christmas and the presents etc.

What a horrible thing to have happen

Just pretend he disappeared otherwise they will always remember Christmas as the day their cat was poisoned. Tell them all the fireworks must have scared him away and someone in a quieter area probably took him in.

Somethings just aren't a teaching moment.

-Metina

Oh Sue, this is so sad.
I don't know what I would do but just wanted to say I am so sorry for your loss. hugs

How very sad for you. I have struggled with this in the past (but NOT on Christmas day!), and can only share what I would do. I would bury the poor kitty in a special place, not tell the children on Christmas day and hope that they are too busy and distracted to notice he is missing (?). Boxing day make time to have a talk to them, the contents of this talk must depend on the ages of your children. Then you can take them to the resting place of their pet. Main advice - decide on how you are going to handle it and then be confident in your decision - remember you know your children better than anybody else. Being unsure or changing the story ect only leads them to be confused and more upset. Best of luck.

Great advice Erica!

First of all, I am sorry for your loss. I think I would do as Erica said above... but I am thinking that Christmas is a time when "little white lies" are acceptable...after all, we build up the Santa myth for our children. So, along those lines... if it were me I would probably tell my kids that the kitty must have tried to chase Santa's reindeer cause kitties DO love to chase things... and maybe poor kitty chased them so far that he couldn't find his way back and .... well, you could find a way to finish the story.... like maybe the kitty ended up chasing them all the way to the North Pole or something....

[[[[[Hugs]]]]]

thank you so much

we had to bag and put him in the bin him due to poison, ( I am crying as I write this) we can't even bury him. it hurts to not be able to at least do that. I have never not buryied a pet. even my horse years ago.
we are going with he ran away. due to christmas tommorrow they probebly wont notice him missing until boxing day.

We have animal hoarders near by and they have over 38 cats and we have a feral population too neither of which the council control.

I am very sure he took a bait. an accutal bait used by farmers for foxes. which is illegal to do in the city/suburbs. and we have baged partially digested bait and My husband is going to report it. aside from loosing pets they are a risk to curious toddlers/children. He is going to report it, when I take the children to my brothers tommorrow. I am just so glad I found him before the children did as if they had picked him up he was lying in blood, vomit including the bait. I really hate to think.

I hate that someone has so many cats they all look unhealthy. and then the cats upset people because there are too many. and my childrens cat got involved in the crossfire.

We still have one cat left who is now locked up 24/7. we have decided to tell them when they are older, but still tell them it happened on boxing day. as this is horrible most days and I remeber my grandmother dying christmas daywhen I was 9 and you are right, I do always remember am Ok with it now it was her time and the feelings are more fond memorys now, but when I was young I did get very sad every christmas.

Thank you so much really and truley,,, I am not thinking clearly right now. I can deal with the grief of the loss of a pet, it is just the overwhelming anger of the bigger picture that is really getting too me. and to do this on christmas eve of all the days people could choose.

Thanks again I sort of needed to know I wasn't being horrible and I was being reasonable.

(Tabby Catty Tiger Puss Pilchard - he was very much a childrens pet and they gave him a name to match

end note..
I forgot we did phone the poision information line, and he dose have to go to a landfill for the saftey of humans and other animals- we really don't have a choice. The council may ask for him, but it is doubtfull as we have the bait.

so sorry to hear this..I think i would have told them also that the cat had disappeared..I keep my cats indoors..they don't seem to mind and don't get run over or poisoned..sending hugs!

Landfill is so sad. Not sure I could tell little ones that. Maybe a mock gravesite would be better for them? So sorry your family is forced to go through this at Christmas.

Why do people have to be so crazy/evil? I just don't get it!!!

Hugs to you and all and hey, maybe a kitten for Christmas would be a way to lift your spirits and give a needy kitty a new home?

-Metina

Oh! So sorry for you and the kids! As the mother of one human and one cat I can only imagine how traumatizing this must be. I hope that you can remember all the good people and at least for the holidays put the people who want to do harm out of your mind. Happy Christmas to you.
ps. I do support the others who say not to tell kids the whole story right now. Though I wouldn't make up any elaborate lie. Kids usually smell something fishy and start asking questions when there are too many details. Hugs!

I'm so sorry for your loss & on Christmas. We've lost a few pets over the last 2 years & it's been so sad. It's such a tough decision. We always tell our kids the truth. I think I'd wait a few days after Christmas so the association is gone. It's sad & makes me angry that people can be so cruel & careless. What if it had been a child that got into the poison? It's just wrong.

I'm so very sorry for your loss. I can feel your pain as most of my cats I've had in the past have been taken off and dumped or killed by mean rotten next door neighbors. (Who admitted they did notice the cat in their boat as they were pulling it down the street), yeah, and they couldn't return him to me? Then the neighbor commented to other neighbors that my husband and I would never see our cat again. I still grieve over what they may have done to my cats, all of them. Animals are always in my prayers. I'll send prayers up for you and your children to be comforted over the loss of your beloved pet.

Thank you everyone

The council was on minamum staff so has been put on the to do list - they don't really care. They will be sending a letter to local residents and are considering that the feral cats and hoarders may be a little out of control.
considering??? we have approximatley 68 cats within 100metres of me??? and I think most will have kittens soon- Araagh!!

Told the children today we said he was hit by a car, and wouldn't let them see as he was sqaushed (what else could we do) and buried some old sheets that we put in a cat like shape in a black plastic bag. we did it today as it is my sons birthday in two more days and my littlests gil on new years day. so it is a hard week to pick a day not associated with something.
and although the children want another cat I said not until there are less in the neighbourhood.
I am having trouble with our remaining cat...
My cat was formerly a semi feral (dumped young) took 2.5 years to domesticate he's not happy with indoors all the time he likes 22hour indoors he dose really prefer indoors since he discovered it and 2hours outside.
He broke out the kitchen ceiling fan (vetalation for cooking) yesterday. and although he has a cage for night, I cant keep him in a small cage the whole time. I have to let him at least roam the house. and he is now working on popping flyscreens.
I am considering sending him to my brothers for a few weeks, but last time I did that he went missing and turned up home 3 days later on my doorstep, hungry and dirty with a matted coat, my brother lives 12km away. He has also come home from my mothers to only 1.8 KM away he has a few times turned up there when I am over there for too long. but being a former feral I suspect he knows alot. he is very much his own cat and has decided I am his person and always finds me.

so I don't know what to do with him- he may go between here and my brothers at least untill this gets some council attention. which isn't going to happen over christmas.

I am going to contact some animal groups, tell them what has happened so they can help trap some of the cats - I know the neighbours (non-hoarder) pet ones so they will be fine. I will make sure of it. we had a group come in years ago and desex the hoarders cats they had 12 then - but then they got more. they are all thin and flea ridden last year cat flu wiped out a pile, it was horrible to watch and but then they just get more cats??
They had Parvo cull there dogs down to 4 now, but I know again that they will just get more eventually. and the owners/family always look sick.

and although they are on a to do list apparently there are much worse hoarders out there to deal with first.

Janb - I am sorry you have rotton neighbours, I really am. and thanks for your prayers. I will tell the children because it will acctually mean alot to them.

I'm so sorry Sue. I hope that someone will take notice and remove the cats from the hoarders, for the animals' sake as well as your family's