What I saw offline today.

[Raeven]

yeah its tragic really, temps hit 115° F in that car I'm sure. Which is a testament to the hardiness of cats! That's why I was pretty sure Kevin would make it once he ran off

I've never had an outdoor cat that didn't die a horrific death so I gave upon cats altogether.
One thought it would be safe in a tree during a wind storm and broke its neck, one came home with a broken leg, a couple got run over, my faVorite indoor cat snuck outside and got eaten by coyotes, and then I had a whole litter of kittens once that made it a past time to fuck with my weiner dog in his cage, and one at a time he killed them dead.

Wow. I must have a defective (mini) weiner dog. He has no prey drive whatsoever. He skips out a few times a day to go potty and accepts the adoration of all three of his cats as his due. The rub on him, play with him and generally fawn all over him, and he just eats it up like a rock star -- which I guess he sort of is! The cats all seem to think so, anyway. They are all thick as thieves.

In the summer when it's warm out and the little dog and I hang out on the patio, the cats let him get away with an astonishing amount of rude behavior.

I remember hanging out there one evening with a friend, who suddenly gasped.

"What?" I asked.

"Look at that -- your dog has killed your cat!!" my friend exclaimed.

I looked over to see the Dachshund dragging the cat in circles by one of its ears. It was common behavior... the cats didn't mind him doing it.

This particular batch of outdoor cats has been especially hardy. There are no shortages of bitter ends that can come to them here -- cougars, coyotes, fox, raccoon, cars, even bears, you name it -- but they've all survived for five years or more with no incidents. Except Kevin and his tree episode. One survived the killer German shepherd. She's (the cat) magnificent and has been here for nearly nine years. I took on the other two because I needed more cats after I got rid of the killer German shepherd, who did in three of my other cats.

Can't live here without cats... they control the rodents, which would be unendurable without them.

I'm very sorry you've had to give up on cats!!