could anything but a bullet caused this?

[RadUnschooler]

One of our cats was found dead on the side of our house. She had a small round hole on her side....perfect heart shot. when i found her she was too gross(ants) for me to think to turn her over to see if if came through the other side. I am thinking someone shot her with a bb gun. I want to ask if anything else could have made a round hole like this...a bird beak? anything??
It happened at night so i doubt a bird did it. She didn't have any blood on her just in the hole,she wasn't tore up from another animal.

[DeerMother]

Terrible you had to find your kitty like that. Sorry.

When I thought one of our dogs had been shot, I googled bb wounds or something like that and looked at the images to compare.

[russsk]

Our dog was shot a couple years ago with a bb gun. It made a perfect little round hole. Did not come out the other side. The vet said either a bb or a dog bit could have made the wound, but a dog bite was not as likely, because there was just one hole and no tearing. Still possible, though.

This is really awful, but I have vivid memories of my stepdad standing in his bedroom window (in his tighty-whiteys, no less) shooting cats in our driveway for fun. This was 20 -odd years ago, but I still think of that when I hear his name. He would take his time cleaning them up, and I would have to step around them on my way to the bus stop.

[Mama Mko]

I'm sorry

[GoBecGo]

Our cat once had a perfectly round hole just over his shoulder which we thought was a bb wound. He seemed relatively fine/normal and the vet said he looked ok. Maybe 5 days later all the hair fell off his shoulder and revealed a matching mark which hadn't punctured through (the vet had searched through his fur but not seen anything) and a massive swelling of skin with yukky fluid draining from the now-enlarging original hole. Long story short - it was a bite wound that had caught on one side, with no blood originally (the vet suggested he had cleaned himself up before coming home - not likely in your situation), which had become horribly infected. All the affected skin over the festering bubble died and the vet removed it under GA, and we let it heal itself (he offtered to stitch it for £££ but we were concerned about his mobility in the joint given how much skin was gone, and also worried he'd become re-infected and have more dead skin) and it was fine. Without clipping the hair away it would be difficult to know for sure if it was a BB gun, but from your description it seems very possible, especially because i figure if our boy hadn't gotten away from the dog that bit him he would have been torn to shreds. I'm so sorry

[RadUnschooler]

I am trying to figure how far..where it could have happened,do you think it was close by?
How far could she had run before dropping?
Here's what happened: they have always stayed around our house because they are young,just when they were big enough we started putting them out at night. I am pissed! After being here for 9years and putting up with EVERYONE'S else Barking dogs and such we finally get two pets and this happens!!!
My neighbor across the street has a cat that is always out..in my yard...i never cared...it's cute.
so on sept. 13th i was in my kitchen between the hours of 8 pm and 9pm. around 8:30pm i hear a BANG noise and a cat cry. We have some tin lying again the house and i thought the two kitty were wildy playing...like they did. So i didn't go out. I regret that.
the next day i found her. I figured someone shot her and she tried to run under the house but hit the tin instead and just wandered over by the tree and layed on her side. What worried me is someone shooting a gun at night!!! We had two cats. The one that was killed was my son's...yeah real nice huh? I feel going around asking my neighbors if they know anything but my husband says don't. would you and how?
thanks everyone!

[gingerstar]

Oh I am so sorry!

IF it were my kitty, I would file a police report. Not like I want someone convicted of a crime for shooting my cat, but for crying out loud, someone shooting a weapon that close to my house, I want a record of it, and I want it investigated, and I want them to stop! What if my child were outside in the dark? Are they in danger in their own yard?
Perhaps I'm overreacting, but that is sooo unacceptable to me.

I wouldn't go around the neighborhood, but if you are friends with any neighbors you could ask them - perhaps they might know who might be likely to do such a thing.


I live in a small rural town, and we occasionally hear gunfire, probably idiots shooting at mailboxes or something, but if my DH is home he always calls it in - he has military experience and can identify small-arms fire, etc, and he just wants it on record. Dispatch makes a note of it, and lets the police know.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

I have a neighbor that kills my outside cats I take care of strays and feral it breaks my heart when one disappears because I know what happened and there isnt a thing I can do about it.

[Mary-Beth]

Yes, I would talk to my neighbors.

I would also file a police report. Not that I'd expect anything to be done but it would concern me to have a bb gun shot by my house and I'd want it to go on record in case this ever happens again.

I'm so sorry for the loss of your kitty!

[GoBecGo]

Um, isn't it illegal where you are to shoot other people's pets?! I'm inthe UK and if they figured out who shot the cat here there would be a conviction for sure. I'd talk to your friedly neighbours (the one with the cat might know if another neighbour locally has been known to shoot cats before) and i'd definitely file a police complaint - why on earth should someone be able to shoot other people's animals without repercussion!?

[Nicole915]

Animal control is excellent at handling this sort of issue. Depending on the laws where you live, they will investigate and at least talk to the neighbors. Much of what the animal control ends up doing is citizen education ("Don't shoot the neighbor cats or you'll get in trouble") but it can go a long ways. They often are able to do this without directly indicating who called them.

I'm so sorry about your cat, your son must be so hurt and confused. I would mention that even the most perfect round hole can be organic in etiology, not necessary a firearm wound. You'll probably never be able to know now, but in the future your vet can do a necropsy and determine the cause of death.

Again, so sorry that your family has to go through this.

[Girl In The Fire]

Originally Posted by GoBecGo

Um, isn't it illegal where you are to shoot other people's pets?! I'm inthe UK and if they figured out who shot the cat here there would be a conviction for sure. I'd talk to your friedly neighbours (the one with the cat might know if another neighbour locally has been known to shoot cats before) and i'd definitely file a police complaint - why on earth should someone be able to shoot other people's animals without repercussion!?

In many areas of the US, especially rural ones, it is perfectly legal to shoot stray animals on your property if they are a danger to you or your animals.

[RadUnschooler]

Originally Posted by Girl In The Fire

In many areas of the US, especially rural ones, it is perfectly legal to shoot stray animals on your property if they are a danger to you or your animals.

I'm wondering what kind of danger could a young kitty present?

[Mama Mko]

Some people would argue they're a threat to small birds. I don't think it's a good excuse to kill someone's pet cat though.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

Originally Posted by Nicole915

Animal control is excellent at handling this sort of issue. Depending on the laws where you live, they will investigate and at least talk to the neighbors. Much of what the animal control ends up doing is citizen education ("Don't shoot the neighbor cats or you'll get in trouble") but it can go a long ways. They often are able to do this without directly indicating who called them.

I'm so sorry about your cat, your son must be so hurt and confused. I would mention that even the most perfect round hole can be organic in etiology, not necessary a firearm wound. You'll probably never be able to know now, but in the future your vet can do a necropsy and determine the cause of death.

Again, so sorry that your family has to go through this.

We dont have any sort of animal control here The only option is calling the police and unless the animal is a threat like a biting dog they will do nothing.

[ASusan]

Call the police . File a report. If you have to have a vet look at her to give "proof" for the police report, do that if you can afford it. Do not let this pass without a police report.

You never know what crazy next step the shooter will take. Maybe kill another cat, maybe decide to take pot shots at your house or, sorry, your child. I would NOT stand for that in my neighborhood or with my neighbor. Even if you don't know who it is, you want an official record that something happened. If something DOES happen in the future, you have at least notified the authorities. In many communities, the police record is put in the local paper. (a blotter file or similar). They do that in the town next to us. (They may very well do it in my town, but I just started getting the local paper today, so I have yet to see.)

I once had a neighbor accuse me of starving my cat. She fed it canned Friskies or similar about once every 3-4 days. Cat wouldn't eat the food I put out for it, and begged at her back door all the time. I told her to STOP feeding my cat. She accused me of starving it, and said she would call SPCA. I thought it was over the top, but I had the cops at her door within 15 minutes. The officer was VERY nice. Talked with her. Talked with me. Mediated the situation, had her offering to help take care of my cat if I ever needed her to. (I didn't, but still.). And there was a record, should she ever decide to kidnap my cat (deciding in her own strange way that she would be helping the cat). I also took the cat to my vet the next day to accertain that she was not being starved.

Sorry, didn't meet to make this about me. BUT, your story clearly hit a nerve with me. Call the authorities and make a report.

ETA - even if shooting a stray on your property isn't illegal, certainly shooting so close to a house is. Or something about the situation should be report-worthy.

[gingerstar]

ASusan, what a great cop!
Talking about cat-napping, we did just have a court case of a neighbor who didn't like the lady's cat and took it about 15 miles out into the country and dumped it. The cat has never been found, and the court found against the neighbor, to the tune of about $600, for expenses related to losing that cat and buying a new one. But still....
Sorry to take the thread OT.
OP, if you call the police, (which I think you should) I hope you have as good a response!

[onelilguysmommy]

that is so sad and infuriating at the same time! I wish your kitty and family weren't going through that.

Definitely call and report that someone shot your cat by your house though!