BAD week.

While most of May was good, the last week was NOT good.


On Thursday May 24th, our sweet little Lucy kitten died. She was only 10 weeks old. 


When we got the kittens, we made sure to keep them inside full time for the first couple of weeks. We then started letting them outside during the day, but bringing them in at night, and then finally we let them stay outside full time. We put a shelter for them on the deck, with their food and water in it, and they can also play and hide under the deck. Our plan has always been for them to be outside "farm cats", but tame, nice ones, that stay close to the house, and that the kids can play with.


We were also careful to slowly introduce them to the dogs. Since Koda is 6 years old, and has never been around cats before, we weren't sure how she would react. Surprisingly, she reacted quite well to them. She just wanted to sniff them. She would walk towards them, they would hiss and run away. Hunter, at 4 months old, wanted to play with them. He would move towards the kittens, they would hiss and run away, and he would bark and try to pounce at them. It was really quite cute! Before long, they all started getting used to each other, and we all started to relax, maybe a bit too much.


The dogs and kittens were "playing" with each other. The dogs would chase the kittens, the kittens would submit and lay down, then the dogs would lick them. Eventually the kitten would decide enough was enough, and would jump up and run away. We were confident that the dogs wouldn't intentionally hurt the kittens. Unfortunately, we didn't think about the fact that they might unintentionally hurt them. That's how Lucy died. The little kids were in bed, and Gairod, Jade, and I were watching an episode of "Little House on the Prairie". Hunter started barking, and Gairod went outside to see what he was barking about. He found poor little Lucy laying on the ground, barely breathing, and unable to move. Since none of us were out there, we don't know exactly what happened, but we think Hunter may have tried to pick her up by the neck (Gairod saw him do this to Eleanor a couple days prior, and scolded him for it!), and broke her neck or something.


Jade and I were both devastated. I know that they are "farm cats", and I know that the reality of having outside animals in the country is that they don't always live for very long, but I honestly didn't expect to lose one so soon, OR to have it be killed by another one of our animals! To make things even worse, Lucy was our favourite of the three kittens. She was the first one we got, and the sweetest. She was so tiny and cute. I had even said that if we were going to keep one to be an inside cat, I would keep Lucy in, because she was the nicest kitten, and the one who liked to snuggle in your lap. It still makes me sad typing this, to think that she is gone. 


Since this happened, we have been keeping the dogs on a much "shorter leash" so to speak! They are only aloud out of their pen when Gairod or I is outside (don't worry, their pen is plenty big for them to have ample room to run around in - it's as big as our entire backyard at the old house!), and they aren't allowed to go anywhere near the kittens. This is how it will stay until the kittens are big/old enough to defend themselves better, and the dogs learn that they are not toys to play with.


The following Tuesday, May 29th, I woke up at about 12am, to one of the most horrible sounds I have ever heard in my life. It sounded like it was coming from in the dog pen, which is right outside some of our bedroom windows. At first I thought it was just Hunter barking, a split second later, I realized he sounded really weird, and a split second after that, I thought something must be TERRIBLY wrong!! Gairod jumped out of bed and ran to the entry way. I layed in bed shaking, thinking Hunter must be dying, and that we were going to lose our second pet in less than a week! Gairod came running back into our bedroom, and I asked him what was wrong. He said that there was a coyote RIGHT outside the dog pen! He grabbed his .22, but couldn't find any shells! He finally decided to just use a shot gun, but as soon as he opened the door, the coyote took off. We got back into bed, and tried to fall back asleep. A few minutes later, it was back! Gairod jumped up and ran to the entry way, but again, as soon as he opened the door, the coyote took off. He decided to just bring the dogs inside for the night to be safe.


Gairod was on night shift for the next three nights, and I was paranoid that the coyote would come back when he wasn't there! I kept the dogs inside for those nights, and we haven't heard another coyote since.


I had never heard a coyote up close before, and had NO idea that they sounded like that! I've heard them howling in the distance, but I thought up close they would just bark like a regular dog, not yelp like a wounded puppy!!