Re: I [censored] up
 

Man I am really sorry to hear about your cat. Please don't beat up on yourself too hard. Yes it was a tragedy, but it was an HONEST mistake. Our thoughts our with you man. Take care.

Re: I [censored] up
 

Boro,
Take from this what you will, but it may have just been his time. I have owned 3 cats that have made it past 16 years of age and all of them simply disappeared and never came back ( no not all at the same time). I asked a vet about it one day when I brought my dog in for a shot. She said that the theory is cats know when their time is near and many times will find a place to hide, make a bed out of anything soft they can find and lie down and die.

So maybe as your cat got on in years, realized it was his time, picked your crawlspace as a sufficient spot, pulled the insulation down to lie on, and simply expired. I know it doesn't stop the pain, but it would strike me as very possible. Especially if you didn't hear any meowing at all. I know when my cat gets stuck in the basement, you can hear him two floors up.

I'm sorry for your loss.

Re: I [censored] up
 

[ QUOTE ]
Boro,
Take from this what you will, but it may have just been his time. I have owned 3 cats that have made it past 16 years of age and all of them simply disappeared and never came back ( no not all at the same time). I asked a vet about it one day when I brought my dog in for a shot. She said that the theory is cats know when their time is near and many times will find a place to hide, make a bed out of anything soft they can find and lie down and die.

[/ QUOTE ]
This is a remarkable thing about them, isn't it? That and their tendency to be housebroken so young. I've heard that dates back to when they lived in the desert and had to dig up sand to do their thing but can't remember how valid that source was.

The rest of your post (snipped) makes a lot of sense and that could very well be the case. Borodog shouldn't be beating himself up regardless; if the cat was really scared and felt trapped wouldn't he have made himself heard?

Re: I [censored] up
 

I'd say there's a very good possibility that he crawled under there to die before you closed it and that you didn't do anything at all.

Re: I [censored] up
 

[ QUOTE ]
I'd say there's a very good possibility that he crawled under there to die before you closed it and that you didn't do anything at all.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hate to just QFT something, but this is very likely the case. Don't beat yourself up over it, especially considering the age of your cat and the effort you put into finding him. If he wanted to be found he would have made himself heard, or, in healthy catlike behavior, gone sprinting out of the door the moment you opened it. The mere fact that he stayed probably meant it was just his time.

Re: I [censored] up
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I'd say there's a very good possibility that he crawled under there to die before you closed it and that you didn't do anything at all.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hate to just QFT something, but this is very likely the case. Don't beat yourself up over it, especially considering the age of your cat and the effort you put into finding him. If he wanted to be found he would have made himself heard, or, in healthy catlike behavior, gone sprinting out of the door the moment you opened it. The mere fact that he stayed probably meant it was just his time.

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I agree. If he wasn't making all kinds of noise when you were poking around in the crawl space, it was probably already too late to help him (and it may have simply been his time, at his age).

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This is very sad...sorry for the loss of your kitty.

Re: I [censored] up
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I'd say there's a very good possibility that he crawled under there to die before you closed it and that you didn't do anything at all.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hate to just QFT something, but this is very likely the case. Don't beat yourself up over it, especially considering the age of your cat and the effort you put into finding him. If he wanted to be found he would have made himself heard, or, in healthy catlike behavior, gone sprinting out of the door the moment you opened it. The mere fact that he stayed probably meant it was just his time.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree. If he wasn't making all kinds of noise when you were poking around in the crawl space, it was probably already too late to help him (and it may have simply been his time, at his age).

[/ QUOTE ]

+1

Re: I [censored] up
 

Thank you all very much. It has been a really, really hard 24 hours for me. I thought that I killed Dante. Hell, I still might have. But everyone I've spoken to today, including animal rehabbers and vets, told me that there is basically no possible way he was healthy and trapped for any significant amount of time and I don't hear him. All the vents were open in the crawl space, and I live in a quiet space, and went outside many, many times calling for him. Everyone has told me that he had to be sick, and went off to find a quiet place. They told me he probably pulled down the insulation not because he was trying to get out, but because he was trying to make a nest.

I am still broken up. I wish that I had just gone under the house that day I noticed the crawl space door was open. Even if he was sick, he might still have been alive. I might have gotten him to the vet in time to save him. Now I'll never know.

But I don't believe there was any way that he was trapped and healthy and I didn't hear him. He had to have been sick, sick enough to find a quiet dark place to pass away.

Dante:
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c153/Borodog/dan2.jpg

Goodbye old friend. I miss you terribly. I'm sorry I didn't find you in time, and that you had to go all alone in such a cold, dark place. I'm so lucky I had you for 13 great years.

Re: I [censored] up
 

Borodog,

Awesome posts. I think your big regret is that you weren't able to go about it on your terms, but look at it this way: it appears he did it on his. I know you would prefer last moments with him, but isn't this better than were he to suffer pain and be subjected to countless medications and the equivalent of what people go through with life support and such? We should envy being able to go out with such dignity.

By the way, VERY cute cat. Just awesomely, perfectly black with bright green eyes and a nice shiny coat.