she's been gone 3 years today

but she will forever remain in my heart
My Sessy

 

She is beautiful.....isn't it amazing what a profound effect a pet can have on you?

 

She is beautiful, I love her markings! What happened to her? Did she just dissapear one day?

 

Sessy is why I will never have an outside cat again.
I had her for 9 years and the first year I did my best to make her inside only but she had other plans and escaped everytime she could, so I stupidly gave in.
She used to lose her breakaway collars (probably a stash of a gizillion of them in the woods).
One time I thought she had a hot spot on her belly and it ended up being a wound that took 20+ stitches to close - vet said it looked like she fell out of a tree and impaled herself with a stick and then it cut her belly open.
She simply would not stay inside...and I didn't try hard enough to make her.
I used to try to get her in at night but as we all know if a cat doesn't wanna do something - it ain't happening.
It was July 18th I tried to get her inside with food, hiding in the garage, etc. I spent about an hour trying but could not get her so I went to bed.
Haven't seen her since
before that I came home from lunch and heard meowing coming from our porch.
Our porch is behind our garage with a door going from the garage to the porch. So you can go through the garage to get to the porch. I would leave the garage door (regular door not the overhead one) propped open so Sessy could get on the porch and I always kept a fresh bowl of water out there for her.
I heard the mewing and went to check it and found her up in the rafters. Our porch has a cathedral type ceiling and somehow she got up there - I've never been able to figure out how. BUt I'm assuming that something chased her and she must have been frantic to get to safety cause she had to of climbed the screened windows.
Stupid me again - I let her out that day when I got home from work. It was that night I never saw her again.
I believe it was a fisher. A few nights later my Missy was sitting in an open window (screen in it) and something jumped onto the screen to get her. Whatever it was was big enough to pull a wooden window box right off the sill. So no more open windows at night either.
Everyone is our neighborhood lost cats that year.
Hard part is not knowing what happened. And I know death by fisher is horrible

 

Sorry if this seems like a silly question, but what do you mean by "fisher"???

 

a fisher, commonly referred to as fisher cat although it's a member of the weasel family and not a cat at all, is a true predator. They will track their prey for miles/hours. They can climb treees like a cat too.
They weigh about 15-20 lbs. so obviously are much larger than a cat - about the size of a raccoon.
I've seen them at a wildlife center that houses injured wildlife that can't be returned to the wild...claws about 3" long and canine teeth that are sharp and long.
They aren't native to the U.S. They were introduced to the NorthEast in the late 1800s by Europeans as a way to keep down rodent population. But the climate and food source has proved to be so plentiful they continue to flourish.
They will even take down an injured or ill baby deer.
They are the only animal that can kill a porcupine. They keep attacking the face and belly of its prey until the animal gives up from pain and exhaustion.
Nasty little critters.

 

here's a drawing of one

 

Oh my! I think I saw one of those down here!! I thought it was a ferret. And a friend of mine swears she saw a ferret at her house. Could they be way down here too?

And by the way, Sessy was a beautiful cat. Hindsite is always 20/20.

 

minks are the size of a ferret but fishers are much bigger. They wouldn't be mistaken for a ferret

 

She was beautiful Mary.

 

Yes, she was a beautiful girl, Mary_NH and I know how much you will always love her. It's just so hard to lose one of our dear fur animals.

 

Mary, I understand how you feel. Sessy was a beautiful cat. Vene was the same way. I lost her on July 13, 2003 by a hit and run. She always wanted to go out and we indulged her. Hubby always said she died happy. :roll: Milo, her brother is the same way. He has this need to go outdoors and will not be happy unless he is let out. Knowing the risks, we still let him out. At least Rene, Monty, and Pumpkin are happy to hunt in the sunroom. Sessy and Vene will forever be in our hearts. They are still a part of us.

 

I asked around and there are no fishers down here. Whew. But we do have minks and otters--so they say. What I saw had a pointed weasel face, so I'm thinking a mink maybe.

 

im so sorry Mary. I know what u mean when u say "not knowing what happened".. I cant get over how my Pirssy and ur Sessy look alike.. they could almost be twins..... Thats what i love about Prissy is her face, and Sessys face is almost just like it... To bad you didnt live closer to florida or you could have my Prissy girl.. Im looking for her a home but I just cant trust ppl around here...

 

I'm really sorry about Sessy . It's been 5 months since the last time I saw Blaze, Lone Wolf and Bruce, and 2 months since I last saw Donut.

 

Wow Mary. I've actually never heard of those before. It's terrible to think that a fisher may be the reason she's gone, I'm so sorry.

My dad came home from work tonight to tell me that one of his flight attendants had to leave a trip early to go home becuz her dog was at the emergency vets and her 2 cats were nowhere to be found. A raccoon had come into her house through the cat door and attacked her Beagle, but the pet sitter couldnt find the cats. Luckily the dog got a rabies booster and they said he'll live. But her poor kitties, I hope they are just hiding somewhere.

Does anyone know if there are fishers in Tennessee?, cuz i'm planning to move there with Vianne next year.

 

Wow... that's very sad. It's funny that even after a few years, the pain still isn't erased.

She was a pretty cat.

 

I remember when I was a kid I lived up at this apartment complex that was in a sort of wooded in area, and there was this adorable little kitty named Tiger that lived in the same complex as me.. he was always an outdoor cat.. well, he got lost in the woods and we found out from his owners that a fisher had killed him.. :cry: I actually ended up seeing the body which was very sad, I was out in the woods and there it was.. it's probably the most horrible sight I've ever had to see.

 

Sessy was beautiful and I love her name. It's hasn't even been a year yet for me since I lost my kitty. It'll probably always hurt. Remembering the good times helps though, I guess.