Poll: Have you ever lost a pet?

[AlexWinter]

I'm house-sitting at the moment with my girlfriend and a few days ago her cat was attacked by a fox.

Thankfully we got him to the vet in time and everything turned out okay.

Now I've just been left alone in house with only 1 objective: keep the cat inside.

Within an hour it dashed through my legs and out the cat-flap.

So, escapists, have you ever lost a pet and how did you deal with it?

EDIT: Found it. It ran off into the neighbours garden and sat their laughing at me.

 

[TheIronRuler]

You're screwed, man. Hope the thing gets back alive, or I'll feel even more sorry for you.

I once let my parrot fly around the house, and my sister opened a window in her room - which caused him to fly to freedom and out of the house.

 

[Fappy]

Wait... why does it have a cat-door if it's not supposed to go outside?

Yeah, my family lost my cat when I was away at college. I was depressed for awhile

 

[Eclipse Dragon]

We lost a hamster once.
My dad found him at 5:00 in the morning in the bathroom.
He thought the hamster was a rat.
I've never heard my dad scream so loud...

 

[Dags90]

Never for permanents. Our cat has gotten out a few times. When we first got him he'd be gone for 1-3 days before coming back. Now he doesn't much leave the yard, and pretty much always comes back the same day.

 

[IndomitableSam]

... I drove around a cat on the road to work this morning. Have been feeling crummy ever since.

I've had cats since ... well, my parents always had cats, too. I've had ... 6? cats over the course of my life. 3 are still alive, but two of them are 16 now, and the other is about 10.

One died of old age when I was about 3... one when I was 14 (well he was hit by something 2 days before my birthday, we put him down 2 days after), and the other when I was... 20 or so? He was 18 and his kidneys failed. Had a dog when we were about 6, too, but he was too much too handle, so he went to a farm. Really. My parents found him a farm to live at.

I miss my kitties today. Mine still live with my parents, I won't get them until spring/summer when my parents retire and move away... taking one of the cats with them.

 

[Phasmal]

Silly question, why didn't you lock the cat flap?

And yes, I've lost a pet.
Our dog used to get out a lot, but she always came back at the end of the day and would sit by the front door and let out a polite bark to let us know she was home. (She was some sort of whippet mix so there was really no point chasing her, she was really fast).
One day she got out and didn't come home. She was 14 at the time and we were really worried about her. We spent hours looking for her the next day, and then when we got home the vets rang to say that she was there. She came back looking like she'd spent the night at a fancy hotel, all smug.
That dog died a few years later, so I've lost pets several ways.

I also had a cat that ran away and never came back. Though I'm convinced he just got lost.
I hope someone found him, he was an indoor cat who got out. He was a big sweet ball of fluff and I really hope nothing bad happened to him. I still feel guilty that he got out.

 

[Flamezdudes]

I had a hamster called Hammy once as a kid, then I woke up one morning and he was lieing on his back dead. Funny thing is I wasn't sure whether he was so I came back afterschool with my friend and showed him to my mum.

Poor hammy. We actually buried him in our garden and gave a military funeral with water pistols.

 

[game-lover]

Yes. For all the dogs we had, half of them ended up running away.

Last one jumped the fence while my stepbrother was showering as he did not take precautions before he locked himself in the bathroom for some minutes.

There was nothing really left to do. We didn't have a car so we couldn't go searching.

 

[Guffe]

Yeah, my pet rat.
I was like when I got it that I'll take care of it and get attached to it but it's just a rat so it won't be a problem in 2 years when it dies.
I was so, so very wrong on that point :,(

 

[Screamarie]

Cats? Never. For a long time they wandered the neighborhood but now they live in the house and sometimes the run out but I always quickly grab them and drag them back inside.

Dogs though...yeah dogs, have run off. I've had to wander the neighborhood, calling them, then dragging them back home. It's never fun.

 

[Reincarnatedwolfgod]

yes
i had a pet rabbit
i left the cage unlocked over night and it was gone the next day

 

[IamQ]

We lost a hamster once.
My dad found him at 5:00 in the morning in the bathroom.
He thought the hamster was a rat.
I've never heard my dad scream so loud...

When you say you lost your hamster, do you mean that you lost him and your dad found him in the bathroom, or that when your dad found him in the bathroom, he paniced and curve stomped the hamster, hence why the hamster is lost (I.E dead as fuck)?

 

[yuval152]

No way, mister snuggles is in a farm in the east.

OT: once, my rabbit somehow got into our neighbor's house and they had a dog. 'nuff said.

 

[Eclipse Dragon]

We lost a hamster once.
My dad found him at 5:00 in the morning in the bathroom.
He thought the hamster was a rat.
I've never heard my dad scream so loud...

When you say you lost your hamster, do you mean that you lost him and your dad found him in the bathroom, or that when your dad found him in the bathroom, he paniced and curve stomped the hamster, hence why the hamster is lost (I.E dead as fuck)?

Lost as in escaped from the cage and wondered into my dad's bathroom.
The hamster died of old age.

 

[Rumpsteak]

Yes. My pet hamster once went missing when the neighbourhood kids thought it would be funny to play with it (they forgot to lock the cage afterwards). Long story short approximately 6 months later while cleaning out the garage it was found. It seemed to have built quite an extensive nest behind an old set of shelves.

 

[Rawberry101]

My family lost our cat permanently. It ran away while we were on vacation. Nobody was really too displeased, she was a mean one.

We also lost our turtle and found him a months later. Dead. Poor guy, he got stuck while hibernating and died. Still haunts me to this very day. What an awful way to go.

 

[Alcamonic]

Had a lovely cat who died a few years ago, getting run over by a car. Really made me feel down for an extended period of time, especially since school sucked more than usual.
It's probably the source as to why I am not really interested in getting a driver's license now.

Also, lost as in "the pet ran away!" or "the pet 'moved' away"?

 

[Yopaz]

I have lost several cats. Though lost isn't the correct term. Female cats tend to be quite defensive of their kids and when we used to have female cats and male cats at the same time it never ended well. What must have been the most awesome cat ever got scared away by one of our cats. I remember that guy so well even though I was 6 at the time. I used to grab him and carry him with me when I was going to sleep and he used to stay in my arms until I fell asleep before he gently got out of my grip. My mom found him outside her job once and decided to take him home because he was the friendliest cat she had ever seen.

Different cat got scared away by the daughter of the one that scared tat cat away. He was awesome too. While I needed that first cat to get to sleep he needed me to sleep. He used to crawl into my bed every night with me. A few times I went to bed without him and he wouldn't be able to rest unless I let him enter my room.

I could go on and list plenty of cats here, but it's just a bunch of sad stories and memories I will cherish. It's sad to go through the list, though it feels good to remember them.