baby's first dead pet

tonksy

tonksy

New Member
so my momma cat is missing and hasn't been seen in two days and my 3 yr old keeps looking for her because the kittens cry...i'm sure that she is gone...although i supppose she could be holed up in the woods but she is a good momma and i would be very surprised...what do you think i should do? go ahead and tell her that the cat is dead and will not be coming back....or say nothing and hope she loses interest?
 
Tricky....

I guess I would let the kid take the lead. If she asked questions about the missing cat I'd try to answer them........but if she does lose interest, I reckon I'd be happy to let the matter drop.

I'm certainly no expert at this kinda thing tho'........

Hope the cat is just taking a lil' sabatical in the woods tho tonksy :)
 
i think i may wait a couple more days to make sure...but by then she prolly will have forgotten, huh? i sure hope that she's okay too. thanks
 
have you tried to put a search for her? i agree with suiggs dont tell her shes dead. not yet. :sadhug: i hope she comes home
 
we live on a dead end street on the outskirts of town with alot of woods by our house....i would know where to begin to look...besides...why would she stay away from her babies for 2 days?
 
Maybe she just got sick of your taste in music?;)

For the kid, try out this old one. Tell her that she's gone visiting relatives (or her sick mother) in another state and that she wants said kid to look after the kittens until she get's back.
 
I'd just tell her that the Momma cat ran away from home so now she gets to be a big girl and take care of the babies kittens...no need to lie and make it seem like she'll come back (with the visiting relatives). Just plain ran away leaves it open so if she DOES come back you can say something like "WOW, I guess she found out it's silly to do that"
 
On the same note...my cousin told the same thing to his 3 yearold when their cat died (he found it dead in the basement one day before she got home from school). The cat had recently had kittens and he just told his daughter the momma cat ran away so she could keep one of the kittens instead.

As it turns out the cat died cause one of the kittens died before birth and was stuck in its birth canal...they should have had the cat checked after they came home and found the kittens (they didn't even know she was pregnant)...but no use in "should haves"...the point is the "ran away" story worked for him :shrug:
 
sounds like a no win situation no matter how you go about it, but 3 seems a bit youg for an explination on what death is.....i have a 9year old son who's ferrit (pet of 6 years) died last night unfourcanetly my son discoverd the pet and did not take it to well....but at his age he atleast understands what death is and why it happens, personaly, i'd go with the cat ran away
 
well, i think she understands. she keeps saying that momma cat is "outside" but the way she says it it makes me think that she understands that she isn't coming home. i might let her keep a kitten but we'll see. thanks everyone.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top