Please help me....

[Court]

I need some advice. My cat Ziggy Marley was killed by a dog Monday night. As some of you may have read in my other posts, Ziggy was a stray that wandered up to our house about a week after we moved in. He was a full-blood Siamese, fixed and de-clawed already. (We didn't do that.) No one ever claimed him, and we of course welcomed him into our little cat clan. When we took him to the vet to get him checked out, we found out he was about 10-12 years old. The only problem with Ziggy, was that he only liked to be inside when it was raining, cold, or he needed to eat. We couldn't keep in all the time. Our neighbors loved Ziggy, and he was welcome around to lay on porches.
Monday night, my fiance' and I were awakened by dogs barking. I immediantly jumped up and went to the door to try to scare it off and get Ziggy in. (I should mention that we were having problems with 2 stray lab-mix dogs getting in our garbage for about a month, but they never bothered Ziggy, and we didn't want to call the pound on them.) We searched all over our backyard and finally found Ziggy under our shed. He was covered in mud and was terrified. He wouldn't come out, so I crawled under the shed to pull him out. We brought him in the house, and discovered he was bleeding from his nose, but no other wounds. We thought his back leg was broken, so we called our vet who has an after hours/emergency number, but NO ONE ANSWERED. He was stumbling around and couldn't walk. I made him a little bed, and I layed down next to him to keep an eye, until the vet opened that morning. I went to use the bathroom, and when I came back out, he was dying.
I am furious that this happened to my cat. We had him for a year, he never bothered anyone or anything, and these dogs are running rapid through our yard. What can I do? I think these dogs are strays, but I really don't know. I didn't see them last night. I am thinking about going to some houses around my neighborhood, and asking them. I just want the owners of the dog(s) to know what a sadness I feel right now. What would you guys do? I am blaming my self for not looking for him more before I went to bed Monday night. I have so much guilt. I can't stop crying.

[Sonia59]

OMG, this it horrible! I am crying too, reading this. Poor little guy and poor you. Good thoughts and (((((Hugs))))) are sent.

I don't think you could have done anything. The problem is that Ziggy should never have been an outdoor cat while being declawed, but what could you do? Nothing. He was too old to stay inside if he was not used to. I understand that you feel guilty, I would feel the same You gave Ziggy a good home -may be he even chose you - and love. He was happy with you, remember this.

RIP Ziggy Marley.

[Laura's Babies]

I would call animal control to pick the strays up. That is no life for the dogs anyway. Unless you saw the actual dogs that attacked your baby, you can't prove which one it was so I wouldn't accuse any of them and make my neighbors mad.. If I saw which ones did it, that would be a different story.

I am so sorry that happened to a wonderful kitty, may he rest in peace.

[momcat]

How sad to hear of what happened to Ziggy and I can only imagine your heartbreak right now. Even though it's too late for your sweet Ziggy, animal control should be contacted so they can get these stray dogs off the streets. Please don't blame yourself for Ziggy, there wasn't anything you could have done to prevent this. For a time Ziggy knew what it's like to be loved because of you. RIP, dear Ziggy.....

[kimlovescats]

Call animal control on any free-roaming dogs. Too bad Ziggy wasn't indoors, especially since he was de-clawed. RIP sweet Ziggy.

[Court]

Call animal control on any free-roaming dogs. Too bad Ziggy wasn't indoors, especially since he was de-clawed. RIP sweet Ziggy.

That is were part of the guilt comes from on my part...We tried everything to get him to stay inside, but he actually found a way to bite open our screen door and get outside. When we would force him into staying in, he would meow all night. My vet said he was too old now to be trained to stay in. So..we let him go in and out as he pleased. We never had any problems with dogs until this past month. (PS..I always put Ziggy inside when I left for work in the mornings).