sablonneuse :: Poisoned Cat

L'intoxication a été provoquée par une substance convulsivante (du style curater). It was poisoned by a substance which causes convulsions. (I couldn't find 'curater' in my dictionary. Anyone know what it means please?)

Selon le vétérinaire ce type de produit aurait des effets identiques sur un enfant. According to the vet this kind of substance would affect a child in the same way..

Il est donc demandé aux parents d'inciter leurs enfants a* ne pas s'approcher d'un chat mort ou blessé ou de ramasser des substances genre granulés de couleur. Therefore parents are requested to tell their children not to go near a dead or injured cat or to pick up any substance like coloured granules.

(* I know there should be a grave accent but can't figure out how to do it. Character map doesn't seem to work. Sorry)

Now while I appreciate that our village has quite a large population of feral cats this kind of behaviour disgusts me. Apart from causing a cat to suffer a painful death this person has also endangered the lives of any children who might, inadvertently, touch the poison.

In addition, my cats are now pacing the house in frustration because I won't let them out. (Rue du Moulin is only a few metres away). Several of them jumped on my head, poked me in the eye and generally said 'wake up' in their own inimitable way this morning and leaped to the window as soon as I stirred.

But no. Mummy wouldn't open up. I tried explaining it was for their own safety but they didn't understand. Holly showed her displeasure by peeing on the table and Toby vented his anger by chasing all the others. The house was full of hissing, spitting and snarling for some time this morning and the fur was flying.

Fortunately they have all calmed down now and are snoozing in their favourite armchairs.

The question is; how long can I keep them indoors?

If only it were possible to make a catproof fence to keep them in our garden.

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Re: Poisoned Cat

by tracey lilly on Sun 04 Nov 2007 07:21 PM CET | Permanent Link

having had two cats who died from garden poison (accidental I hope,) I share your frustration but I think you have to take a chance and let them out or put them on a long lead and walk them round the garden.

Re: Re: Poisoned Cat

by sablonneuse on Sun 04 Nov 2007 09:39 PM CET | Profile | Permanent Link

Can you imagine six cats going walkies?? Seriously though, I think you have to start when they're kittens if you want a cat to feel comfortable on a lead. No doubt I'll get over my paranoia but I'd never forgive myself if one of them found some poison.

Re: Poisoned Cat

by Sophie on Sun 04 Nov 2007 11:38 PM CET | Permanent Link

"Carbofuran or curater is the most toxic of the carbamate pesticides. It is used to control insects in a wide variety of field crops, including potatoes, corn and soybeans. "
To type in French accents have you tried keeping your finger on "alt" and typing a code such as 133 for à, when you let go "alt" the French letter should be here. All letters are covered if you try codes between say 120 to 150.
That cat business is awful poor little creatures!!!

Re: Re: Poisoned Cat

by sablonneuse on Mon 05 Nov 2007 09:00 AM CET | Profile | Permanent Link

Thank you Sophie. If this were the time of year to control insects the poisoning might just have been an accident. As it is it certainly looks as though it was a deliberate act.
You have also made me realise my mistake for the accents. I was holding down the 'control' key!

Re: Re: Re: Poisoned Cat

by Wendy A on Mon 05 Nov 2007 12:58 PM CET | Permanent Link

Hi Sandy, I'm sorry to here about the cat problem you have there, I hope it's resolved soon. Dad has a cat and I know he is devoted to it and would be devastated if something happened to it.

My dad, Keith, has two keyboards that he can switch from one to the other. One is the standard QWERTY one and the other is a French keyboard with all those funny letters with things over them along to top of the keyboard (accents?) for when he emails his friends in France and Germany.

In case you are wondering, I'm Wendy, the daughter of his best friend Daffyd who died. He took me under his wing and looked after me, so I look on him as my adopted dad. Kelly is his step-daughter in France, and Susan is his real daughter who lives in Nottingham.

Re: Re: Re: Re: Poisoned Cat

by sablonneuse on Mon 05 Nov 2007 04:02 PM CET | Profile | Permanent Link

Hello Wendy and thank you for posting your comment. It's not surprising Keith has organised his keyboards. He's such a wizard when it comes to computers. He seems like a really lovely chap as well.
I keep looking at the garden and trying to work out how we could prevent the cats from getting out but they are very wily creatures and I'm willing to bet they'd find a way out.

Re: Poisoned Cat

by Zuleme on Mon 05 Nov 2007 01:09 PM CET | Permanent Link

Hi,
Thanks for writing to me about Caturday and I'm glad you like my blog. If you go back into my archives for this spring you'll see the photos of us putting up our cat fence. It is made of nylon and is about seven feet high. The fencing is held to steel stakes pounded into the ground. It is also staked to the ground.
We live near a dangerous road and we lost a feline this spring on it. The fence gives me great peace of mind with Harper and Ramona and it gives them the great outdoors. We went way beyond what most people would need to do, our fenced in area is probably half an acre.
If you could find something like that that in France you could fence off a small area and even have a cat door opening into it.
That would make everyone happy.

Re: Re: Poisoned Cat

by sablonneuse on Mon 05 Nov 2007 04:13 PM CET | Profile | Permanent Link

Thank you for your advice Zuleme. I looked at your archives and enjoyed more of your gorgeous cat photos as well as finding the bit about the fence. I'll see if something like that is available in France. The main problem is that our back door opens onto a bank with a wall they can easily jump on and holes they can get through to the neighbours. Then there's the problem of two upright sleepers - one on our side and one over the fence. Needless to say a favourite game is to leap from one to the other.
But I'm working on it.

Re: Poisoned Cat

by canisfamiliaris on Fri 09 Nov 2007 12:36 PM CET | Profile | Permanent Link

You are right, Sandy. There are some nasty people about. Unfortunately, cats (and dogs) seem to be fair game for these kind of sick people. They should be given a taste of their own medicine!

derek

Re: Re: Poisoned Cat

by sablonneuse on Fri 09 Nov 2007 01:08 PM CET | Profile | Permanent Link

You're right, Derek. A friend of mine popped in for a coffee this morning. Some time ago she took in a semi-wild mother cat and her kitten (whom she called Lollipop -my idea). Today she said the mother had been killed by hunters. B*****DS!!!

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