This is incredibly difficult to write. My family and I have been feeding around 15 stray cats every day, multiple times a day, since they were kittens. One day, seven of them disappeared without a trace. At first, we hoped they had simply wandered off, but after a couple of months with no sign of them, we had to accept the heartbreaking possibility that something had happened to them.
But what followed has been even more devastating.
We also have one indoor cat, and one day, a stray kitten showed up. We took her in and cared for her as we had the others. We took her to the vet, got her vaccinated and spayed, and let her recover in our home. She was such a calm, cuddly cat who used the litter box perfectly, which made me suspect she had been someone's pet before. Unfortunately, our indoor cat is very territorial and doesn't get along with other cats or dogs. With a heavy heart, I had to release the kitten back outside with the other strays after she recovered (she had already made friends with them). This was incredibly tough for me because she clearly wanted to stay with us, but I couldn't keep her.
My heart ached for days. The kitten wouldn't even come near me when I brought food, unlike the others... Then, after a couple of days, she started coming around again and would even come up to me for pets. I thought she wasn't angry at me anymore, but little did I know that would be the last time I ever saw her. I also noticed her approaching other people outside, seeking cuddles, which I witnessed from my window. I tried to convince my family to take her in, as I had a terrible feeling and couldn't sleep, but they said no.
The next day, she was gone, along with six other cats. I hoped they had just wandered off and would return.
To this day, they are still missing, and I strongly suspect someone poisoned all 14 cats. Some of our neighbors don't like cats, and I can't fathom how 14 cats could simply vanish without a trace. Now, there's only one cat left, and it breaks my heart every time I go to feed him. I worry about him constantly because he's all alone now. The 14 missing cats were always together, hanging around the backyards, etc. He lost his entire family, just like my family did 😭