Totally OT - Would you want to know

On Halloween, my neighbor stopped by asking if I had seen her cat.  It had gone missing.  I hadn't seen it.  My dog has brought home some deer parts so I figured the coyotes may have got it.  Today my dog ran off into the woods and I chased after it.  She thought it was fun so we went deeper and deeper into the woods behind my house.  We got to a stone wall that had barbed wire over it. There was a furry carcass hanging from it.  I think it might be the long gone remains of my neighbors cat.  Part of me feel I should tell her that her kitty has gone on the greener pastures.  But it has been so long that she probably assumes he is never coming home anyway.  By not telling her she may think someone adopted him thinking he was a stray or something.  Who knows if a coyote got it and lost it on the wire or if the cat got tangled on the wire and died.  I wouldn't want her thinking her cat died a long slow death.  So I think I just wont say anything.  I am not even sure it is her cat anyway, nor do I see her that often. 

Thats what I figured... I'll keep my big mouth shut lol. I hadn't realized how long it had been missing till I started typing this and remembered that when she came to the door I thought she was a trick or treater.

i understand your thought of "maybe they would want to know", i would think the same way, too. but then i think about my kitties and if i would want to know they died a horrible death ...i would not want to picture that's how they died :(

but that's nice you thought of them, it is a delicate subject imo :(

I was in a similar situation when I found a cat's body on my property and then saw an ad at the grocery store for a missing cat. I was going to call because it fit the description of the cat I found. I just happened to ask my son (college age) if I should and he said what everyone has said here, no don't call. I took his advice but I think I would want to be called and be able to decide if it was my cat or not. I would rather know my cat was dead than always wonder if it would ever come home. I've had both situations with cats I've had and much prefer closure. My solution now is never to let my cat outside. It's just not worth the risk.

I think if it were my cat, I would definitely want to know. I just had to put my dog to sleep today- he had Lyme disease, which caused kidney failure- and I feel better knowing that he's at peace. Maybe you could tell her without giving the details, just so she can have some peace.

I do have to admit that if I knew my cat died hanging on a fence that would bother me knowing it died that way.

Bentwhistle- that was so caring what you did and made me feel better about the cats we had that never came home. We once found two little kittens that had died under pine trees on our property and we buried them in our pet's cemetery as well. Now we are moving and I feel bad having to leave them all behind

I know I would not want to know the details and if you do go and bury it
I applaud you for doing something so kind and so sweet

Just my half penny worth
Glad you asked this .........