Killer Among Us

This morning as I was letting my dog out into his new yard, my neighbor called out to me to tell me we had a problem. We've been talking about beekeeping lately so I thought that's what she was talking about. No, it was worse.

She said that my cute little kitty, Pearl, killed one of her chickens. I've been a bit deflated ever since.

Pearl is one of the greatest cats I've ever met. She's friendly, but not needy. She will sleep next to me, not demanding that she remain on top of me, as I'm a side-sleeper. She will come when called and she's super affectionate. And her nickname is Killer. She's killed mice, a rat, small birds and lizards. The rat was a fluke, as it was so big. She also ignored the rat that lived in my kitchen, so I suspected it was a size thing.

My neighbor has had chickens ever since we moved in five-years-ago. The first chickens all were killed by a neighbor dog. She then had a fence enclosure put around her yard and got several more. I know they are not just a means to an egg, but family pets for her. It made me sad to see her holding her dead chicken in her arms and knowing that either my cat killed it or even best case she didn't, but my neighbor thinks she did.

I asked what I can do and she told me to get a bell on Pearl's neck. I don't know what that would do, as I highly doubt that she snuck up on the chicken. I thought the chickens kicked ass, too. I recall that Pearl was afraid of them at one point. The strangeness of this incident is not lost on me, either. I can't believe how bold my little cat must have been to go up to a chicken larger than herself and kill it. And the look on her face as I got her in the house was full of wild-eyed fierceness. And, she had been seen hanging around before and running off afterwards.

As I came home this afternoon, my neighbor wouldn't roll her window down when we were side-by-side. I don't blame her for being mad at me, but I feel terrible. And, as if that's not all, I feel terrible for wondering if she's going to eat the bird.