Bye Bye, Bella.

 The other day, I left my wallet in R's car.

Which meant that the kids I couldn't go to the store in the morning as I had planned to stock up on groceries for the week.

He brought it home for lunch and when they woke up from their naps, we loaded up the car & quickly ran to the store.

I was gone about an hour - right around dusk.

When I returned home, with two hungry children who were ready for their dinner, and lots of groceries that needed to be unloaded,

I found this at my back door:

 The door was destroyed and blood was everywhere.

 I grabbed my phone and called R.

I knew the blood was from our dog, Ruby.

I just didn't know why.

 Will panicked and kept telling me that when he gets his first gun someday he will go get whatever did this to his dog.

 When we got Ruby in, she was covered in blood on her head, her nose, and her front paws.  Her gums were bleeding actively and she was panting like crazy.

I pulled her into the bath and put her in her room for the night once we realized she was okay.

I took her to the vet the next morning and besides the new back door we will be purchasing, we paid a big vet bill to learn that she has extreme anxiety (and also to have her "deshedded" - I've never done this before and it is worth every penny!)

Why the anxiety?

Well.  We noticed yesterday that our beloved cat, our first animal as a couple (R gave her to me in September of 2002- I was really hoping for a diamond ring but instead I got a cat.

The ring came a few months later.)

Anyway, our cat, Bella, was missing all day yesterday.

And I just knew.

I knew that something got her and that is what Ruby either saw or heard which caused the extreme anxiety and the self- inflicted injuries as she tried to escape into the house and tore apart the door.

Bella was an awesome cat.  She was the easiest pet ever.  She cuddled with my kids.  She survived brain surgery (our first year of marriage!)

She loved water and would anxiously wait outside our shower door to climb in as soon as we got out.  Weird but true.

She let my babies rest their heads on her.

She went on walks with us.  It's true - she used to follow us when we walk Ruby.

She watched tv with R.

She liked long car trips.

She cuddled with Ruby.

She was very social - she loved people and also other animals - in West Texas, she had a little cat friend that would come over and lay on our porch with her.

And she's gone.

I keep hoping she will turn up but I knew when the rain storms hit yesterday and she still wasn't home that she was gone.

We live on a cul de sac with 5 other houses.  Three of us have had cats disappear recently.

R saw a coyote in our neighborhood yesterday on his way to work.

The vet shared that another family recently was outside and watched a coyote "like a shadow" jump their fence and grab their dog.

So I think she was taken by coyotes.

And we are really, really sad without her.

I keep crying because I had her before I was married & she was one of the best gifts R ever game me. She's been with us in 6 different homes and in 3 different cities.  We loved this cat.

Bella was a great cat and we will miss her.