OK, I guess I must have missed it. There was mention of an article about 'the cat that ate Grandma'in the new mag. Could someone please fill me in? I am assuming it has something to do with Grandma passing and not being found promptly. We got in a Husky in that same situation, owner was gone about a month before they found what was left and the dog (who was still very thin none the less).

-- Dianne (yankeeterrier@hotmail.com), October 10, 2000

Answers

Yuck !

-- Patty Gamble (fodfarms@slic.com), October 11, 2000.

The cat that ate grandma thing was in a COUNTRYSIDE a couple of issues ago, I think. There's always been tales of pets that eat their dead owners...I agree YUCK!

-- Suzy in 'Bama (slgt@yahoo.com), October 11, 2000.

Yeah, I believe it was in an article a few issues back, about home funeral services and laying out your own dead. Someone--don't remember if it was the author or someone she knew--remembered as a child, seeing a cat 'eating' grandma, who was laid out in the parlor. I think that's how it went!

I have heard stories of how dogs who were shut up in their owner's house partook of the owner who had passed on days or weeks before. There is this exact story that I've come to believe is not an urban myth, but a rural myth, in this very town.

-- Hannah Maria Holly (hannahholly@hotmail.com), October 11, 2000.

I am sure that there are lots of stories out there, but I can guarantee that Husky feasted. The local animal cotrol officer brought her to our clinic for treatment prior to her going to the Humane Society

-- Dianne (yankeeterrier@hotmail.com), October 11, 2000.

I wouldn't hold it against a starving animal for eating my leftovers. We are made of meat, too.

-- Doreen (animalwaitress@yahoo.com), October 12, 2000.

In our neck of the woods (North-West Pennsylvania) we have had two local cases of older people dying in their houses and no one finding them for weeks (luckily they didn't have any pets). The first guy got found after the mailman finally figured out that the poor guy had not gotten his mail for the past couple of weeks and had the state police investigate. What they found was pretty much a hermit that minded his own business, but his house was nothing but a pathway from room to room. If memory serves correctly the rats had him chewed up pretty bad. Might be better to have a pet eat you than rats! The second lady the neighbors got suspicious when a foul smell started coming from the house (and this was in town)! At any rate in both instances, both were elderly people with no family who minded their own business and really didn't make any friends. Or perhaps society didn't make friends with them. This almost sounds like a halloween "story" but I know for a fact both of these stories are true! Nice thoughts to think right before mealtime or bedtime, huh?

-- Michael W. Smith (kirklbb@penn.com), October 15, 2000.