We just came home, and there is blood splattered all over the kitchen.

[iconoclastic cat]

Mrs. IconCat and I just came home from the grocery store, and when we walked into the kitchen, the corner by the kitchen table looked a horror movie: on the floor and about 3 feet up the wall are covered many smears and spray marks of bright red blood!

We dropped the groceries and gathered up all five cats. I checked all of their faces, paws, teeth and gums, but I didn't find a thing. Not a scratch on one of them.

When I went back over to look at the blood again, I did not find any bloody pawprints. I also noticed that the blood was completely dried. I would guess that there is at least two tablespoons of it, if it were wet.

So where the hell did all of this blood come from? I wish I had a digital camera. It looks like someone poked several holes in a water balloon and twirled it on the floor. Yet, none of my cats are injured or freaked out.

We searched the whole apartment, but we did not find any more blood. What the hell happened in here?

[curse10]

1. do you have mice?

kitties may have had some fun while you were away...

[iconoclastic cat]

4. I've never seen a mouse in here, but this is an old apartment.

The temperature outside is well below zero with the wind chill--it may be possible that some mouse came in here for shelter.

But, wouldn't there be a few remains?

[Left Is Write]

2. Poltergeist?

[iconoclastic cat]

8. A poultrygeist, maybe.

[Shopaholic]

3. You don't live in Amityville do you?

Or Sunnydale or anywhere near a hellmouth/hellgate/portal to hell do you?

[greatauntoftriplets]

5. Could they have got at a mouse while you were out???

And that the evidence is already consumed?

Other than that, is anything else in the apartment out of place?

Creepy experience. Happy the cats are all okay.

:hi:

[iconoclastic cat]

12. The rest of the apartment is exactly the same!

We just cleaned yesterday, too. The cats are more than fine---they're being extremely lovey. If a human being had been in here, they'd still be under the bed.

[Sticky]

6. Mouse luncheon?

Bird fest?

Who swallowed the canary?

[iconoclastic cat]

13. Wouldn't I find remains?

Or would five cats eat all of it?

[Sticky]

28. My cats eat every bone crunching morsel

I know it sounds gross but it's what they do. I live in a 100 year old farmhouse and see and hear my share of the carnage.

[iconoclastic cat]

31. Wow, I thought they'd only eat the innards.

I'm surprised that these lazy indoor cats even figured out how to kill a mouse, to be honest.

[barbaraann]

7. I would call the police.

Seriously.

[Lorien]

10. Good advice

since there's no bloody pawprints, you may want to have the police come and take a look.

[iconoclastic cat]

26. This place is so small, Lorien, a human being would've made a mess.

Besides, there are three deadbolts on each door, and the windows are sealed for winter. The one that isn't sealed would be impossible to enter without breaking it and many picture frames.

[iconoclastic cat]

15. We've looked in every crack of this apartment, and there's nothing here!

Believe me, a human being would've made quite a disaster breaking in here; it's quite a secure apartment. Besides, the cats would still be under the bed, since they hate strangers.

Really, we just went over every square inch, and there is nothing out of place, no person with a hatchet--nothing!

Maybe we do have (or had) a mouse.

[smbolisnch]

9. OMG! I thought mouse too, but that sounds like a lot of blood...

Please let us know if you figure it out, that's freaky! So glad your kitties are OK!! :scared:

[iconoclastic cat]

22. Mrs. IconCat says, "No way is that even a tablespoon's worth!"

She thinks I'm exaggerating. Perhaps she is right; it's just that it's sprayed all over the corner.

[EstimatedProphet]

11. do you have neighbors that are into Santaria or voodoo?

[iconoclastic cat]

25. No, I don't think so, but who knows!

This is Chicago, after all. Anything's possible.

[ps1074]

14. That's not a mouse

There is not enough blood in a mouse to fill two tablespoons. A rat may be but not a mouse.

How long were you absent from your home anyway?

[iconoclastic cat]

18. We were gone for an hour and a half.

BTW, Mrs. IconCat says that I'm exaggerating the amount of blood. I wish I could take a picture of this for you guys. She seems to think it would amount to no more than a teaspoon.

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

16. Are any of your cats males?

You mentioned "spray" marks. I wonder if someone has bloody urine. They usually strain when they have problems with this, though; you'd find spots of urine on the floor with clumps of blood mixed in.

Very strange situation! I hope this mystery is solved!

[iconoclastic cat]

19. We have one male cat, but there is no urine.

We feed him only wet food, too, and he's never had a problem.

Personally, I'm thinking it was a mouse massacre.

[Az]

17. Are you sure you didn't leave Big Red turned on while you were out?

Old SNL ref. From when it was good.

[Rick Myers]

24. Big Red!!! ROTFLMAO!!!

I remember the jingle!!! "Big Red!!!"

on edit:

Big Red

Dad.....Kevin Nealon
Mom.....Nora Dunn




< open on boy and girl playing a boring board game >

Girl: It's your turn again.

Boy: I wish we had something fun to play with.

< Big Red crashes through the ceiling >

Jingle: < explains the use of the toy > "Here he comes, from the frozen north
Big Red!

A mighty man from the land of Thor
Big Red!
Big Red!

You pour in the goop
In the helmet thing
But you better watch out
When you pull the string!
Big Red!
Big Red!
Big Red!

He's big, big, big!
And he's red, red, red!
And that's how he got
to earn the name Big Red!
Big Red!
Big Red!"

< SUPER: "Caution: May irriate the skin." >

Announcer: Big Red, by Bleego, makers of Termite Town.

Clean-up kit sold separately.

[Astrochimp]

20. one of my cats likes to....

"toss" mice aginst walls, and by toss, I mean slam. Lot more blood in one that you would think. By the blood being dried it shows just how thin it is spread.

Expect cat vomit soon- if like mine, one ate it fast, to keep the others away, err, if like mine, they got bored and mouose crawled off to die.

[iconoclastic cat]

23. They toss them? Holy crap.

These are indoor cats, so I have never seen them actually kill anything bigger than a housefly.

Yeah, I can see it from where I'm typing, and the pattern looks like something was flung around.

[BlueJazz]

21. "Innocent Kitties.." Yeah Right...

You know those steaks that you were going to have for supper?
..Ah..you might want to go back to the market! :)

[Doctor Panacea]

27. Probably a mouse

You might want to talk to the vet about this. If it was a mouse, there is a risk that the cat involved picked up Toxoplasma gondii, a parasite that then comes out in cat feces and can affect anyone who is immunocompromised (pregnant women, HIV patients, people on chemotherapy).

[iconoclastic cat]

29. Also, tapeworms!

Yuck.

Great. Now, which one ate it?

[Az]

30. The happy one

:D

[barb162]

32. did you run your hands up and down their bodies, checking for

any swellings. Two may have fought and there may also be some bloody fur. Also do the same thing in about 2 days as a swelling, infected area on their body may pop very quickly. ANy of them continually licking one spot? Check to see if any of their nails are broken off. Once my aggressive male tried beating up my female and he actually broke his one claw off at the quick and was bleeding all over the place. She had his broken off claw stuck in her rump.

[Red State Rebel]

33. We had a similar mess once

Our dog had gotten a small cut in her ear. I don't know if you would see if you weren't looking very closely, but the vet told us cuts there bleed a lot! To make it worse, their first instinct when they get this kind of cut is to shake their heads. Our dog ran into the hallway shaking his head and we had blood spatters everywhere.