The kitty was only 9 months old and our murderous asshole neighbor shot him to death. I've already informed the sheriff's office and the DA. The investigators brought him in and he admitted to it. The DA said it looks like a state jail felony.

We had no idea the neighbor harbored any ill feelings toward us or our cats. We live in a small (pop. 500) rural town. There are only two other houses on the block my house sits on. The neighbors behind me are horses. To the east there's a field and southeast a mesquite jungle my cats like to play in. Across the street, south, is the chicken$hit that killed my cat and no one else. This is just such a shock to me. I miss my cat, but I miss my faith in humanity as well. How can someone be so cruel?

So, on to my question. My cat was killed Wednesday night. The skids were staying with my MIL, then they went to their mom's house for Thursday and the weekend. Since Monday was holiday and they were off from school they don't come back to us until after school today.

I normally believe in telling kids the truth, but ... I'm having such a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that I live across the street from pure evil and have since he moved in two years ago. My head feels like it's going to explode just thinking about it at times, how will that be for kids 6, 8 and 10?

I don't want to tell them he ran away because my mom did that to me when I was little. I remember wondering why my cat didn't love me anymore. Why would she want to go live somewhere else? Then, my older brother just to be mean later on told me that my cat was really run over and he scraped it off the road with a shovel. (ya, my brother was a real jerk. Still is at times.)

Anyway, I was thinking maybe something alone the lines of he got sick and died. There wasn't anything the vet could do.

BUT, I want them to be careful about letting the other cats outside. I'm afraid for them. I have one male cat, he's fixed, but he has to go outside. It would kill him to keep him inside for the rest of his life and although I don't think my neighbor would be stupid enough to kill another of my cats when he's looking at a felony indictment in his future, I still only let him out when he's not home, which is often.

So, what do you all think?