... I found her this morning. Last night when I went to bed she was alive. This morning at 9am I found her in a carport half a block down dead with blood coming out her nose and one eye. Her eyes where open and her legs were stiff. By the time I was ready to bury her (about and hour later) she was completely stiff. I live in a hot country. Can someone please tell me how long she may have been dead but the time it took the rigamortis to set in? Please I just need some closure:(

Well it would be hard to pinpoint an exact time, but from what you said, she died during the overnight hours. My cat lived to be 13 years and 3 days. It won't be easy for a while, but you hang in there.

I am sorry for your loss, but I do not think you can pin point exact time.

Sorry for your loss.

http://www.thecatsite.com
You might want to check this site.

I read 12 + hours and faster depending on the heat. Sorry about your loss.

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Originally Posted by justagirl74

...I found her this morning. last night when i went to bed she was alive. this morning at 9am i found her in a carport half a block down dead with blood coming out her nose and one eye. her eyes where open and her legs were stiff. by the time i was ready to bury her (about and hour later) she was completely stiff. i live in a hot country. can someone please tell me how long she may have been dead but the time it took the rigamortis to set in? please i just need some closure:(

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Sorry about the kitty, don't know about the time, but someone must have done it to her.

I am so sorry to hear about your cat. I found a website that might be helpful for you too. http://petloss.com/dealing.htm. I found there an article called "Dealing with the guilt". I feel guilt about finding my cat stiff with rigamortis and blame myself that I should have known sooner, I should have been there. I also found on the internet that a cat is so small, the rigamortis could take place as soon as two hours. Somehow that helps me, knowing that I did not neglect my cat all night long.

Unfortunately it sounds as if your cat received a head trauma, most like by a car. The rigamortis sets in about 45 minutes to and hour afterwards, then he will gradually stiffen. I would say that you found your dear pet about an hour and a half after the incident. I hope that helps in your mind and gives you peace knowing that it was not a lone for long. God Bless and Good Luck.

I just found my cat this afternoon after being hit on the main road when we brought him home to be buried his eyes were still his colour if not a little blood shot but he was stiff when we found him when we buried him some 4 and a half hours later all his eyes had turned to white why is this and can this signify how long my poor baby had been dead for before I found him? If his eyes were still his colour would that mean it was a recent accident? I need peace of mind I'm so distraught as to how long he had been there and why nobody tried to help.