When my dog killed a cat & my heart stopped beating for a while

About the most traumatic moment I ever had.

My dog Buffy, the sweetest creature on earth, just not with cats…

Suddenly she dropped the ball she carried, ignored her doggie pack and us & ran off into the grass around the corner of the house.

I ran after her & saw a cat jumping up a tree, down into the grass again.

Up the tree again, down,

Up once more, then the last time into the grass…

…where Buffy caught her leg. My heart stopped.

I didnt think.

I am not sure what was happening with me, but I went right inbetween my dog & the cat she caught. My heart stopped again.

It was horrific, I tried everything I could to make her let go of the cat.

The cat was freaking out, my hands were bloody… nothing worked, until Buffy let loose of the cat & my friend pulled her away.

…the cat owner lady and me standing there, the cat on the leash, my hands still bloody, she picked up her cat, I helped her. I shivered.

I put Buffy on the leash, checked her, she only had some scratches, I gave my friends my home key, so they took Buffy home & I could help the cat lady.

We walked to her flat around the corner, my hands were bleeding, I was in shock, she was calm as ever.

She was an emergency nurse, she told me I need to get my hands checked, she spoke so calmly, I asked her why she is not freaking out, cos her cat was injured.

She said: "I have seen worse, this was a bad accident. If I wouldn’t have had her on such a short the leash, she would have escaped."

I couldnt believe it. My dog just attacked her cat while she was walking in the high grass (invisible to all of us), most likely cos she saw the grass moving.

And there is this lady, telling me "It was an accident", "This is nature", "Its like that with cats and dogs".

We exchanged numbers, adresses & information, she said to keep me updated how it will go at the vet.

I went home, still shaking. Buffy was happy to see me. As usual. As if nothing happened. She had no idea she did something wrong.

I went to the emergency, got stitches, bandages, a vaccine. I didnt go back to work that day.

I was beyond myself. I still couldnt believe it all.

There she was sitting, the doggie I loved so much. Who just did that.

My biology-brain was irrelevant. Telling me that this is the law of nature, predators & prey, cats & dogs, cats & birds or mice etc.

Yet, I could not be angry at her, but I did not want to interact. I was dreading the phone call & the news.

It was the worst time I ever waited for news. Finally the cat lady wrote…