Reply #12: I don't have any way to communicate with the cat on this one.

[Shanty Oilish]

Don't want to love her up and console her, she might misread it as approval. Don't want to punish her, she looks guilty and miserable.

I save the witch act for training, like when they're up to something new and offensive, like clawing the wrong furniture or stomping on a new plant. It's not a bad temper on my part, just an effective way to make a point. But like you say, it's their instinct to kill. They're pretty well-behaved cats otherwise.

It's MY instinct to try to cheer everybody up around here, but I'm thinking it's better to leave them to work it out by themselves. They're sad and they know their humans are sad.