Murder mystery in the house

I woke up and came down the stairs, and noticed something slightly disconcerting. A little puddle of blood on the stairs! What was that doing there?

When I got downstairs I saw there was more blood on the doorstep. And there was a whole trail going towards the cat flap in the downstairs bedroom.

Blood on the stairs!

Blood trail through the house

I figured the cat must have caught something big. I was all ready for finding a rat, or something like that, in the kitchen. But when I got there there was nothing. Not even blood.

I was also starting to wonder why I hadn't woken up at night. If she catches something big, she tends to want me to know about it! And even if she catches something small, it is not unusual that she will play with it in the bedroom. You can't really sleep through that.

Then I noticed some dried blood on her paw. Had she has been doing the bleeding herself? And she wouldn't want me to inspect her paw, but I just kept an eye on her. If she would be licking herself and exposing the paw in question I could have a look. And yes, there seemed to be a little wound there! It had been her own blood!

I took this pic for the blood on her throat, but then I noticed some blood on her rear paw

I just wanted to check one more thing. If it would be her, then there would be blood on the duvet. She never brings prey onto the bed! But she sure brings herself there. And indeed; there was blood staining where she had been sleeping. It had really been her.

She didn't show any signs of pain or discomfort. It was probably just like what sometimes happens as a human. You cut your finger, it bleeds lots, but it doesn't really hurt, and it will quickly heal. I am just going to let this heal as well. She won't thank me if I dragged her to the vet! So the mystery solved. I think he must've stepped on something sharp! I hope that won't happen again. Even though it doesn't seem to bother her…