I think our cat is dead and I can't get to it to pick him up

[Wormshuffler]

DD's cat, has been missing since saturday morning, this morning DH saw one like him on the duel carrigeway about a mile from our home. The position it is in makes it really dangerous to collect it up, its by the central single crash barrier and right at the place where a slip road comes on around blind corner.

It's really upsetting to think of the poor thing just laying there but I really don't know what to do about it. Any ideas?

oh so sorry for you. i don't know the answer though. could you call the RSPCA for advice?

I second calling the RSPCA. Hopefully they will be able to help.

I would call the council... I think they or the highways agency are responsible for animals on roads and they may be able to get to him.

:(

Oh dear, that's awful. Sorry to hear of the loss of your cat, if it is him. Naturally you would like to collect him. The only thing I can think if is could you nip out there now - while it's quiet on the road but before it gets dark - to pick him up? Get DH to pick him up while you hold up a (cardboard) sign for any traffic saying "Slow - Man in road".....sorry if that sounds like a silly idea, it's meant in all seriousness and I am trying to help...but it may be a bad idea. Poor puss.

I'm worried about putting someone else in a dangerous position though, I mean what if someone got hit by a car collecting up a cat that I think is in too bad a position for me or DH to collect. I am tempted to ring the non emergency police number is that mental?

I called our local vet when there was a fox lying on the road and they came out to collect it the same day. If your vet centre won't collect him, I'm sure they will know who to contact. How sad

Your local council have responsibility for this so you need to contact them.

You might need to check it's your cat though - is it microchipped?

I really feel for you, I would hte for this to happen to our cat. Is it a really busy road, could you maybe go at silly o'clock in the morning?

I remember when our cat was hit on a dual carriageway, there was no way we could have got to her :( we had to leave her body there unfortunately, didn't think of calling anyone to have it removed at the time. I think on a busy road like that it would be too unsafe, and without wanting to be too graphic, a cat is small enough not to cause a danger to drivers on such a fast road, so I'm not sure police/RSPCA etc would risk it either. We went to a garden centre a couple of weeks later and chose a nice bush to plant in the garden instead of burying her.

I'm sorry to hear of your loss x

how sad.

my brother's dog ran on to a train track and died and they did manage to get someone to retrieve her.

Oh, I'm so sorry.

I had to leave my beloved cat at the side of the road a few years ago. We were living in an apartment with no garden, had no car to go get him in and He was in too bad a state to carry when I found him (he was so far away from the house it took me days to find him) so not only could I not get him, if I could have I had nowhere to bury him so would have had to put him in the bin which was proably worse than leaving him at the side of the road.

It broke my heart and still does to think of him just left there

It is a really busy road.............the A1, I am a risk taker, but even I wouldn't risk it because of the blind slip road bend. There is no gap between the north and south carridgeways just a crash barrier, and it is also on a bridge over another road so no refuge on either side. The only way I could see anyone safely getting it is to close off the fast lane, but surely they wouldn't do that, nor would I expect them to.

A couple of months ago I saw one dead on the slip road where it was safe to pick up and collected it up and took it to the vets to be checked for microchips.

DH has to go the same way again tomorrow, if it is still there I will call the council for advise. Thanks very much for your help.

Sorry about your cat Bertie. The bush is a lovely idea.

I was about ten, I was heartbroken! But I was quite a logical child and as my mum said at the time, it would have been very quick, he wouldn't have known what was happening, and it's just an empty body, it's not him lying there. He'll be up in cat heaven with as many mice as he could ever want to chase :)