To ask what is the best thing to do if you hit a cat with your car?

[wasonthelist]

Prompted by a pitchforks and torches posting on a local FB group. It made me (honestly) wonder. If I hit a cat and killed it (or didn't) what to do. There are a few things - I haven't had any pets for more than 30 years, so I have no idea where the vets are - I could Google of course, but can you just take any random cat to the nearest vet?

In the olden days I heard tales of people putting injured animals "out of their misery" with a wheelbrace or something, but aside from being too squeamish, I'd worry that the cat could have been saved and that I'd be arrested.

I guess checking the cat for some ID tag would make sense, but not sure I'd fancy taking the body to an owner - judging by the FB posting I could see it going badly.

Can/should you phone Police (I know it's not required) - or would they just say not interested?

I started off thinking it was heartless to run a cat over and just drive off, but then thought I am not sure what I would do.

I wouldn't stop if it was obviously dead.
I would for an injured cat. I'd take it to a vet but I wouldn't leave any details. I'm not getting caught paying for someone else's free ranging pet.

I think it's pretty cold hearted not to stop however much of a hurry you're in

Yes, this. I got quite upset reading some responses above about how people would not bother stopping if they were on their way to pick their child up. It might be hard to understand if you don't like animals, but it's somebody's much loved pet and I can't understand how you would not at least check if the cat is still alive, in which case I would hope people would feel a moral obligation to take them to the vet. If I hit a fox and didn't kill it, I wouldn't pick it up and take it to the vet but I would probably call the RSPCA. Obviously this wouldn't be realistic on the motorway/A-road and of course I wouldn't expect anyone to stop on the hard shoulder for a cat, but to just carry on because you have something better to do is quite cold.

"My DH keeps a stack of towels in the boot ready for these situations! He drives 100-150 miles daily on country roads and sees a dead animal on a monthly basis. He pulls in, wraps it in a towel and takes it to the vet."

You cant live in Devon, he would need a trailer, more towels than a hotel, and a very large vet practice here.. the road is littered with corpses.. I have yet to see a badger that is alive.

I have to say, pheasants are the most stupid bird I have ever known. They wander aimlessly in the middle of the road, on some sort of suicide mission. My DP stops his van if its safe and honks the horn and they still dither about.. apart from the one that realised it could fly and promptly face planted into the muddy verge.. wings flapping and beak stuck.. we did rescue that one and sent it on its way in one piece..

Some pretty heartless people on this thread. I hope they're kinder to people!

I saw a car hit a cat and drive off once. They left it flapping around in the road. I had my mother and my stepson in the car and was in a rush, but I stopped, scooped the cat up and carried it to a vets (luckily there was one about five minutes away). The vets said did one the right thing, they took my phone number. I made w poster and put it in the local supermarket and knocked on the door of the nearest house to where it was hit, but they didn't know whose it was. The cat survived, the owners found her and phoned me to thank me. My own cat was left in the road with horrific injuries. Luckily I found him in time to save him. I just did what I would have hoped the person who'd hit mine would have done.

I also caught an injured dog on a motorway, waited for the police, then took the dog in my own car and tried to get it to a vet when the police said I would be at least an hour before they could get a vet. Unfortunately the dog died on the way to my vets. I did find the owner (chipped but no collar tag) but they were too upset to collect it and the dog is buried in my field.

I'd rather someone ran over my cat several times than left it dying slowly and painfully. I've done that for a squirrel once that a car in front hit and left. I think it was dead, but wanted to make sure.

I drove past a dead cat recently. I put it on the pavement and left it. With hindsight I wished I'd moved it, but someone else did later. I moved it so it didn't end up flattened meat in the road. I did call on a friend because I thought it might be her cat (it wasn't).

Do what you can. Try and be the kindest you.

I think most cats disappear when hit by cars if they are physically capable of moving. They can leg it even when severely injured and in need of vet treatment. You would only be able to find a stationary cat, and that would be dead or very critically injured

Yeah don't they scarper and hide to recover/die?

I would definitely knock on a door and ask where a vet is , it's nothing like hitting a fox ,a fox is not somebody's pet

^This

I bred pedigree cats and every single one of them was microchipped and neutered. About 60% of the cats I've rehomed are still in my name so I know if they are found missing or been run over (heaven forbid that ever happens as they are SUPPOSED to be indoor cats).

When I was a student, I worked in many vet surgeries and all of them had staff living on site for emergencies, so yes, chances are you will come across one that is 24/7.

If you hit one and can stop, just take it quickly to the vet, they will scan for a chip and hopefully be able to contact the owner. If you find a cat that has been struck, again, take it to a vets and let them deal with it.

If any of my cats had been hit, I really would be upset and would want to know. I have 3 DCs old enough to know what it means when one of the cats goes walkies longer than the day and they would naturally be waiting for the cat to return - it aint going to if it is dead! Please give the family closure if you can.

Hi I'm a vet. Please please always take injured or dead cats to your local vets. Even if out of hours - we are on call 24/7. I have seen so many clients heartbroken because their cat has gone missing and they have no idea what's happened to it. Never ever ever put it out if it's misery !!! cats can seem very ill when in shock but you would be surprised how they can come round.

Malice, I'm quite shocked at that story, don't actually know how you could do that even if the cat was in pain that's all kinds of sick.

I hit a cat on a single track country road - it ran straight in front of the car and there was no way of missing it. I stopped and the poor thing was clearly dead. I knocked on several houses before finding the owner, it was awful having to tell her what happened but I thought it was kinder than her wondering what had happened or coming across her dead cat on the side of the road which is what happened to us.

I did once on a Sunday night in winter at about 8pm. Devastated, though I couldn't have prevented it. Stood by the side of the road in the rain finding the nearest get on my phone, a kind lady who lived nearby gave me a towel, and I took it to the vet.

Yes, there may be a risk with them being roaming creatures, and there may be no need to report it according to the law. But, it's also someone's pet. Therefore I personally believe it's common courtesy that the poor animal doesn't die slowly and painfully at the side of the road, and that the animal is checked for a chip so that the owner can be notified where possible.

But then I am an animal lover.

malice , that's awful . Unfortunately one of the worst memories from my childhood was a similar story , coming out from some school event , a cat was knocked over( not by us) and really howling and a man appeared from a house and bashed it over the head with something . 44 yrs later I can still picture it vividly and hear that poor cat -horrific and my parents were equally horrified .

Hi I'm a vet. Please please always take injured or dead cats to your local vets. Even if out of hours - we are on call 24/7

So at midnight if I hit a cat and kill it, I'm supposed to firstly find out where the nearest vets is, then find out who to call out of hours (as there are shutters down over the windows of the nearest one), hang around for goodness knows how long for Vet to turn up because of someone's cat?

I would ring a number on a collar and from there on it's the owner's problem - not mine.

The comparisons with hitting a child are just ridiculous, children are several hundreds of times more important than a cat.

Could be the cat of an elderly person living alone. To them it would be devastating.

It may not be on par but equally doesn't deserve the blasé attitude of some. Compassion and kindness go a long way.

If it's late at night and the cats deceased put it in a bin bag somewhere cold and take it into a vet in the morning .

I agree Luna, I doubt many people would spend hours on end dealing with a dead cat in the middle of the night. I was just waiting for someone make the frankly ludicrous comparison with hitting a child.

I'd always ring a vet.

When I was young we moved house from a quiet cul de sac to main road. Within a week our cat went missing. She was hit on the road - the family stopped, took her to the vets, and spent their Sunday morning going door to door in the area. She made a full recovery and lived another ten years thanks to those lovely people :)

A friend told me how she received a phone call telling her that her cat had been run over and taken to the nearest vet. The cats legs had been injured and the driver and his partner that hit it was able to pick it up to put in car but it completely lashed out at her, scratched her arms many times so she was bleeding and bit her hand which resulted in an infection.

My friend felt awful that her cat had inflicted all that when the driver went out of their way to do the right thing, but the vet said it's quite a common reaction for a cat that's been injured, they often try to slope away to be alone and can be extremely defensive especially if approached by strangers. Not sure if anyone else has experienced similar?

luna you only need to notify the vet that the cat is there. You don't have to hang around holding its paw.

As a cat owner and lover, I'd suggest you take the cat to the vet. I would be so annoyed if a driver hit my cat and just left him on the road, same goes for anyone else who just ignores the fact my cat is lying on the road, with potentially fatal injuries.

I've witnessed 3 cats getting hit by cars, twice I've stayed with them until the council came to collect them and the other time I took them to the vets!

I cannot believe (well, this is MN, so I can!) that someone asked if you'd drive off if you hit a child. Bonkers!

I would stop the car but I certainly would not pick up a dead or unwell cat, as I have physical disabilities. In fact, even if I didn't, I'd be too squeamish. No, before you saying anything, of course I would not leave an injured child...! Of course I would attempt to get help for the cat but within reason.

I once saw a cat hit by a speeding driver who carried on speeding away. What alerted me to it was the bang it made. It sounded like a bag of crisps being popped open. I saw an animal writhing about so I ran down the road and found this poor cat with a lot of blood coming from its stomach. I hammered on the nearest door and a lady gave me a box to put it in. She didn't know who's it was. It was obviously dying. I took it to the vets who thanked me whilst giving me the face, clearly believing it was me that hit it but it bloody well wasn't.

I put an ad in the local paper but no one ever rang. Poor cat.

Our cat was run over and killed a few months ago. The driver drove off without a second thought. Luckily a resident had seen it happen and called the local vet who collected him, scanned him and called me. If they hadn't done we'd have been left wondering whatever had happened to him. As a cat owner it's good to know that someone at least tried to do the right thing - knock on a local door, call the local vet and tell them, try to take the cat to the vet etc etc. We've also owned a cat who went missing, never seen again. Believe me it's better knowing what happened. Of course it's not comparable to a child, but as others have said, some elderly people have very little else for company in their lives and their cars mean everything to them. To drive off without even trying to help is callous in the extreme and it saddens me that some people on this thread have a similar attitude. We're talking about a much loved family pet, not a piece of rubbish.

cat not car.

I wonder how many of those posters who are too busy driving to scouts etc or who don't want to spend 'hours' finding a vet have posted from a smartphone that can give them the nearest vet number in about 30 seconds. Out of hours they will have a voicemail with an alternative number. Maybe adding another 30-60s.
You don't have to stay with the animal you've run over but the minimum would be to let someone know who gives more shits than you do...

Oh, completely agree it's not the same as running over a child. Or adult for that matter. But still could well be someone's beloved pet and it's a bit selfish to leave it to die / be eaten by foxes and the owners spend days looking because of your 'inconvenience'.