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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think you take a killed cat to the vets, not dump it on a grass verge

646 replies

CoastalWave · 07/01/2022 13:43

Post on FB says 'Found' a dead cat in the middle of the road. Couldn't do anything other than move it to the side as I was busy. " Posted the FB update five hours after doing this.

Cat had been moved about 4m from the road so quite a distance and was hidden from site (not quite sure even how they'd moved him the state he was in)

Poor thing was in a really bad way. I had to put my big girl pants on and take a lot of deep breaths before I dealt with him. I took clean towels and gave him a dignified trip to the vets.

No, I don't like picking up dead cats - particularly after losing one myself to an RTA. But AIBU to think that if you've got time to shift the cat, you've got time to take it to the vets to be scanned?? Or did they move it because they were the ones who killed it?!

Would you stop to take a deceased cat to the vets?

OP posts:
Scrabblecrabapple · 07/01/2022 16:02

Nope but class a boast post.

GoodnightGrandma · 07/01/2022 16:02

No.

Tal45 · 07/01/2022 16:03

@CoastalWave

Wow i'm quite surprised at how many non cat lovers there are!
  1. You'd take it to the vet to be scanned for a chip. Then it can be ruined with its owner.

Why would you all prefer a cat to be left rotting to be eaten by wildlife?? Is that how little people value cats?

I'm not sure the person who posted wasn't the person who hit the cat in the first place.

Cats need to be taken to a vet. Vets do not charge to dispose at all (or they shouldn't) It's worth knowing which local vet can help.

Would everyone who has replied do the same if they found a dead dog?!

What do you think happens to anything dead other than it rots or is burnt? Dead things rot, that's just the natural order of things.

Who wants to be reunited with their squished cat?? I bet the vet wouldn't dispose of it for free either - they'd contact the person on the chip and ask them what they wanted done with it and I bet they'd have to pay if they wanted it cremated. If people don't want their cats killed in the road they should cat proof their garden and not have them roaming everywhere, crossing roads and shitting in other people's gardens.

I wouldn't touch a dead dog or any other dead animal either.

thedancingbear · 07/01/2022 16:04

@OhGiveUp

No. What's a vet going to do with a dead cat?
All these people saying 'the vet can't do anything with a dead cat' are wrong.

Our local vet was famous for reviving deceased felines. Gerbils and hamsters too.

nettie434 · 07/01/2022 16:04

I am so sorry that you lost your lovely cat, Nettletea. I can see how the actions of the man who took him to the vet must have made a difference in terms of knowing what happened and being reunited with him. Your sculpture is amazing too.

This isn't exactly the same but a motorist who hit my friends' cat knocked on their door to tell them what had happened and check if they were the owners. The cat was very severely injured but still alive. After a lot of surgery, the cat has made a full recovery. The motorist could have left him but he didn't.

I don't know if I would take a dead cat to the vets but after reading this, I would certainly think about it. I'd never thought of it as an option before.

liveforsummer · 07/01/2022 16:05

@SchadenfreudePersonified

What if this was my house cat who got out? He is blind. He is very looked after, loved and wanted. He is home with me every single day. If something happened like he accidentally wandered off and couldn't find his way, for any reason, despite how careful I am... Would you leave his body in the road, just because most people have outdoor cats? I would be devasted to think anyone would have thought I didn't care about him!

This happened to a friend's house cat. 10 years old - had never been across the doors. Somehow managed to dart out of the house on bonfire night of all nights.

There were five of us looking for him in the streets for days, and scouring FB etc for weeks but there was no sign at all, poor thing. I can't imagine how frightened he must have been. I just pray that someone took hm in, but it's more likely that he was run over or died of shock. He had no street sense, obviously - hadn't even seen a car since he was brought to the house in one.

How would anyone know the difference? I don't suppose most people think much tbh apart from oh that's sad
daimbarsatemydogsbone · 07/01/2022 16:05

@Sparklingbrook

Am always amazed at the hate for cats on MN!

Yes it's not representative of where I live (or have ever lived). But I can believe that there's people who don't care much, like anything really.

Or around here. Around here any mention of a dead cat on social media is immediately followed up with an angry mob of pitchfork wielding cat fanatics say that all cars should be banned from cat areas, drivers who run over a cat should get the electric chair, etc etc.

Thankfully things on here are a bit more measured.

It's not "hating cats" to not want to get involved when you see a dead one.

PoleFairy · 07/01/2022 16:05

Of course I would OP! So the vet could scan its chip and let the owner know. That's the done thing, its literally common knowledge. How do people not know that

thedancingbear · 07/01/2022 16:05

@Footprintsinthegrass

If it was dead I'd rather leave it for wildlife to eat, cats are always eating birds etc, just the circle of life

If you want to let your pet roam it's the risk you take. I thought, but may be wrong, that legally you must report if you hit a dog?

As a three-metre tall kodiak bear, living in an urban environment, I can promise you I would not be at all interested in a 'feast' of a dead cat.
WorriedMillie · 07/01/2022 16:05

Unless I’d hit the cat, no I wouldn’t! Nor would I expect anyone else to take my dead cat to the vet!

Sparklingbrook · 07/01/2022 16:05

Who wants to be reunited with their squished cat??

Lots of people who want closure and be able to say goodbye to their pet I would imagine? I might not want to see squished Sparklingcat but I'd appreciate knowing what happened to her...

sbhydrogen · 07/01/2022 16:06

I would move it if I hit it and post it on the local community page. I wouldn't take it to the vet.

daimbarsatemydogsbone · 07/01/2022 16:07

BTW one reason I wouldn't want to get involved (around here) is that judging by their SM posts, the cat loonies would find a way to make anything and everything my fault.

Tal45 · 07/01/2022 16:08

Also if you hit a dog you are required by law to report it to the police, that is not the case with cats.

Emerald5hamrock · 07/01/2022 16:08

No.
If there was any sign of life I would.

Who'd pay the vet for giving the cat a dignified time of death, it's €70 for a veterinary consultation.

MaybeHeIsMyCat · 07/01/2022 16:08

@Sparklingbrook

Who wants to be reunited with their squished cat??

Lots of people who want closure and be able to say goodbye to their pet I would imagine? I might not want to see squished Sparklingcat but I'd appreciate knowing what happened to her...

Definitely I've posted links so hopefully if someone does see a dead cat they can take the time to post even a short description on social media and then the cat can get back to the owner and they get closure Cats will have to be chipped, and most of us volunteers have scanners so can check (if we don't then we take to the vet) I'm squeamish. I hate doing it but my area is short of people who do it so.. I wrap them in a towel and treat them as if they were alive so no bin bags (it makes owners feel like their cats are worthless/rubbish)
Orarewedancer · 07/01/2022 16:10

I think many posters are overestimating the proportion of cats out there with microchips, never mind up to date contact details.

In reality, most cats aren't identifiable by a microchip and taking it to the vets doesn't achieve anything apart from leaving the vet to dispose of a cat (at a cost - the crematorium will charge the vet whether it's routine or individual cremation).

I don't think vets want to or would encourage dealing with dead cats, but they can still be empathetic about it to owners and the public.
It's like when MOPs bring a stray dog to the vets and think they've done their good deed of the day when in reality they've just passed the problem onto someone else because many private vets close overnight. The vet will simply call the dog warden (who is often less likely to rush to them over a MOP btw!). Similarly not all vets want the poorly hedgehog or bird.

Stray dog - dog warden, or vets to check chip if you are happy to take it back home with you after
Injured wildlife - RSPCA/wildlife rescue
Dead cat - local cat charity/Facebook group. Perhaps wrap up and keep it in your garden until someone can get out to scan it?

PurpleDaisies · 07/01/2022 16:11

I wrap them in a towel and treat them as if they were alive so no bin bags (it makes owners feel like their cats are worthless/rubbish)

I don’t want blood in my car boot. I would have thought most owners would understand that.

MaybeHeIsMyCat · 07/01/2022 16:11

@Orarewedancer will be compulsory regarding microchips for any cats over 20 weeks
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cat-microchipping-to-be-made-mandatory

Sparklingbrook · 07/01/2022 16:12

I'm squeamish too @MaybeHeIsMyCat, as I reach down I just have to sort of take a deep breath, throw the towel on top then scoop the whole bundle up. The last one was a relief as rigor mortis had set in and no obvious injuries or blood-straight into the box.

TicTacHoh · 07/01/2022 16:12

Why would you take a dead cat to the vets?

shouldistop · 07/01/2022 16:12

I can imagine how pleased my boss and members of the public who had appointments with me would be if I turned up late for work because I was taking a dead cat to the vets.
Some cat owners should remember that if they choose to let their pets roam that it doesn't make them everyone else's responsibility.

MaybeHeIsMyCat · 07/01/2022 16:12

@PurpleDaisies

I wrap them in a towel and treat them as if they were alive so no bin bags (it makes owners feel like their cats are worthless/rubbish)

I don’t want blood in my car boot. I would have thought most owners would understand that.

I've never had blood in my boot. I use a large bath towel, and have a waterproof sheet/open bin bags in the boot I don't expect people to do this, I or someone else will do it if someone posts in the deceased cats group, we only need a description and area
Landof · 07/01/2022 16:12

I LOVE cats but that doesn't mean to say I have the time to drive the cat to the vet. If I was on the way to work I'd need to continue my journey.

And no, just because they posted it doesn't mean they hit the cat. But if they did, I'm sure they didn't do it on purpose and they moved the cat away from the road.

Now a cat who had been hit but was still alive is obviously different. I still wouldn't necessarily have time bit I'd call a vet.

Tinsellittis · 07/01/2022 16:13

@TeloMere

No And if my cat was lying on the road dead I wouldn't expect anyone else to scrape her up and take her to the vet either. I'd prefer not to be informed she was dead.
Seriously?