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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:
SueSaid · 07/01/2022 14:08

I absolutely would not touch a dead animal and I certainly wouldn't take it to a vets.

The person was being very kind to actually bother posting on fb about it.

Maybe this will make people who let their pets roam about outside think twice.

bigbluebus · 07/01/2022 14:08

No comparison between a dead dog and dead cat. With the former a crime has been committed as whoever hit it didn't stop and report. No such requirement for hitting a cat.

Alayalaya · 07/01/2022 14:09

I would make time to take an injured animal to the vet, but not a dead one, no. I found a dead cat once and I moved him off the road so he didn’t get repeatedly squashed, and I posted on the local Facebook page. I presumed the owner would come looking.

lurker101 · 07/01/2022 14:09

Already dead? No - nothing a vet could do, other than check for a chip. I would likely do the same as the poster as it’s highly likely to have happened local to the cat’s home, so someone will know the cat. Some groups I’m part of someone goes out with a chip detector to check.
Alive and injured - I’d miss work to get the cat help.

Jengnr · 07/01/2022 14:10

If I hit it I might (but possibly not if it was dead) but if I didn’t I definitely wouldn’t. I’m not in the habit of collecting roadkill.

SueSaid · 07/01/2022 14:10

@bigbluebus

No comparison between a dead dog and dead cat. With the former a crime has been committed as whoever hit it didn't stop and report. No such requirement for hitting a cat.
I didn't know this. So you have to ring 101 and report a dead dog?
WakeUpLockie · 07/01/2022 14:11

OP at least all these replies make your behaviour even more exemplary hey! Looking on the bright side.

Skullycup45 · 07/01/2022 14:11

@jimmyhill

You take live cats to the vet. You call the council for dead cats.

Vet don't want your random dead cats!

This.

I don't even know where my 'local' vets is. It's so local, it's not in my village. 🙄

StrawberrySanta · 07/01/2022 14:11

I think the person who posted isn't a bad person for not taking the cat to the vets, though I agree it's a kind thing to do for the animal and if someone has time and isn't too squeamish should consider doing it. I think the best you can hope for from the majority of people is that the would move the poor animal to the side so it's off the road. Can't really expect more than that, going home to get a box/towels to take it to vets would be going the extra mile which is great but most people wouldn't have time/top squeamish or upset to do that

senua · 07/01/2022 14:12

Why would you all prefer a cat to be left rotting to be eaten by wildlife?? Is that how little people value cats?
That's a bit hypocritical! How you seen how much wildlife cats kill?

Santaisstilleatingmincepies · 07/01/2022 14:13

A family friend's ddogs were hit by a car before Xmas and the driver didn't even stop. Struggle to comprehend how anyone could do that.
1 dead on impact and 1 pts the next day.

Butchyrestingface · 07/01/2022 14:13

@Jengnr

If I hit it I might (but possibly not if it was dead) but if I didn’t I definitely wouldn’t. I’m not in the habit of collecting roadkill.
Oh Lord, that's just reminded me of a rather eccentric colleague telling me about her equally eccentric friend who cooked them both a meal of some (hopefully recent) roadkill she'd collected. I think it was deer. hope it wasn't cat.
DeltaAlphaDelta · 07/01/2022 14:13

I had the misfortune to run over a cat a couple of years ago. It ran out from between two parked cars and under my car wheels. I didnt even have time to brake. I stopped, and found it had run into a nearby garden.

I knocked on a couple of doors and found someone who knew the owner, who dealt with it from there. He asked for my details but I didn't give them, as legally I didn't need to and there was no need for the owner to have them.

If I had run over a dog, I would have given my details or reported it to the Police, as dogs are classed as property and have to be reported if hit by a vehicle, whereas cats are classed as roaming animals so do not need to be reported.

If you own a cat and let it out to road, then unfortunately there is always a chance it will get run over.

Whatever the circumstances, I wouldn't be running an animal I didn't know and had just run over to a vet, especially so if it was dead or obviously couldn't be saved.

80sMum · 07/01/2022 14:13

Cat owners who let their cats roam leave them vulnerable to being hit by cars. It's not for drivers to then be responsible for dealing with the aftermath

^This.

I am a cat lover. I used to have 3 of my own, two of whom were killed by traffic. It happens. Cats roam.

daimbarsatemydogsbone · 07/01/2022 14:13

I didn't know this. So you have to ring 101 and report a dead dog?
No - the driver of the vehicle who hit the dog is supposed to.
Part of the reason for this is because legally dogs aren't supposed to be roaming around unsupervised though - and as someone pointed out above the law is that cats can do what the fuck they like.

liveforsummer · 07/01/2022 14:14

I think it's a good thing to move it to the side out the way of further damage. Unless they hit the cat themselves then no responsibility to take to the vet. Of course kind of they have the time and circumstances to do so

TeeBee · 07/01/2022 14:15

No

Thatsplentyjack · 07/01/2022 14:16

Really not my responsibility to take someone else's dead pet to the vets because they have let it out to roam. Its a shame the wee cat died, but it's dead, ot has no idea if someone has taken it to the vet or not.

WaltzingToWalsingham · 07/01/2022 14:16

I love cats, but I dont think I could bring myself to scrape up a dead one because I'm ridiculously squeamish. And like PPs, I generally have my DCs in the car, or don't have towels and plastic bags, or I'm on my way to school or work and can't be late without good reason.

I would try to put something up on the local Facebook page though, or respond to a Missing Cat poster, if I thought it might be the same cat.

Medievalist · 07/01/2022 14:16

No I wouldn't take a dead cat to the vets either. And that doesn't mean I don't like cats!

I might however ring the vet and let them have a description/location in case the owner is ringing round vets trying to find the cat.

If I had time I would also knock on a few doors and ask if the cat was theirs or they knew who it belonged to. We were alerted to one of our cats having been killed in this way.

We also had a cat hit by a car that wasn't killed instantly and I suspect died a slow and painful death before ds found it on the way to school. If I found an animal in distress in that way - or had hit it myself - I would of course take it the vets.

HaveringWavering · 07/01/2022 14:16

@jimmyhill

You take live cats to the vet. You call the council for dead cats.

Vet don't want your random dead cats!

This!
Orarewedancer · 07/01/2022 14:17

I work at a vets. We would take the cat from the member of public and scan it. If chipped we'd try to contact the owner then they can advise us of their wishes. If not, we will arrange and pay for routine cremation ourselves. We'd never charge the member of public for it, but I think it's worth considering that someone would need to pay for disposal and that would be the private veterinary business you took it to. It's just part of the job of course and accepted.

Most areas have volunteer groups or charities that have access to a scanner, and those routes would probably be preferable ones to take, so as an owner doesn't need to potentially travel all the way to a vets to get their cat back.

YABU though to assume the time requirements for both actions you are comparing are the same.

womaninatightspot · 07/01/2022 14:17

@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?!

Not really about loving cats or dogs I have both. Dead cat or dog if local to me I'd message the local community group and someone would know who it belongs to. Vet is a 45 minute drive away. What is it they are going to do? Ressurection?
Shade17 · 07/01/2022 14:18

Is that how little people value cats?

If the owners value their cat so little that they let it roam then I certainly don’t give a shit about it!

lljkk · 07/01/2022 14:18

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

Probably not... although I'm not bothered about touching random dead things, i've moved them before (just didn't fancy seeing splattered pancake bodies fester for days...) , but vet trip would be such a maybe-successful errand. For what it's worth, I once saw a cat hit... it spasmed a lot & died almost instantly. The driver came back to observe but then drove off. I immediately went around to a lot of local houses to find the owners. (Splattered with cat blood, but I only realised that later). Owners were very grateful I made the effort.

But I don't blame the driver who hit the cat for driving off (& I hadn't told them I would try to find owners). Saying this as a cat owner myself. It's not someone else's responsibility to try to find me, I let cats roam, I take that risk. The Dead cat body wouldn't mind being eaten by scavengers; good if it's recycled, actually.

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