Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
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:
furbabymama87 · 07/01/2022 14:28

Alive yes, dead, no.Many people genuinely wouldn't have time and the vet couldn't do anything for it if it was dead.

gamerchick · 07/01/2022 14:28

You must have an awful lot of time on your hands to be so surprised OP. I wouldn't do it and neither would I expect someone else to if it was my cat.

ConstanceL · 07/01/2022 14:29

@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?!

Yes absolutely, I don't go around transporting any dead animals in my car, cat/dog/rabbit whatever. Nice you have so much time on your hands to do so though - good for you, you win the animal lover of the week award, and the rest of us must just be terrible people who hate animals.
anon12345678901 · 07/01/2022 14:30

No sorry I wouldn't. I wouldn't pick up any dead animal.

FudgeSundae · 07/01/2022 14:30

@Santaisstilleatingmincepies

It isn't an offence to drive off after hitting a ddog but the incident must be reported to the police as it is classed as a rta.. I fail to see how the driver I mentioned hasn't noticed they had hit a Labrador.. Sad
We hit a dog once, at night on a 60mph A-road (we were going 45-50). It ran out straight in front of the car. It was alive so we stopped where we could (about 500m down the road) and looked for it but it had vanished in the hedges. Reported it via 101 immediately and had to follow up with a in person visit to police station the next day. Never heard anything more about it but hope it was ok. We’re both massive dog people and were really sad about it. OP, it wouldn’t have occurred to me to take any dead animal to a vet as I think I would have thought they were for live (sick) animals. Confused
Howshouldibehave · 07/01/2022 14:30

Just because you have 2 minutes to move a cat’s body, doesn’t mean you have an hour or two to take it to a vet! I think it’s odd that you can’t see the difference.

If I turn up late to school, there is nobody to teach 30 children and SLT would be really pissed off with me.

Do vets even want dead cats? Whenever a cat is mine has died, I’ve been charged £100 for a cremation. People are probably worried they’ll have to foot that bill.

titchy · 07/01/2022 14:31

I love cats! What I don't love is lifting decomposing pets, putrid flesh, maggots etc and putting corpses into my car when a FB post or phone call to the council will achieve exactly the same.

You're the odd one OP!

givemushypeasachance · 07/01/2022 14:31

I've come across a dead cat on my way to work. I had nothing to wrap it in, but I spoke to people coming out of a house at the time and asked if I could borrow a carrier bag. Wrapped the cat in that so I wasn't literally just carrying them around in my bare hands. My local vets I'm registered with was a few minutes walk away, and was due to open in about 15 minutes, so I took them there so they could be scanned for a microchip.

It's now the law cats should be chipped, so hopefully most are and owners can be informed if their pet is killed on the road. One of my cats was missing for three weeks once, and if he'd been killed and found I really hoped I'd have found out somehow. They're all chipped and have collars so I do what I can to ensure I'll be contacted in the event of an accident - but that does need people not to think "oh, dead cat? I'll chuck them in a ditch for nature to take it's course". Hmm

ShaneTheThird · 07/01/2022 14:31

Wow i'm quite surprised at how many non cat lovers there are!

This doesn't make someone a non cat lover. I have 3 indoor cats. I disagree with outdoor cats due to them decimating dwindling wildlife such as voles and shrews which are becoming endangered and are important to the eco system unlike non native domestic moggies. Plus where I am you always see dead cats on roads or Facebook posts of people supposedly crying in shock at finding yet another dead cat on the road. It's bloody devastating to lose a family pet yet people willingly let them out, argue with others about their right to roam and then are shocked when they get killed on the roads or go missing. Pointing this out doesn't make someone hate cats.

elelel · 07/01/2022 14:32

'Non cat lovers' ' how little people value cats'

Come on, people can like cats without taking someone else's dead cat to a vet Confused

I absolutely adore cats, I don't have any though because I couldn't deal with the death or injury of my own cat, so I'm bloody sure I'm not taking responsibility for someone else's.

That does not mean I don't love or value cats.

bcc89 · 07/01/2022 14:32

For everyone saying the vets don't want your dead cat, actually they do.

The people that have said this have also said they don't even know where their local vet is, so I assume you don't have a pet!

The vets will scan the cat to check for a microchip and they also have a freezer where the cat can be stored. They can also send the cat off to be cremated if the owners are never found, or they can arrange private cremations if the owners are found and need help with disposing of the body.

fairylightsandwaxmelts · 07/01/2022 14:32

@NowEvenBetter

fairy how? There’s laws about straying dogs, sadly, none to prevent cats straying
What do you mean, how?

In the same way it's illegal to drive off after hitting a dog. Just because it's legal for cats to stray, doesn't mean it should also be acceptable to just drive off and leave them to die by the side of the road.

Many cats wear collars and are chipped - if you hit one, you should have to either a) drop it to the vet yourself or b) at least ring them with the time, date and location of the body so they can come out and collect it and then try and contact the owner.

And not all cats who are hit are outside cats. My own cats are indoors-only but one escaped recently and was missing for three days. Thankfully she was found safe and well in a neighbours' garden and wasn't left for dead at the side of a road.

AnotherDelphinium · 07/01/2022 14:34

No, if I was tight for time and saw a recognisable domestic animal dead on a carriageway and it was safe to do so, I’d move it onto the verge and share on SM so the owner could find it.

However, if I was the driver who’d hit a domestic animal, I’d accept my actions had consequences and take it to be scanned for a microchip etc.

For pp who are drivers and say they’ve not got anything suitable, please consider re-evaluating your car emergency kit and at least including a couple of strong black sacks. Multiple uses too!

Beautiful3 · 07/01/2022 14:34

If you see a dead cat around here, you call the council. They bag it up and remove it.

PurpleDaisies · 07/01/2022 14:34

I love animals. I would take an injured animal to a vet. I would move a dead cat/dog out of the road and post a photo on the local Facebook pages.

hiredandsqueak · 07/01/2022 14:35

No I wouldn't move a dead cat, around here you call the department who head the dustbin people and they come and pick up dead cats. No idea what they do with them though.

Sparklingbrook · 07/01/2022 14:35

Yes, I would. And I have, quite a few times, I keep a box, towel and pair of marigolds in my boot now. But I did used to volunteer for a cat rescue so feel it my duty to some extent.
If I absolutely couldn't take it to the vet due to time (work) I would try and remove from the road and post on local FB etc

Totally understand that others couldn't be bothered though.

ravenmum · 07/01/2022 14:35

I'm not sure the person who posted wasn't the person who hit the cat in the first place
I'd imagine the person who posted had nothing to do with the cat being run over, and wanted to alert the owners as they were thoughtful.
It must be stressful for you living in a world where you assume the worst of your fellow human beings.

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 07/01/2022 14:36

To all the people saying why would you take a dead cat to the vets hasn't it occurred to you that the vet could scan it and contact the owner so they know what's happened to their cat?

ivykaty44 · 07/01/2022 14:36

what is the vet going to do with the cat?

tigger1001 · 07/01/2022 14:36

I know locally the vets would charge so am guessing people don't want a charge for an animal that's not theirs. And many owners would prefer their dead pet not to be taken to the vets if possible as the vet would charge the owner if known.

Don't see the point of taking a dead animal to the vets.

Also, you are aware that not everywhere has a local vet? Is whoever finds the animal supposed to drive around with a dead animal in their car?

Whoever found the cat put a notice on Facebook so the owner could be found. That's a perfectly reasonable thing to do

Blossom64265 · 07/01/2022 14:37

Moving the body off the road is a kindness. It’s the owner’s responsibility to come find their own missing cat.

Sparklingbrook · 07/01/2022 14:37

@ivykaty44

what is the vet going to do with the cat?
Scan it for a chip and notify the owners.
PinkSparklyPussyCat · 07/01/2022 14:37

@Beautiful3

If you see a dead cat around here, you call the council. They bag it up and remove it.
And the sooner they start scanning for microchips and alerting owners the better. I know there was a petition calling for it a while ago but I don't know the outcome.
NowEvenBetter · 07/01/2022 14:37

Ah, got it. So you’d want legal protections for cats, but for them to not have to have any owner responsibility to prevent the animals from straying. Nope. 😄 it should be an offence for people to let their cats loose in to traffic, and decimate native species. Plus all the regulations around dogs, if you want ‘equality’ for an invasive species.