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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:
TankFlyBoss · 07/01/2022 14:45

No
No
No
No
No

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 07/01/2022 14:46

My vet sounds a lot nicer than yours @mam0918!

Are you sure they didn't have to euthanise the cat @tigger1001? When my cat was PTS I obviously paid for the euthanasia but I wouldn't have been charged for disposal. I chose individual cremation so there was an extra charge for that.

TeloMere · 07/01/2022 14:46

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.

comfortablyfrumpy · 07/01/2022 14:46

I've taken a few to the vets unfortunately - but then I know local vets are always happy to scan and try to find the owner, and I've had time (or made time) to do it. In all cases I've heard that the cat's owner was able to be found.

But I can understand why some people feel unable to, or wouldn't be able to.

VodselForDinner · 07/01/2022 14:47

I’m a vet lover (have two), and I wouldn’t take a dead cat to the vet either.

After being hit by a car, a cat is in quite a state and I wouldn’t have the stomach to place it into my car and drive it the half hour to the vet’s. I can’t imagine my vet would be too appreciative of being presented with a dead and mangled cat and ordered to scan it.

Porcupineintherough · 07/01/2022 14:47

@Medievalist then I'm sure they accept the risk that it may one day just not come home again.

Im2022 · 07/01/2022 14:47

Genuinely didn’t know you can take a dead animal to the vets? Don’t you just bury your own dead animals in your garden? Or leave other peoples dead animals on the pavement until someone claims it? Unless it’s really hot, and there’s a maggot situation.

What’s the best thing to do then?

Kca29 · 07/01/2022 14:47

Maybe they were in a rush, maybe they didn't want to, without sounding like a nob myself, I probably wouldn't even have moved it onto the verge (I would have reported it to someone though). I can't deal with the stiffness of something dead. So much so I didn't even go see my grandpa in the funeral home (not really relevant here I know). When my hamster died, I had to wait for Dp to get home and deal with it. Something happening to my dog is my worse fear. I have a huge fear of death, I know none of us like the thought of death but I have an extreme fear. I'm getting a bit ott here now, sorry.

Plus they could have had kids in the car or a dog or similar where it wouldn't have been suitable.

Sadly there was nothing the vets could have done either...

SlashBeef · 07/01/2022 14:47

@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?!

Blush I value a strangers cat as much as any other roadkill I see. It's sad and I would move it aside if there was hope of it being reunited with its owner but that's it. I'm not obliged to be scooping up dead animals and shuttling them to the vets.
FrangipaniBlue · 07/01/2022 14:48

@WakeUpLockie

Aren’t deer wild?
I think they are protected by law hence you have to report it........ I think?!
VodselForDinner · 07/01/2022 14:48

^that should say “I’m a cat lover”, not a vet lover Blush

Though my vet is quite handsome.

I do not own two vets.

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 07/01/2022 14:48

They go in the death room... we weren't allowed to accept money for wild animals so they are put in a dark quiet side room to die naturally.

What a cruel vet.

Those birds and hedgehogs do not survive - your better off taking them to wild animal charities (RSPB etc...) because private vets can't/won't save them.

We don't have anyone local. I found an injured fledgling last year with no sign of mum and dad and next door's Bengal sizing him up so DH took him to a wildlife centre. It wasn't local though and it took him a couple of hours.

MolkosTeenageAngst · 07/01/2022 14:48

I love cats but I don’t see anything wrong with leaving a dead cat to be eaten by wildlife; that’s the circle of life and in my mind better than taking it to the vets to be incinerated. As if a cat itself wouldn’t be happy to eat another dead animal, I hardly think it’s disrespectful to the cat to leave other creatures to do the same.

And yes, I would go the same with an unidentifiable dog in terms of just moving it to the side as I would with an unidentifiable cat. Obviously if either animal had a collar with contact details on o would phone but I wouldn’t faff about getting a dead animal to the vet, by the point of death it’s beyond a vet’s assistance.

Howshouldibehave · 07/01/2022 14:48

@VodselForDinner

I’m a vet lover (have two)

Grin
FlasherMcGruff · 07/01/2022 14:48

There’s no way I have time to gather a dead cat (which I’m not actually even responsible for because I don’t own it and didn’t kill it) and take it to the vets. A round trip to the vet for my dog is 30 minutes and that doesn’t include waiting time.

bcc89 · 07/01/2022 14:49

@Im2022

Genuinely didn’t know you can take a dead animal to the vets? Don’t you just bury your own dead animals in your garden? Or leave other peoples dead animals on the pavement until someone claims it? Unless it’s really hot, and there’s a maggot situation.

What’s the best thing to do then?

Vets can arrange cremations for you, if you so wish.
Calennig · 07/01/2022 14:49

Never occured to me to do so.

Seen a few - did same as hedgehog we had that used to visit garden - checked it was dead ie beyond help and with cats that they no visible collar. We don't drive so it wasn't us cause the harm.

Everytime I was with children and and needing to be somewhere on time - also sadly I don't think feral and abandoned pets are that rare here.

I do now know were nearest vets are - though also know they can be expensive - and that's because we now have cats but there inside cats with access to catio as I don't think anything else with roads here is safe.

takingmytimeonmyride · 07/01/2022 14:49

I drove past a dead cat a couple of years back. It was round the corner from my house. So I drove home, collected a cardboard box, bin bags, rubber gloves etc and walked back with my son to collect the cat. It was in the middle of the road on a residential street. There would have been no where to put it that would have been out of sight of passers by, unless it was put into someone's garden.

When we got back the owners had been notified by their neighbour who had also come across it. So sad, it was in an awful state. We helped put the cat into the bag and box so they could take it to the vet. If they hadn't have been there I would have taken it.

If I'd have been passing by on the way to school or work etc then I probably wouldn't have had time to stop.

I did see a cat once on the school run, there was nothing I could do, I was walking, didn't have a car then, so just posted on the local Facebook group saying where it could be found.

As a cat owner I know where the local vets are. Other passers by might not and so it could take them far longer than just moving the cat out of sight.

Sparklingbrook · 07/01/2022 14:50

@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.
Really? No closure? Always wondering what happened? Thinking she could walk back in at any time?

My cat went missing and never have I been so grateful after a week of searching and not sleeping to hear that she had been found. She was dead but my anguish was over in one way.

MarshmallowFondant · 07/01/2022 14:50

Nope, not scooping up someone else's pet, finding somewhere to put it, and driving around looking for a vet.

fairylightsandwaxmelts · 07/01/2022 14:50

A friend of mine got a call from the vet as someone had handed their dead cat in and they were billed £100!

But that's not the same as being charged just to bring it in to be scanned Confused

If you have a cat that's taken to the vet, of course you're responsible for paying for any care it may need, whether you're the one who brought it in or not. The £100 was your friend was charged was probably the cost of euthanasia or cremation/disposal.

colourfulpuddles · 07/01/2022 14:50

If you have a cat and you’re letting it roam outside then this is what could happen. You aren’t taking care of it so why should you expect anyone else to?

Justcallmebebes · 07/01/2022 14:50

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

Yep, wouldn't take a dead dog to the vet either. I live very rurally and if I took every dead animal off the road to the vets I'd never get anything else done

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 07/01/2022 14:50

Don’t you just bury your own dead animals in your garden?

Not everyone has a garden! Mine garden is really small so I chose to have my cat cremated.

WonderfulYou · 07/01/2022 14:51

I wouldn’t necessarily take a dead cat to the vets as I’d think they’d just dispose of it. If the vets was close I’d probably ask them to scan it.

I would more likely move it out of sight and then post on a local Facebook page about its owner.

This is what happened to me.
The lady moved it and then posted on a local site.
I’m not on Facebook but other posters said they believe it’s my cat and she decided to pick it up and take it home until a neighbour posted a letter through my door.

I was extremely grateful and I have and will always try and find the owner.
I would take it to the vets as a last resort.

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