To tell them both to piss off,

[WorzselMummage]

On Saturday a neighbours cat ran out from underneath a parked car under my wheels as i pulled off my drive, I'd estimate i was doing about 10 mph, if that. I didnt even see the cat, i just heard it if you know what i mean. I feel bloody awfull about it.

I went and told the owner immediatly, helped he catch the cat and offered to take her anywhere she needed to go, of course i said sorry about a million times and was crying as felt so bad about it. She said she was waiting for it to happen as the cat had been hit before and had no road sense. The cat was a bit of a PITA tbh and i know several of the other neighbours have had near misses.

I went back a few hours later and the cat had had to be put to sleep i appologised again, i didnt offer to pay any vets fees as tbh i thought it wouldnt have cost that much to have him pts and presumed she'd have been insured.

Fast forward to last night and we get a knock on the door, we're in out nightclothes just about to go to bed. Df answers the door and there is some bloke we're never seen before stood there shouting and yelling about how we should have offered to pay the vets bills, the cats owner is a single woman etc etc etc.

I think said person was expecting me to answer the door but Dfs did and he's a big 6footer who looks hard ( but is soft as they come ) so i get the feeling he wanted to have a go at me and when he say it was df he ranted for a minute, called us fuckers and started walking away.

I got dressed and went round there, spoke to her, appologised again and said of course we'll contribute something by way of a sincere appology but we wont be paying the whole bill.

Then bloke started shouting at me again and dragged the girl inside saying i wasn't worth speakng to..

i am tempted to tell them both to piss off now. It was an accident and i have been grown up enought to hold my hands up to it, i could have just driven off but i choe to do the right thing and for tht i have been abused on my doorstep and shouted at in the street. It's like money with menaces and i'm not easily intimidated.

The cat apparently wasn't insured, the bill was aparently £200..

what would you do ?

I am a (new) cat owner but very much feel that my pet is my responsibility. Anyone sensible would have insured the cat, especially if it was accident prone, you did what you could and IMO went above and beyond what was necessary especially as you had some loon screaming at you on your doorstep.

If I were you I wouldn't mention it again to her and if her man comes over again say you'll only deal with your neighbour not him and say to her that if she was struggling she could have spoken to you politely herself. If you really want to contribute then as Rubyslippers suggests ask for the bill or the name of the vet so you can verify the cost.

YANBU in telling them to piss off.

well, you killed the cat, you should pay bill imho. He shouldn't have shouted, buthe was right when he said you should have offered to pay. ANd his bad behaviour means you feel justified in not paying the poor woman who's cat you killed and is out of pocket to boot! Charming.

Totally agree with MarlaSinger, was struggling to put it into words, then read her post, most impressed by your quickness!

How ridiculous. Of course you shouldn't pay the vet bill.

If my pet ran into the road and got run over (or heaven forbid, caused an accident), then I would take responsibility. I would never expect someone else to pay the vet bill - it would be ME apologising to THEM.

It is not your fault and the cat should have been insured.

If the cat owner is a single woman - who is the bloke to her?

Not your fault you killed the cat.

Not your fault the cat wasn't insured.

It's the risks cats take by roaming the streets being hit by cars. Just tough I'm afraid.

If you still want to contribute to the bill, although I don't think you should have to, I'd definitely ask to see a copy of the invoice the vet issued for putting the cat down.

But I'd tell them to piss off the next time they come over.

You did everything you could to assist them and they're grasping for more.

I dont' think you're under any responsibility to pay. My cats are MY responsibility, if they get into an accident then it's down to me to pick up the pieces. I wouldn't expect a car driver to contribute.

they let a dappy three-legged cat with a history of running under cars run free in the street - without insurance. Their fault. Not yours. Ergo - their bill to pay. Fuck 'em.

How utterly ridiculous to suggest that, if a cat runs under the wheels of your car, the driver is in some way responsible and should foot any consequent bill! Utter bollocks.

Cats have no road sense and owners are normally aware of that, as indeed was this owner because she said that the cat had done it before. Now, knowing this, she should either have kept the cat in or insured it - it only costs about £5-7pm to insure a cat. When the cat does its hari-kiri act for a second time, why on earth should a driver be held responsible??

Being intimidating is certainly not the best way to request that you pay the bill even if it's reasonable that you do - and I have to say I think it is. I'd ask to see the receipt if they've already paid and are seeking reimbursement, or phone the vet in question ask what the amount owing is and pay it.

What if the situation had been reversed and the cat had run in front of the OP's car while she was driving along the road, causing her to swerve and have an accident? I wonder if the cat owner would have offered to pay for the car repairs? I doubt it. It seems to me it was an unavoidable accident - cats have no road sense - mine are regularly seen rolling around in the middle of the road outside my house just waiting for a car to come whizzing round the bend.... If someone ran them over I wouldn't expect them to pay the vet's bills. An offer would be nice but I wouldn't take it up. I'd probably have offered too if I'd run over a cat but wouldn't be impressed if the owner accepted!

It was an accident (and they sound very unpleasant and aggressive) but I do think you should have offered to pay the vet's bill at the very start.

Could you offer to pay half of it perhaps, now, in the interest of restoring harmony with your neightbours?

I'd want to verify how much it cost though. If just putting it to sleep I doubts it was that much (was £60 for our dog ). If there was emergency surgery, x-rays, and out of hours care, then £200 is quite possible.

ex cat owner here. Cats are legally wild animals not domesticated. They should have insured. Not your problem, but of course it is upsetting. No you should not pay.

Fuck them!

It was an accident, no way should you have to pay anything towards the bill, although I think it was kind of you to offer. Leave it now & don't get upset about it.

Unlike dogs, you have no legal responsibility to notify anyone if you run over a cat, any more than if you run over a hedgehog or a rabbit. I think they are classified as property, not animals: if you were negligent in squishing the cat, then they could sue you for its value. If you weren't negligent (and I'm sure you weren't), then it is just tough luck on them.

Your offer to contribute was way beyond any legal duty, and morally certainly gives you the high ground.

I have two cats; I wouldn't expect anyone to contribute to their vet bills for anything short of maliciously hurting them.

I can't understand why people think she should pay this bill. She didn't mow the cat down when he was minding his own business on the pavement!
Cats get run over. Because cats have no sense of danger from the cars, presumably? She didn't murder the cat, if anything the cat committed suicide!
I bloody hate cats anyway.

God what a nasty piece of work the guy was. I'd not pay if he thought it acceptable to use such threatening behaviour.

I wouldn't say anything to them.

YANBU - people with pets such as cats and dogs should have insurance.

I have a cat, she is totally my responsibility. I don't let her outside because I don't want her to get run over.

The cat was killed because the owner didn't do enough to make sure that she wasn't. Not your fault and not your responsibility to pay for it.

Would it have been NICE for you to offer? Yes, but after the crap you have had from them there is no chance I would be doing so now.

I don't think the OP should pay, but that it is polite to offer and then the cat owner should turn say 'no, it was an accident, but thank-you' (the terribly English way of dealing with these situations).

I've no intention on paying the whole bill, thug bloke can stand my my doorstep ranting all summer if he wants to.

I thought a £50 contribution would be ok but i'm well tempted to tell them where to stick that now !

Cat owners take advantage of the wild animal status when it comes to letting them poo everywhere and not having to clean it up so they need to suck it up when one of the daft creatures gets itself run over too. You can't have it both ways!

There is no way I would be paying just because some stupid animal got itself in the way when I was gently backing off my drive. It's not as if she shot off at 100mph and the cat had no chance - it ran towards the car!!

When i ran over my cat (she died before I got her to the vets) the vets charged me nothing but costed me £80 to have her cremated, could they be asking for the cost of cremation?