Could my cat have been saved if I found her sooner?

[Zoonose]

I am trying to get over the death of my cat who I think was hit by a car outside our house on Friday night.

We did not find her until 10am on Saturday morning despite going out searching about 9.30 on Friday night (we last saw her at 6pm Friday) and again at 7.30am on Saturday. She was lying in a gap between two bushes at the edge of a little park across the road from our house - I guess either someone had moved her off the road and put her there or she had crawled there.

What is bothering me greatly is whether if I had found her on Friday night at 9.30 and she had been run over, if taking her to a vet could have saved her. She had no visible injuries other than one slightly bleeding claw; her eyes were open and her tongue was poking out of the side of her mouth. I can only guess that she was hit - I can't think of another explanation. She would usually have been in at that time of night or have come back if called. And I was out calling her at 9.30: I am trying to persuade myself that if she was conscious then she would have answered me, and also if she was injured and could make it to the park, she could have made it to our house.

I don't know, I don't know if anyone can know really. Because I could see no visible injuries I don't know how she died. May seem like a silly question, but can a cat die from the impact alone of a collision without showing external injuries? I hate the thought that she was injured and couldn't move and died in the park in that freezing night (it was very cold that night) when we were only about 10 feet away inside our house. Or that she died in pain and cold and could have been saved if I had just shone a torch there when I was out looking for her in the evening. I must have walked past her several times.

I also deeply regret not trying harder to make her wear a collar with a phone number on it: if I knocked a cat down and it had a number on it I would call it to let the owner know. She was microchipped but that's no help unless she was in a vet's.

Sorry, a bit rambly. It's been a real shock and I feel responsible for her death. It's enough that she has died without feeling like it might have been preventable by me.

[Zoonose]

Yes, we have heard a noise several times which sounds just like her starting to come through the cat flap. And in a similar vein, the day before my cat died I had been talking to someone saying that at a time when we were considering relocation overseas I had thought I would have to rehome my cat in the UK as she travels terribly and the journey 'would have killed her'. Horrible irony now.

I spent a lot of time out calling her the night she disappeared and morning after and I do hate that she was lying there all that time, I just hadn't seen her.

[ILoveSparklers]

It gets easier... As with everything in life... I'm not religious but I like this quote -
"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference."

[Zoonose]

I am not religious either, but that is a good quote.

[WeezyPeezy]

Oh Zoo, I'm so sorry for your loss. Like the others have said it sounds like internal bleeding and you could have done nothing but torture yourself more, by feeling helpless, if you'd found her at the time, It really does sound like her passing was quick. I sat with a stranger's kitty by the side if the road once, just stroking him till he passed and waiting for the RSPCA ambulance as a last resort. It was very peaceful and he at no time seemed in pain, just like I'm sure your girl wasn't. The wee darling had probably long gone when you shouted on her. Please comfort yourself with the fact that you cared enough to go looking and that you chipped her as a precaution. Sending love. Xxx

[Viviennemary]

There is no point in going over and over this and blaming yourself. I have two friends whose cats have been run over in the last few months. It's just dreadful but no-one's fault. And there is rarely anything even a vet can do when the cat is badly injured. Please don't worry about it although I know it's hard.

[ILoveSparklers]

Ok, I'm getting soppy now but like these too.



So dear friends your love has gone
Only tears to dwell upon
I dare not say as the wind must blow
So a love is lost, a love is won

Go to sleep and dream again
Soon your hopes will rise and then
From all this gloom life can start anew
And there'll be no crying soon


Those Who Are Left Behind
by TJB Cameron
Time marches forward, stopping for no one 
Every second that passes echoes the splinters in our hearts 
We put on a brave face and play this game called life 


Yet no matter how much we try we do not win 
Our pain and loss forever scarred upon our souls 
Every moment of joy is made bittersweet by your absences 


We struggle through the remainder of life 
Holding onto our memories that are all we have 
Determined never to forget our loved ones. 



    Love rebounds after life has long past,
  For it's tied within the soul, forever to last
   True love has not, a final goodbye 
 It lives forever, never will it die.

[VivaLeBeaver]

I'm sorry about your cat.

I've had a cat killed after been hit by a car. The neighbours saw it happen and said the cat died instantly. They got me and I ran out but she was already dead. Not a mark on her, she just looked asleep.

[Zoonose]

Thanks WeezyPeezy, VivienneMary and VivaLeBeaver. I'm sorry you lost your cat in this way too Viva

I feel more settled that my cat was gone pretty quickly from what people have said here.

Vivienne you are right about blame too.

WeezyPeezy it's good to know that there are people who care if a cat is run over, it was a kind thing you did.

[Iguanna]

It's a myth that you should keep your cat outside. Would you throw your kids outside? Cats have less road sense than children so is it really wise to put them out? Forget cars there are other bad things like dogs disease and people some people deliberately run cats over I once witnessed it on a car park the group of Asian lads in the car were laughing the cats eye popped right out of its head. I keep my cats inside they can live 20 years plus and have healthy happy lives, learn to think for yourself and what's best for your cat instead instead of an old wives tale. Keep your cats in if you don't want it squashed!

[Papergirl1968]

Thanks, iguana, that's really helpful - not. You don't sound very sympathetic, to put it mildly. And did you realise this thread was over three years old?
We lost two cats to the road when I still lived with my parents, and it was heartbreaking. It's a risk, yes, but i think many cats are happier being able to go out in the day. My boy loves wandering in and out while it's warm and sunny.
There is a difference between being thrown out as you put it and being allowed some freedom.

[timtam23]

Iguana I don't think that comment is very helpful on this thread.

Zoonose I'm sorry to read about your cat, I agree with everyone who said it was likely very quick and she wouldn't have known anything about it. for you

[EmmaKeay4]

My cat got run over tonight and she was black so that made it a little harder to see her but she usually gets across the road before the cars near her but this time was unfortunate for her.

We did have 3 cats until my poor baby sooty was hit by a car and they just drove off! What sick f*** would do that! She was hit just the same way your poor cat was. Smack bang in the jaw blood everywhere on her face and eyes wide open. I know how you feel now after this experience. She was the youngest cat we had but she was the 3rd cat we had until my oldest cat Misty had to be put to sleep because she was too ill to even walk and get up out of the cat litter tray and then we had Lucky the other black cat. We actually thought it was lucky that had gotten hit but we then looked at sootys right ear.

Sooty had a chunk missing on the corner of her right ear. This was due to my dog, Bailey but he was roughly a pup himself when we first had sooty. Well anyway they were trying to get used to each other but sooty decided to swipe and Bailey bit a little bit of her ear and made it bleed. The last time I had saw sooty was when she came in a room in my house and I tried to grab her for some fuss. But she got away from me. She hadn't long gone back out when she was hit. My dad came back to find her lying there on the road by speed humps in my street and as soon as I saw her I burst out crying! I will always miss this poor little bugga no matter what. If she hadn't had gone out this wouldn't have happened! Why any of my cats!?!

Sorry it is a bit long but I wanted to share with you my experience and how I know you feel like.😭

[LellyWitchyWoo]

My young cat also died 28/1/17 my husband found her next door garden no visible signs just blood round her mouth nose. I am deverstated. We presume she was hit by a car and ran there before her life faded. She was my baby I miss her terribly. :(

[Fluffycloudland77]

I'm so sorry, your poor cat

[RubbishMantra]

Zoonose, I'm so very sorry for your loss. I lost my beloved Creature when we were moving house, and had to keep her shut in a room for several weeks. She fell from a great height when somebody forgot to close the window in the room. Probably would've survived if she hadn't hit a stone planter. Her eyes were open too, and she died on impact, meaning instant death, no suffering. So the same for your beloved cat I'd think.

Ignore Iguannas terribly non empathic post. I can't imagine why a person would post such a thing whilst you're grieving. I have cats that are indoor/outdoors who have access to the outside during the day, like your DCat.

for you and DCat.

[RubbishMantra]

Oh, I didn't realise somebody had resurrected this thread to make a point about letting cats outside.

I do hope Zoonose is OK, and not saddened more by the views of that particular poster.

[jules2356]

My heart is breaking and this has helped me so much. I moved into a house a year ago and the kitty who lived in the house came by and made friends with me. Her owner just moved across the street but didn't really pay a lot of attention to her so I fed her and she was my "outdoor cat". I have 2 indoor cats as well. Today I came home and found her on my lawn as described with her eyes open and her tongue hanging out. I've been crying ever since, wondering what happened. It gives me comfort believing she didn't really suffer. I buried her and will tell my neighbor, but I believe I will miss her much more than he ever did. So heartbreaking, but thank you to all of you who have helped me with your stories.

[Supportive4]

I can’t stop crying about my cats death does it ever get better

[Anji88]

Hi everyone. I lost my beautiful ginger baby last week and just can't stop thinking about what might happened to him.
Similar story to some, found him relatively far from the side of the road with no visible injuries. Vet checked him over and couldn't say what might have happened. I've seen other cats that have been hit on this road and they've been quite visibly hurt. But ours had no visible in injuries at all. Although the assumption is that he was hit by a car and had internal injuries. But what I found really odd was that when we found him he didn't have his collar on. I went out a few days later to see if I could find it, which I did in some nearby bushes. It was a snap collar so I don't think it had anything to do with strangulation - the vet checked for this too. Now I'm racking my brains trying to work out what might have happened. Was he flung by the impact of the cat and catch on something? Why was his collar off? Why was he so fat from his collar?
I know I'll never know but I just can't stop thinking about it. If breaks my heart that he might have suffered and I wasn't there for him.
Sorry for the rant and opening up thus post again. This is the closest thing I've found where people have experienced something similar.

[cozietoesie]

Don't worry, Anji. He almost certainly never knew a thing.

[pinkhousesarebest]

We lost ours on Wednesday. We have a pretty busy road that goes past our house but he was knocked down on our quiet lane. He was still warm when my poor husband found him. Like you, we are torturing ourselves with whys and what ifs. And also full of loathing towards the person (probably one of our neighbours) who knocked him down and drove on.

[MrDarcysmum]

I lost my beautiful Mr Darcy the other day and finding this thread has helped me more than the hundreds of webs Ive searched looking for answers. My details are like many here. Found dead at side of road by passer by who took him to RSPCA . No injuries . I took him to vet to try to find out more. No broken bones , no bruising , no cuts just a little blood found in mouth , 1 claw split and bruised and front fang snapped off ( although he might have done the latter before ?) Its very hard to relate this to a car and I have been quite distressed thinking of the posdibilities but having read so many similar stories it helps me understand whats probably happened. Thank you all that posted. I can say Mr Darcy was a beautiful cream British Shorthair and LOVED being outdoors . It would have been very cruel to have kept him indoors and there is no way on this planet would he have been happy.( plus he was clever enough to get out anyway !) Many indoor Cats are. Depressed. That wouod have been a painful death to him. I still have his mum and twin brother but his sweetness and personality are sooo missed. I m happy he had the best life ever and it is that which will comfort me . God bless . Sue

[Fletchercat]

My cat Fletcher was found last Friday after being run over by a car. He too didn’t have a mark on him. He was only 3 and the most loving and special cat I have ever known. I think I’m still in shock about it all, keep thinking it’s all a dream and he’ll come running in through the cat flap. He was like a friend and we had our little routines together...I think that’s the hardest bit to come to terms with. I wonder if I could have done something to stop this happening but Fletcher was a free spirit and would have hated being shut in all the time. Thank you for this, I have cried every day since and sometimes think I’m being a bit pathetic but I can see there’s a lot of people out there who have had similar experiences and that brings a lot of comfort.

[MrDarcysmum]

Dear Fletchercat...So sorry to hear your news. It is a very hard time indeed with both thoughts of missing your dear friend and thinking what exactly happened . I managed to make contact with the very kind ppl that found my Darcy on the road . They found him at 830pm and he said he was still warm and fluffy and so it must have been very quick. I had tortured thoughts of all sorts given his broken tooth and claw and so it wouid seem that if there is no other visible injury then at least it is quick. You also are spared thinking you havent seen your puddy cat for 4 weeks plus or so which must be anguish. Take comfort that he died doing what he loved 😻 and you gave him all you could. Take Care. Sue.

[Fletchercat]

Thank you for you kind words MrDarcysmum. I too was able to speak to the people that found fletcher, they found him Friday morning but I last saw him on the Wednesday morning. I hate to think of him laying somewhere cold and wet. It breaks my heart. But you were right, he couldn't have been more loved and was doing what he loved...being outside. Take care