My darling cat has been run over - I need practical help

[Rippeditoff]

I think I’m in shock. I live down a tiny rural lane around a mile from the main road. I had a call from my neighbour to ask if the cat was in because they had had a call from someone on the main road to say there was a dead cat in the road.

I drove up there and the caller had moved her on to their driveway. She was in such a sorry state, covered in blood and quite obviously dead.

Id taken a blanket with me and he helped me wrap her up and I put her in the boot. The kids were in the house and I don’t know why but I just couldn’t tell them. They have school tomorrow so I will have to do it after that.

But I’ve left her in the boot overnight wrapped up and I feel awful. It’s so cold outside I don’t know what to do.

If I bring her in the kids will see but I can’t
sleep knowing she’s out there. I’m single so don’t have anyone to ask. Will she be ok out there? Should I find a box to put her in and bring her inside?

It might help. The remaining cat may search the house for for the dead one, and I found that pretty distressing to witness.

@Rippeditoff sorry for your loss . I’m not convinced about letting the other cat see the body being any use . We lost our cats lovely brother last year following emergency surgery and I got the crematorium we use to collect him direct from the vets as I was in too much of a state to take him so his sister never saw his body and she has been absolutely fine , didn’t seem to miss him at all and they were litter mates .

I’m so sorry, that sounds so incredibly traumatic. I wouldn’t make any decisions tonight on showing your other cat, etc. You are in shock and it’s probably best just to get some rest if you can, get your kids off to school tomorrow as normally as you can, and then you might want to ring your vet to ask for advice on what to do re your other cat. We never showed ours her brothers body and she did look for him for a long time which was heartbreaking, but then we did show our rabbit his dead mate’s body and he would never go into that room of his hutch again and he pined badly so I think asking for advice might be the way to go. The hot tea was a good call, a good cry might help as well because the tears get rid of some of your stress hormones. Your cat was clearly so loved and had a great life, she would not have had time from the sound of it to even register what had happened, and you have put her in the right place for tonight. Try not to worry about what to do for now, tomorrow is time enough for that. I’m really sorry - I’ve gone through this before as well with one of my cats and it’s a total heartbreaker.

If you’re not certain it’s your cat you could always drive to the vet tomorrow and ask them to check microchip?

I'm so sorry for your loss, it really is so traumatic to lose a beloved pet.

i'm so very very sorry😔i would tell the kids tomorrow and keep them off school but obviously you know them better so think how you would feel if the roles were reversed then think of the way you think they would feel and that will give you your answer. with the ground being frozen maybe a cremation is a better option and you could then bury the ashes and have a "funeral" when the ground thaws. i'm not sure how it would work but i wonder if you could have your other cat exhumed and cremated so you have ashes for them both and can then do something nice with them, i dont know how you would go about it but maybe something to look into. big hugs for you all.

OP im not sure where you are but if it's anything like here the ground will be frozen solid for days. Please look into cremation. It might make your DC feel not very good to try and to fail to dig a hole?

Oh I’m so sorry . Happened to my cat a few years ago. All I will say is if you’re burying her please dig the hole deep and place something on top of it.

Morning, thank you for all the messages. I did manage some sleep, other cat probably won’t notice immediately. They aren’t litter mates and she frequently went out mousing overnight. God she was such a great mouser!

Its snowed overnight so no hope of digging a hole. I will get the kids off and take her to be cremated. There is a local place which does “same day” so at least she will be home when the kids get back

Since the ground is frozen, have an individual cremation and bury her she’s with her brother.

So sorry you are going through this. Sending an unmunsnetty hug

If she's badly damaged, I don't think you need to show her to other pets. Just leave her be.

A cremation at the vets might be a good idea as it will be hard to dig a hole deep enough. If you do, I was told to put something solid - a heavy sheet of wood or a paving stone - over her, as you don't want foxes digging her up.

I’m sorry about your cat, we lost one of ours in the same Way a few years ago and it is devastating.

On a practical note, I spent yesterday digging holes outside and the ground was only really frozen for the first few inches so it might be worth trying to dig a hole. Obviously it depends on your soil type, loamy or sandy will be much easier than clay.

Just take her to the vets, they'll cremate the body for you? Sorry for your loss x

I dug the hole; managed to get through the frozen part with an axe to break it up and it was relatively easy after that

Kids all know, lots and lots of tears . Just a horrible day

thank you all

So sorry, @Rippeditoff — thinking of you all 💐

Glad you managed to get her buried. Sending hugs xx