My little cat was struck by a car last night, I'm pretty pissed off

[Captain_Nick]

This is the sort of thing that happens to other people. You never expect to arrive home and find a gaggle of people out front standing over the body of your seriously injured cat. Unfortuantely, I had to experience that last night.

He's been taken to the vet and they reckon he 'only' has head trauma, which is great news because he was bleeding profusely and I was dead set worried about internal injuries. Cats are hardly little buggers and apparently bounce back from this sort of thing most of the time. I'll know more this afternoon, the vets are keeping him under observation and hopefully his brain won't swell up too much. Not that the little tiprat ever used it too much to begin with!

God what a shocker of a night. I woudl have been absolutely stuffed but for the kindness of a couple of neighbours of mine who drove him and me to the vet late last night. (anyone here who is thinking about selling your car and switching to a pushbike - think long and hard before you do)

So now I've had to spend a thousand bucks - at least - on getting him back on his feet. And I'm over the shock too, that was a surprising part of this whole thing. Now all that remains is a white hot fury and hatred and a desire to punish the individual who ran over my cat and failed to render assistance. Hopefully this rage will subside before I discover who it was ... hopefully for the perpetrator I will never discover who it was, because they have a massive vet bill heading their way when I do.

I'm not posting this to elicit sympathy. I'm warning all you cat lovers. This stuff happens and it happens when you least expect it. Give your cat a hug, now.

 

[Myasishchev]

Re: My little cat was struck by a car last night, I'm pretty pissed of

Dude, that really sucks. Glad he's alive, though.

I don't know how likely it would be happen to mine, since they live indoors. But I suppose they could get out (which one of them did manage to do once).

 

[nevermore]

Re: My little cat was struck by a car last night, I'm pretty pissed of

I'm very sorry to hear about your cat. I hope he makes a full recovery.

I strongly urge you to consider keeping him inside to avoid this sort of thing in the future.

Statistics indicate that the life span of an indoor cat is much longer than an outdoor cat. On average, an indoor cat lives twelve years but some cats can live for as many as twenty years. In comparison, an outdoor cat’s life expectancy is less than five years.

Link.

Link 2.

Link 3.

 

[Captain_Nick]

Re: My little cat was struck by a car last night, I'm pretty pissed of

My little tiprat is three and a half years old, and his whole life he has been an outdoor cat. Believe me I would love to convert him to living indoors. No more headless 'presents', no more getting into the neighbours properties.

Is it too late to 'convert' him to indoors or can it be done? I suspect he won't be very happy about it.

 

[Miss Chicken]

Re: My little cat was struck by a car last night, I'm pretty pissed of

Sorry to hear about your cat. I had Miss Chicken to the vet three times this year but luckily the bills only came to about $350.

I am considering building a cat enclosure at the side of my house so that my two boy cats, who are indoor-outdoor cats, can be outside safely.

The youngest of the boy cats was an abandoned cat we took in when he was a two year old. We have never managed to get him totally house-trained. I don't know why as I have managed to train every other cat I have taken in.

The other boy cat is totally scared of strangers, He is a real Mummy's boy who doesn't even like my sons. If we have visitors he wants to go under the house. I think he would have no problems with a cat enclosure especially if we can make it so he can have access to under the house.

 

[Davros]

Re: My little cat was struck by a car last night, I'm pretty pissed of

Sorry about your cat. I hope for a quick and total recovery.

 

[Scrambo]

Re: My little cat was struck by a car last night, I'm pretty pissed of

I know exactly how you feel, having experienced two of our cats being run over.

The first one - we heard the whole the thing and then we heard our cat outside. Fortunately this time the driver stopped - only because my nan ran out and stopped him. He drove a landrover with those nasty grills on the front (cats injuries included a broken jaw & a damaged nose which caused her to develop a "snore" when breathing). His reply when my nan quizzed him (she can be scary when angry) "i thought i hit something but i wasnt sure." Needless to say this cat never ventured outside again because she was too scared.

The other time occurred when stupidly my mum decided we would go to a christmas service (we've never been to one before because we arent a reglious family), we were called back half way throught the service (mum said we are never going to a christmas service again - we havent) because someone had ran over our cat at the time & the neighbours opposite werent sure it was our cat and had called the RSPCA who said "what do you expect us to do about it" when they had told them that they had seen a cat been runover. nice for a animal welfare charity. Luckily our other neighbour knew the cat and came to get us. This cats face was pretty horrid - a broken palate, lower jaw and a fractured skull on the left side with skin & muscle torn off so you could see the bone.

Yes it is hard to believe that there are some b*****ds out there will not stop once they have run an animal over. Hope your cat is ok, they are indeed quite hardy creatures.

 

[Captain_Nick]

Re: My little cat was struck by a car last night, I'm pretty pissed of

Nine lives heh

I reckon he will be ok, I just spoke to the doctors and they say he's still a bit woozy but he's drinking water and hopefully will start eating soon.

It sounds like your poor cats were injured far worse than mine. I hope they pulled through ok.

Things like this serve to remind us of the fragility of life - and, just as importantly, the importance of paying attention when you are on the road! Whether it be in a car, a bike or on foot.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Re: My little cat was struck by a car last night, I'm pretty pissed of

Man, I hope your little bugger is gonna be OK.

As far as the circumstances. Was it dark or light? I mean, a person could hit an animal and not even know it.
Or if they did, think it was some kind of wild animal, like a raccoon, which not too many people would get out of the car to check on.

Like others, I would never let my cats outside for just such a reason. You never know what might happen. Cars, dogs, other wild animals, stupid cruel kids.
Too many ways for them to get injured, or worse.

I'd be more likely to take revenge on kids who torture cats than someone who (may have) inadvertently run one over.

 

[Spot's Meow]

Re: My little cat was struck by a car last night, I'm pretty pissed of

My first cat had to be put to sleep after being run over. It was the same day that I had lost my first tooth and the first time I pitched for my softball team. We came home from the game and he was on our front porch, with his face hanging off his skull and meowing loudly. When my mom came back from the vet she came to my little sister and I and said something like, "Do you really want him to live in horrible pain the rest of his life?" Being the kids we were we both said yes. My mom just shook her head no and we all started crying. It was pretty awful.

I had another cat that was also put to sleep after being run over. I was in college and it was the one weekend I decided not to go home. I have a lot of guilt over that as if I had been there he would have been sleeping in my bed with me instead of outside at night. Although he lived at my parents' house he was very attached to me. I was very sad to not be there with him when he had to go. He was only 4 years old.

You are so lucky that your cat is still alive!

 

[Kitty Worrier]

Re: My little cat was struck by a car last night, I'm pretty pissed of

Is it too late to 'convert' him to indoors or can it be done? I suspect he won't be very happy about it.

My girl is almost 8 years old. For the first 5 years of her life, she was an indoor and outdoor cat. For the last three years, she's been indoor only (apartment rules). I found that she really hated it the first year, and it was hard... but she is used to it, for the most part. Sure, she meows/howls at the door sometimes, especially if she's gotten out, but it is better. Your cat may get used to it, it just takes time, and patience on your part.

And it may be worth it. I had a cat go missing, and so has my mom. Never found out what happened to them, and that's the worst feeling.

I am considering building a cat enclosure at the side of my house so that my two boy cats, who are indoor-outdoor cats, can be outside safely.

This is a great idea. I've seen these on TV (mostly shows about people who love cats, like Must Love Cats), and they look great. I'd probably want to do this for my girl if I had a house. I'd like her to live a long time....

I had another cat that was also put to sleep after being run over. I was in college and it was the one weekend I decided not to go home. I have a lot of guilt over that as if I had been there he would have been sleeping in my bed with me instead of outside at night. Although he lived at my parents' house he was very attached to me. I was very sad to not be there with him when he had to go. He was only 4 years old.

Not exactly the same, but when I was away at camp (13, I think), my cat had to be put to sleep. It was gut-wrenching, especially since it was around my birthday. Coming home and finding out they had to do that? One of the worst feelings, because I didn't get to say good-bye, or be there (silly, eh?). My next cat dissapeared on my birthday, so that sucked ass. That's probably why I'm so paranoid about making sure my current cat is safe.

Collingwood Nick, I hope your cat has speedy recovery. Sounds like he got help rather quick, and that's good. Lucky to have good neighbors too.

 

[Captain_Nick]

Re: My little cat was struck by a car last night, I'm pretty pissed of

Is that your cat in your av? She looks gorgeous

 

[Kitty Worrier]

Re: My little cat was struck by a car last night, I'm pretty pissed of

Yes, that is her. And thank you!

 

[Kestra]

Re: My little cat was struck by a car last night, I'm pretty pissed of

This is really upsetting; I'm glad your cat is relatively okay. I feel bad that my cat has to stay inside but after hearing these stories, I don't feel quite as bad about it! I can't imagine what I'd do if something happened to him.

 

[Captain_Nick]

Re: My little cat was struck by a car last night, I'm pretty pissed of

It's a pretty bad feeling. I decorated my wall with a couple of nice fist holes when I came back from the hospital last night. At that time I didn't know what the extent of his injuries were or even whether he would survive....

When he comes home he is going to have to learn to be an indoor cat, no two ways about it.

 

[Kitty Worrier]

Re: My little cat was struck by a car last night, I'm pretty pissed of

Good luck!

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

Re: My little cat was struck by a car last night, I'm pretty pissed of

I definitely agree...indoors is the way to go, unless you can build an enclosure like Miss Chicken suggested. Domestic cats are dependent on humans, yet we bring them into an environment where they are vulnerable to predators they would not have had to face to the same extent before domestication (cars, cruel humans, their dogs, and various combinations of the above). As such, I think that makes us responsible for their care, and so we shouldn't expose them to a dangerous environment.

I might not be as worried in a very, very rural area where there are few to no cars, and the neighbors are far away, but in any kind of town or city, I would say indoors or with an enclosure--no question.

I've heard...though never tried it...that some cats can be walked on a leash...??

 

[Captain_Nick]

Re: My little cat was struck by a car last night, I'm pretty pissed of

I've been perusing the links kindly provided to me on the first page and yes, cats can be leashed. Lucky for my cat Little Tiprat I would never seek to humiliate him in such a way.

May be enclosing the backyard instead

 

[MHT1138]

Re: My little cat was struck by a car last night, I'm pretty pissed of

I am so sorry about your cat. I am glad he's going to be okay.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Re: My little cat was struck by a car last night, I'm pretty pissed of

That's terrible. It sounds like he'll be okay, though. Cats are definitely hardy creatures. This same thing happened to my cat when I was a young man still living with my parents about thirty years ago. My sister's friend found him in the street while she was doing her paper route and brought him over. I rushed him down to the vet, which luckily had a 24-hour emergency service. The night-duty guy just wanted to put him to sleep, but I "insisted" that he help him. Sure enough, he survived. He had to have his jaw wired for a while and he eventually lost an eye that never recovered, but he came home and lived another eight years.