What to do if you encounter a hit animal ?

Rev Hellfire

This morning while cycling to the train station I came across a cat which had just been hit by car and left on the road. It was still alive when I found it, but had suffered pretty bad injuries to its head.

Naturally I moved it off the road and checked to see if it had a collar (which it didn't). As best as I could tell it died there, I couldn't feel its rib moving and it started to lose heat in its body.

But what I was wondering is assuming its injuries hadn't been so severe, at 6:30 in the morning should/can u do? Ringing the bell of one of the doors near by to see if it is neighborhood cat is out of the question.

emmabrighton

Um well, it depends on how much of a cat crazy loon you are and if you have access to a car. A couple of years ago the same thing happened to me but at around 10am. I found a cat on the UCD sliproad - this was before the vet faculty had moved to belfield - I stopped my car, diverted the 46 A around the injured cat and then put him on some cardbord from my booth (cat strecher) and drove him to the vet in Stillorgan. They were not very happy to see me and probably put him down the moment I left, but I tried. :rolleyes:

On the other hand, a friend of mine was having a party late on a friday night and was saying goodbye to one of her friends on the road when she saw an injured cat. I can't remember what was wrong with it but I got the text in the morning - I was fast asleep in bed and she knew nothing about cats. Then, some guy/thug came along and the cat was pts in a very cruel manner :mad:. My friend could do nothing to stop him and was traumatised after. She could have rang a 24hr vet but she didnt know that at the time.

anniehoo

If possible bring it to the nearest vet to see if it can be saved and check to see if it has a microchip. Alternatively, phone your local SPCA and see if they can come out....also ..gruesome as it is take a photo of it and post a "found" ad on the various animal websites (leave photo out unless someone asks).

Thats just me though! I couldnt leave an injured animal at the side of the road if it was possible for me to bring it to a vet at the time. With cats, a lot of people drive off assuming its a feral which is unfortunate.

Manach

I believe that the OP acted correctly. My own incident was a dog knocked down on the road, and it died on the scene (I checked for life and id). As it happened at by a local train station I reported it to the security guard there.

MarthaMyDear

I was walking home one night very late and I saw a cat in the middle of the road. It's back legs were broken and it was thrashing around. I went closer to it and saw it was covered in blood. It was so horrible to watch the poor thing as it was basically screaming in pain.

I called my grandad, who is a vet, and woke him up. He said not to approach it was animals are different from humans and when in pain they prefer not to be touched or annoyed and they don't understand being comforted. I decided to try move him off the road anyway but when I got closer to him he completely freaked out and howled more as he was obviously causing himself more pain.

I was so upset afterwards I couldn't stop thinking about the poor thing. My grandad called a friend of his in the area who said he would go down and see if he could do anything. I had to leave then as I'd been hanging around it for ages and it was extremely late. I couldn't stop thinking about the poor thing afterwards

Discodog

It pays to know you local Vet. Mine will treat a stray or injured animal & won't charge me. I spent ages catching a kitten with an abscess on it's head. My Vet treated & rehomed it.

Any animal owner needs to know that they can call their Vet 24/7 & it's worth discussing this with the Vet before the need arises. You can then ask about the situation with strays & accidents.

Luckily badly hurt animals tend to go into deep shock. It's a bit like treating humans in that the quieter they are the more you worry. Needless to say that the other key criteria with traffic injuries is to ensure your own safety whilst you are examining the animal.

Rev Hellfire

Thanks for the responses.
I was pretty sure I had done all that could be for it at the time.

Though I have since added the animal rescue to my phone so should I encounter such a scenario at a more reasonable time I could give them a call.