OT Waiting on the daughter to get home.

Dave H (MI) · Oct 27, 2016

She texted me about an hour ago and said she was on her way from school. I just managed to drive in ahead of her and found that the barn kitten she worked so hard to tame the past year was run down on the road and killed. He is about a year old now and had become a very sweet cat. Not a mark on him, still wearing his collar and name tag. Couldn't even be bothered to move him off the road let alone leave a phone message that he was hurt. I'm starting to get real frigging tired of people.

Jeff Leavitt · Oct 27, 2016

Dave,

I do not have anything graceful to say, but be as supportive to your daughter as you can be. Good luck.

DGinVT · Oct 27, 2016

Unfortunately, we have a lot of sick people out there who enjoy hitting helpless animals.

jon f mn · Oct 27, 2016

I feel bad about your dead cat, but stopping for every critter you hit on the road is just not feasable. Most times your lucky to get even a glance at it before the thump, so it's likely they never knew it was a pet rather than a squirrel. I never stop for things hit on the road unless there is damage to my vehicle. I would never get anything done if I did.

Dave H (MI) · Oct 27, 2016

I understand your perspective, Jon, and do not hold your position against you. It is a rural/residential road. Unpaved and very hilly. Anyone going over 35 mph is driving recklessly. A month ago my daughter saw a similar cat dead on the road between here and the farm. She stopped, moved it to the side of the road, and called the number on the tag. That is all I would have asked of the driver. I know it was not intentional. It is a fact that we cannot keep all of our cats in the house. Some have outdoor duties and we understand that cars, coyotes, etc are all a risk. I made the decision that this cat would be an outdoor cat, mostly because it was wild when I found it in the barn. I take responsibility for that part.

Two Dogs · Oct 27, 2016

Years ago two or three girls were walking on the sidewalk and their dog darted out into the street in front of me. Ka-thump. I turned around and went back to apologize and got screamed and yelled at. Guess what I do now when I hit an animal. TDF

Dave H (MI) · Oct 27, 2016

Well, I would like to say that went well...but it did not. You would not think that a girl who has worked at an emergency vet clinic for 4 years and who will, herself, be a veterinarian in a couple years, would have so much compassion. It has been a long time since I have seen her cry so hard and so long.

I found these kittens Summer of 2015 in the big barn out to the farm. Two of them, one long hair and grey and one short hair and tuxedo black. Their mom is known locally out there as "black momma" and is about as wild as a cat can get. The kittens were barely weaned and one of them bit me when I tried to catch it. So the girls got a net and caught them up. My oldest worked with them all summer to get them tamed and they slowly came around. By this past Spring it was obvious that her hard work had succeeded. They were really nice cats. Friendly and attractive. I wanted them to go back and live in the big barn and help me with the mouse problem there. This idea met with some resistance. Really wishing I had insisted now but there are a lot of cat tracks in that barn so, even though I have not seen her in a long time, their mom is still there somewhere. She would not have been welcoming. Appreciate the good thoughts. We are going to take him back to where he was born and bury him this weekend.

Dave H (MI) · Oct 27, 2016

You did the right thing then. They were upset...but they were wrong. Sorry that happened to you.

dahlin · Oct 27, 2016

If that cat was so important to you it should not have been on the road every one thinks it is the car or truck drivers fault that they let there pet run loose and it was killed . take responsibility

dhermesc · Oct 27, 2016

Even worse are the people that let their "beloved" animals play on the road.

Bob Bancroft · Oct 27, 2016

That's a hard lesson. Death used to be much more a common part of life than it is now. I'm 61 and haven't lost anyone close to me yet. My father was the only survivor of three brothers. His childhood friend/neighbor lost his father to an animal accident. I can hardly remember my father's father, but I think I know why he was so distant.

RandyB(MI) · Oct 27, 2016

That compassion is the difference between a good Vet and the one in it for the $$ and who will quickly get "cold" or "numb" to the people and animals they are there for. She will accel because of her passion. I would worry about a Vet who "didn't" shed tears. Sorry for her loss.

Ted in NE-OH · Oct 27, 2016

Those are the risks of having an outdoor cat. You can with effort train a dog to stay in the yard, but not cats.

Two Dogs · Oct 27, 2016

I have lost two or three dogs to cars and no one ever stopped. I guess I know why. I don't blame them. I just get another dog and try to train them to stay out of the road and hope for the best. And no I don't keep my dog penned up . That ain't no way to treat my friend. TDF

larry@stinescorner · Oct 27, 2016

Sorry to hear that,,my wife is like your daughter.When we were first married we had a house cat.It got out during the day by working open the vent door by the window air conditioner.It got hit in the road.She cried for three days,Finally I went and got a sick little stray kitten from a neighbors farm.My wife stopped crying and nursed the sick kitten back to health.She named the little kitten Tiger.We had Tiger for 18 years.My advice is//Go get your daughter a kitten,,right now.

dgasper · Oct 27, 2016

Many years ago before seat belts and child car seat laws I was out driving with my little daughter in the front passenger seat. A man walking his beagle let the %$&**z dog run right in front of the car. I slammed the brakes and my daughter was pitched into the dashboard bloodying her face. As I stopped to take care of her, the man came over and yelled at me! I told him the next time his damn dog runs in front of me I'm gonna run him over. I never again hard braked or took any risky evasive action to avoid a dog, cat or any other small animal.

farmerwithmutt · Oct 27, 2016

It's amazing to me how cruel people can be to a trusting loving animal. Amish neighbor treats their pets as cheap toys and treat them as such one other person had there dog run over by the milk truck they left it lay there until it was run over so many times that they didn't have to bury it and the worst a guy had kittens for his kids when they lost interest he mixed mouse poison in there food. As you mentioned your road is slowly traveled and I've noticed over the years that animals can judge speeds or dangerous spots but all it takes is one careless person. You can't help but wonder if that person slows down in school zones or is there attitude get out my way. I'm thankful your girl has compassion we need more like her when I lost the mutt the vets took the time and trouble to send a card along with a cast of her paw print . She still travels with me and they helped me get through a very rough time in my life.

4520BW · Oct 27, 2016

I hit a dog on the highway a few years back and stop to check on it. The owners started cussing and threatened me. I told them to call the cops and see what they say about it! The dog had no coller so i assumed it had not had a rabies shot or paid the county dog tax. I said if I would of been on my motorcycle you would be responsible and they shut up and left..left the dog on side of road where I moved it.

jeffcat · Oct 27, 2016

I feel the same pain in my heart. Lost one of mine this spring and I know the #%$&* that hit her. It always hurts! A cat that wandered in a few months ago had two VERY late in the season kittens. The female lasted for a little over a month. This litte guy is a Runt and will never servive a winter. Guess what I did. He is now in a nice fold up dog cage, in my living room with a towel, food, water, litter pan, you got it made. He is three months old and is just 4 inches long! He can go through almost two of those 3 inch cans of food in 24 hrs. Didn't know a kitten could go in a litter pan that much did you? Guess I am going to hand raise another cat. I take him in a towel a couple of times a day so he is in a little pouch and cuddle him. Talk about purr and put on a show! Please hug your daughter and have her read our replys. See what she thinks of a fellow cat nut. By the way, he doesn't have the usual M on his head, he has racing stripes all of the way down. Weard He has now had a nice warm bath and a little flea dip.

jeffcat · Oct 27, 2016

Just another note. I guve any cat an Egyptian cerimony. A little towel or a cloth napkin wrap and a food offering. Just me but I hope someday it will account. Bless the furry ones.

ss55 · Oct 27, 2016

It's easy to blame the driver, but if the driver had swerved to miss the cat and wrecked, you'd probably feel differently. Forty some years ago my then sixteen year old sister swerved to miss a neighbor's dog on a gravel road, wrecked the car and banged herself up some. Even the dog's owner told her she should have stayed safe and just hit his dog. The dog didn't belong on the road anyway.

steve_in_mo · Oct 27, 2016

You did a good thing. May the blessing return to you in the fullness of time.

Greg1959 · Oct 27, 2016

In 1982, I was driving home from work. A dog darted into the road in front of me. I was doing 60 mph. I braked hard and turned the wheel to try to dodge the dog. Went over an embankment and car flipped, ejected me from car and broke several vertebrae.

Now, I'll try to slow down and dodge a critter if I can safely do so. Otherwise, it's straight ahead and thump-thump then I'll just keep on driving.

Btw, while trying to dodge that dog and getting ejected, I found out later that I had still hit and killed the dog.

Bob · Oct 27, 2016

What the heck was a tamed cat with a collar doing out on public road?

Brown Swiss · Oct 27, 2016

Lost my black lab a week ago to a car, poor guy got hit but must have had internal bleeding in his head, he seemed fine then the next morning he started having seizures very often and was totally out of it by noon the next day, he could only lay there between them, lost vision it seemed, when talking to him he would pick his head up but like he couldn't see us. So I put him to rest with the .22

OT Waiting on the daughter to get home.

Well-known Member

Member

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Similar threads