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Long Haired Cat - Dee (8th Jun 2013 - 21:59:18) Hi All Just thought I would let you know that a long haired female cat (looked like a stray), has been run over on the Haslemere Road tonight. Our son saw it happen and followed the cat into a neighbours garden where he sat and held it, stroking it until it died. I am so sorry if it was your cat but it died being cuddled. Our son has buried it in our garden. Dee x

Re: Long Haired Cat - Sarah (9th Jun 2013 - 11:40:38) Very nice of you, but have you taken the cat to the vets to get her checked for a micro chip?? Could you provide a description of the cat's colouring in case anyone reading has lost their cat? I would really definitely suggest you get her checked for a microchip, many cats do have them now and that way the owners will be informed of what has happened rather than living in hope that she may return. I would definitely hope that if anyone found my cat they would check for a microchip first, as I would a) like to know, b) like to have my cat back for cremation.

Re: Long Haired Cat - tony (9th Jun 2013 - 11:52:41) Dee, that was a nice thing your son did.

Re: Long Haired Cat - Sarah (9th Jun 2013 - 21:40:56) I agree, it was very a very nice thing he did, and very kind of you to go to the trouble of posting about it. I think you have both gone above and beyond already.

Re: Long Haired Cat - Sarah (9th Jun 2013 - 22:15:14) (the Sarah who just posted above is a different Sarah) While I appreciate that you had the best intentions, I personally would be VERY unhappy if someone took it upon themselves to bury my cat, before taking any steps to try and find an owner. It is super easy to take a cat to the vet who will check for a chip free of charge, as not everyone is on the Liphook website. Obviously it is good of you to go out of your way for someone else's cat, but it is not your cat to bury, and probably would have been better left on the verge so any owner out looking for their pet would at least find it there and know what has happened.. I mean, my cat had not come home this morning when I saw this post, and it did cross my mind that what if he didn't come home, would I have to come round your house and dig this cat up to see if it was mine and bring him home?? Seriously think it's not the right course of action, and would hope no one would just bury my cat like that if they found him!!

Re: Long Haired Cat - Sarah no.2 (10th Jun 2013 - 10:56:17) Goodness me, are you really looking to argue about the kind actions of this lady and her son? Perhaps the poor cat was in no condition to leave by the side of the road or to take to the vet, having been hit by a car! She has put her details on here so that anyone whose cat it might be can ask her questions. I know that if she had taken it to the vet the vet would have ultimately disposed of the body in their ways, not kept it for the owner to turn up, so I think it was lovely that they took the trouble to bury the cat. I'm not going to comment further on this because I don't want to turn it into more of a row.

Re: Long Haired Cat - rita (10th Jun 2013 - 11:49:45) I have to agree with sarah no 2 on this. i thought it was a lovely thing to do. and what a lovely thing your son did by comforting the cat while it died. You did what you thought best and that is enough. xx

Re: Long Haired Cat - sb (10th Jun 2013 - 11:58:07) Being a cat owner i was quite horrified reading this post The best course of action would have been to take the cat to the vet. Like others have said the vets would check for a microchip but also that if people loose cats they tend to call all the local vets to see if they have received any cats. I will say it was quite commendable that your son took the time with the cat but letting him bury the cat in your garden goes too far. One of my cats likes to lose her collar and without a collar she would look like any other stray cat! Talk back is good but not everyone uses it.

Re: Long Haired Cat - Sarah no. 1 (10th Jun 2013 - 21:20:22) Look I am not trying to start an argument! This forum is rife with people who will do anything to start an argument and I am not one of them. Perhaps I did not put it eloquently enough but I completely agree with what 'sb' has said - that as a cat owner myself, and my cats do not always have collars on either, i was horrified reading this post and couldn't not comment on this. I am not disputing that it is very admirable and kind that you and your son cared enough to act - but not every one uses Talkback - I hope you will at least let the vets know, put a note on their noticeboard or something because when a cat goes missing the first thing you do it go to the vet and ask if they have had any dead / injured cats reported.... I don't think my comments are unfair - but I just think you went too far by burying this cat. To the person who said a vet wouldnt do anything but throw the cat away and it wouldn't get a burial...... At least this way they would have a chance to check it for a chip and the owners would know..... The vets have freezers and could keep the body a while incase it was claimed... I am not going to comment any more of this thread but by commenting hope anyone else may take a more sensible course of action under these circumstances in the future!

Re: Long Haired Cat - eml (10th Jun 2013 - 21:25:26) I agree with Sarah 1 and sb. My mother is a veterinary nurse and she is even shocked that somebody would take it upon themselves to bury someone elses cat, as she has never come across somebody doing so over many years! If it were a dog would you have buried that too? I doubt you would have done. People on this website are so keen to start an argument that it seems a lot of people must not take the time to think about what they're writing- there is no way that anybody who owns a cat (or those who do not for that matter) could possibly truly believe that this lady has done the right thing in burying the cat.. Of course I do think it was very lovely of her son to comfort it but as sb said, burying it was just too far.

Re: Long Haired Cat - Steve (10th Jun 2013 - 21:59:12) Welcome to Liphook only people here could start to argue over what happened to dead cat!

Re: Long Haired Cat - Valerie (10th Jun 2013 - 23:16:32) I agree with Sarah 2 and Rita. It was a lovely thing for Dee and her son to do. I would take issue with those who criticise their actions when they do not know any details surrounding the circumstances of this unfortunate incident. Dee, whose son found the cat, may not have had access to a car, not everyone does, to take the cat to a vet. What time was the incident? - if it was after normal closing time for veterinary practices Dee would have had to contact an emergency number and this was hardly an emergency as sadly the cat was deceased. Dee could have had other young children, possibly in bed if the incident was early evening, too young to leave, so she could not leave them and take the cat to a vet. If the cat, which by this time was deceased, could not have been taken to a vet quickly and had to be placed somewhere overnight, where would these critics suggest Dee should have placed the body. Decomposition would be taking immediate effect. Should she have put the cat in her freezer or just left it outside where in all probability a fox would have taken it. These are just a few things that spring to mind and obviously have not been taken into consideration by the critics at all. If I was Dee, I would now very much regret getting involved at all, let alone posting anything on Liphook Talkback. I do hope this good samaritan and her son are not too hurt and upset by to these negative comments and reactions. Incidentally I am a cat owner and I would have been so grateful to Dee's son for easing my pet's final and very probably painful last hours on earth. I would add that if she was unable to take my cat's body to a vet for whatever reason, I would be more than happy for her to bury my pet.

Re: Long Haired Cat - DML (11th Jun 2013 - 02:29:13) If this had been my cat I would have been so grateful to know that someone cared enough to comfort her in her last moments - but devastated to think she'd been buried without any attempt to find me so I could have closure and have her cremated or bury her in my own garden - that is the whole point of microchips - so that a missing pet can be returned to its owner - alive or dead.. Having said all that I must thank Dee and her son for caring enough to do SOMETHING - unlike the heartless person who drove straight on leaving one of my cats writhing in the road - I cannot believe they didn't know they had hit him.

Re: Long Haired Cat - Dave McGrath (11th Jun 2013 - 08:27:50) I tell you what guys my son witnessed the car going over the cats head! the car didn't even slow down! my son was beside himself and comforted the cat in its dying moments, I TOLD HIM TO BURY IT it was not a pretty sight to watch,the cat was a stray we are cat owners and we love animals what were we supposed to do at 9.30 on a saturday night, put it in the fridge until monday? Get real!

Re: Long Haired Cat - Valerie (11th Jun 2013 - 11:03:25) You have my every sympathy Dave and perhaps your heartfelt text will stop these very hurtful and thoughtless posts. I do hope your son was not too distressed, it must have been horrible to witness and I won't waste my time in saying what I think about the driver who ran over the cat. I know how upset my children would have been if they had seen something like that. I think you did the only thing you could have in the circumstances and in my opinion it was the right thing.

Re: Long Haired Cat - Marian (11th Jun 2013 - 12:27:57) I do so agree with Valerie - a distressing experience must have been made so much worse by some of the posters to this site. Sometimes I wonder about the negativity which so many of the posts on talkback seem to contain.

Re: Long Haired Cat - Jay W (11th Jun 2013 - 13:06:58) If anything like that ever happens to one of my cats and I am not around, I sincerely hope that someone like the McGrath family is there.

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