(no subject)

[mrph]

Not the most cheerful weekend.

A guy who was walking down the road knocked on the door last night to ask me if I owned a black and white cat, as one was lying injured on the pavement - hit by a car, from the looks of things .

The cat in question wasn't Lady - and I didn't immediately assume that she was, as I'd just seen Lady in the back garden. Neither of us had any idea whose cat she was. Thankfully, lostdreamer666 was visiting at the time, so when we found that the nearest vet was closed (and the 'emergency' number on their door directed you to the PDSA on the other side of town...) he was able to offer me a lift there.

She didn't survive - she'd slipped away by the time we reached the PDSA. Only about six months old, they think.

I don't think there was anything more we could have done when we found her; from what the vet said it was probably too late before I answered the door, if there was ever any chance.

One thing, though - as a cat owner, I felt completely unprepared. I don't have a vet's emergency number programmed into my mobile. I don't know which local vets are available if something does happen outside of the normal surgery hours. I'll be fixing that in the next day or two.

Comments

[belladonna-9.livejournal.com]

I have to say Id never sleep at night if my cat wasnt tucked up in bed by the time it was dark.... she is ancient though with a heart condition...

[mimmimmim.livejournal.com]

That's a good idea. We always put Boo in a cattery when we go away so no-one else will have to make big decisions for us in the event of an accident, but we don't have anything prepared for accidents while we're there.

Poor kitten :(

[ulfilias.livejournal.com]

Arse....That sorta stuff always sucks. I've lost 2 cats to the roads and its always horrible. I've also had two that have been hit by cars and survived. One a broken jaw (could still eat biscuits before we noticed as he's greedy !) and another with a broken pelvis (6weeks bed rest is a small dog cage). I would say that if you have an outdoor cat, with roads about, an insurance policy is wise as both of those vets bills were £500+

[ankaret.livejournal.com]

I am so sorry. You did the best you could, but it's not much help to say so.

[lurkingcat]

It's always sad when that happens but at least you tried to help.

As far as I can tell most vets re-direct you to the nearest PDSA centre outside of normal hours. I suspect that's because they're the only people with funding to run an emergency service of that nature. The local Bristol service used to run a "If your vet has signed up to us then we can meet you at their premises if you ring us first" service, which Loki made use of a couple of times. I'm not sure if they still do that because the only time Kheldar has needed out of hours treatment was in the evening not 3am.

[velvet-nothing.livejournal.com]

Well done for trying to help her. I had a similar experience about a month ago - a friend and I were driving along and found a cat lying in the road. We stopped, put the cat in the boot and took it to the nearest vets, but sadly it died on the receptionist's desk.

I think a lot of Cov vets redirect to the PDSA after hours. A group called Vets Now run the emergency service rather than the PDSA itself, and they like you to call in advance, as after a certain time they lock the gates and will only open them when they know somebody's bringing an animal in (I've had to do this with my rats before). So it's worth having the emergency number on hand (02476 601446). Probably also worth phoning around vets closer to you to see if any offer an after hours service other than this :o)

[livingarmchair.livejournal.com]

The vet on Binley road (In the old house, not far from you) - regency, I think they're called, have an out of hours number. It's very expensive though! We had to use them a few years ago when Quincy (Our Tonkinese) jumped onto a windowsill and covered himself with turps!