TRIGGER WARNING
also I’m new to reddit so idk if this is the right subreddit to post this in
I was almost home and was driving down a part of the street that wasn’t well lit. I don’t think I was going too fast but now I don’t know. I noticed 2 cats tussling in a yard so I must’ve slowed down in that moment but before I knew it the cats darted in front of my car and I slammed on my breaks. I parked my car and got out to check and sure enough there was a cat pinned under the front passenger tire. I reversed off the poor thing and it started limping or should I say dragging itself away in a panic. I couldn’t just go home and leave it out there so I stayed by it and called the emergency vet closest to me. I’m in college and don’t have spare money to pay for the fees so I asked if I could still bring it to them and they gave me a number to the SPCA. Mind you it’s like 11pm. The SPCA says they will send an “emergency ambulance” but it will take 2-3 hours to arrive. I didn’t want the cat to get lost so I had my dad bring a crate to me. When I tried to catch it she was able to put up a good fight trying to get away from me but that was probably due to the adrenaline.
GRAPHIC WARNING* One of its legs was completely skinned nearly to the bone and part of its tail came off. While I waited for my dad it was drooling. Once I got it to my house I sat with it on the front porch and it was panting pretty heavily. It was about 85-90 degrees out so I was afraid it was going to overheat and I wanted to keep it as comfortable as possible. I couldn’t take it in my house because I already have 3 cats of my own so I sat with it in my car until its breathing became more normal and she settled down a little. I also read on google it could go into shock if it was too cold so once it was about 1:30am I brought her back to the porch. I gave her some water and she was drinking it which I felt was a good sign. Overall I thought she was doing well given her condition. The SPCA came around 3 am for her. At this point she was breathing regularly, not drooling, and alert and awake. They put her in a crate in the back of the van with other animals in crates all piled on top of each other and held down with bungee cords. Also the crate they put her in reeked of skunk. I asked the guy if they would euthanize her and he said it depends on how significant her injuries are but the wound is pretty much to the bone so they may amputate it or euthanize her. I feel so awful. I’m worried maybe I should have waited until the morning and taken her to a rescue. My main thought was I just wanted her to get taken care of and be out of pain and misery as soon as possible. I don’t even know if the “emergency ambulance” even took her straight to a vet. I have a feeling they just drive around for their whole shift then take the animals back to the center once they’re done. It took 4 hours for them to come so there was no sense of urgency at all. I really don’t think she needed to be euthanized, she seemed to be hanging on pretty well and she looked pretty young, like less than a year. Maybe I should have just taken her to the emergency vet as soon as it happened. I know there tons of stray cats out there and accidents happen. I just feel so guilty for causing an animal pain and I worry that I made the wrong decision.
TL;DR I ran over a cat’s back legs and I feel so guilty and worried that I didn’t make the right call.
Comments
You did the best you reasonably could under the circumstances
It sounds like you did the best you could in an awful situation. Try not to be too hard on yourself. You did much more than a lot of people would’ve. Sending positive thoughts your way, internet stranger ❤️
You did the best you could, and more than most people would have.
It’s unfortunate, but be kind to yourself
You’re a good person. Thanks for doing everything you did.
I agree, she was in shock and that’s why she was drooling. A brain injury would likely be much more continuous drooling and progressing symptoms. I genuinely don’t know what else you could’ve done here. You took her in, managed her symptoms and needs, and got her into care. There’s not a lot else that could be asked for if you didn’t have a lot of money to burn or a nearby emergency vet charity like those on TV. You did what you could.
If it helps, I ran over a cat once too, and while it was her fault as much as mine for jumping a wall onto the road out of nowhere, it was still entirely my fault for driving too fast in an area that I didn’t need to be driving like an idiot in (I was young and stupid and it was one major factor in chilling out).
She seemed in better shape than your poor baby did, but my kitty likely suffered a broken back or hips. I managed to get her and even though she was hissy and scratchy as any stray so injured would be, I managed to bring her back with me, kept her overnight, and got her to the ASPCA. I wasn’t able to keep her because I already had two, but I took her in and they said they’d at least give her a chance. I hope they were serious, she was very sweet to me considering what I’d caused her.
I love that you cared this much. I feel like no one care about anything but themselves these days, but you stayed up all night to tend to a cat, and you’re still worried about it. Thank you for being an actual human.
To be honest, you did WAY more than 99% of people.