Ran over a cat and dont know if reacted correctly (unpleasant story) advice please

[likecats Hatchling Find all posts View Profile Close likecats]

Im sorry for writing this on here but ive been crying for the past 3 days because i dont know if i made a huge mistake.

Please stop reading if you dont want to read something unpleasant, i just please really need some advice/opinion even if its negative

3 days ago i hit a cat with my car (she ran out of a ditch next to a forest directly infront of my car and i wasnt able to stop (by hitting the brakes the front part of the car actually lowered))
I was driving about 70kmh (43mph) when it happened. I drove back and stopped. She was still alive but when i picked her up she was totally limp. i put her down on the grass and stayed with her for a while. She just tried to take a breath once every few seconds but couldnt and she wasnt able to move. I didnt want her to suffer longer so i put her out of her misery by restricting bloodflow to the brain...i really tried to do it as painless as i possibly could. Then i put her body next to the forest she came from. The next day i had to drive past again (i live about 1 and a half hours away from the place it happened) so i carried her into the forest with a cat toy and some cat food(from my cats) and put a tshirt on her, so she wouldnt lie next to a road in the sun. Been trying to find an owner since than by calling the nearby houses, and making a forum post in the locar area(im from europe) ...just want to ask for forgiveness...if something like this even can be forgiven.

Now i read that i should have called the police and a veterinarian so the vet could asses the situation and i feel f++++ horrible. Im really affraid that i reacted the wrong way and that the cat could have lived. i feel really sad. i have 3 cats at home and i really love animals. I thought i was doing the right thing but now every thought of it is killing me.

Please answer if you can even if you just want to tell me that im a piece of s+++. If you want to ask anything im also prepared to answer

Im sorry i really didnt want to ruin your day...just dont know where to turn to

[LPC Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close LPC]

Re: Ran over a cat and dont know if reacted correctly (unpleasant story) advice pleas

Welcome to the forum, likecats. In life, we all mistakes from time to time. There isn't a person on this planet who has lived a faultless life and has no regrets about some action or lack of action.

In the circumstances you describe, if the cat was still trying to breathe, obviously the best course of action would have been to call an emergency vet. Only a vet is medically qualified to tell whether an an animal should be euthanised because of unbearable pain and suffering, with no prospect of recovery - or not. So, yes, you should have called a vet immediately.

However, as I said earlier, we all make mistakes and errors of judgment in our lives. You did what you did out of a desire to put the cat out of suffering, quickly. So despite an error of judgment, your motivation was not malicious in any way.

Do not be too harsh on yourself. It is the motivation for doing something which deserves scrutiny, not just the deed itself. You acted out of a desire to put the cat out of suffering. You made a wrong decision, but the reason for making it was out of concern to avoid further suffering. To put it in another way, your head made the wrong decision but your heart was in the right place.

The important thing in life is to learn from our mistakes. That is the best way to move on and improve our lives and those of our animal friends.

My thoughts are with you. Be of good heart! We are all animals lovers on this forum. Feel free to contact me via private message if you feel the need for further support. Every best wish to you!

[Tobi Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Tobi]

Re: Ran over a cat and dont know if reacted correctly (unpleasant story) advice pleas

Dear likecats,
I really feel for you and the pain and sorrow you must be going through. It was a very heartbreaking and unfortunate accident.
I feel you instinctively sensed that the little cat was close to passing anyway from her injuries, and you relieved her of her final suffering.
You did not murder her. What you did was motivated by compassion, and drew on your inner strength, and was certainly not an act of violence.

It is the intent behind what we do that matters.

From what you describe, I also sense that had you picked her up, carried her to your car, driven to a vet, you would have prolonged that suffering and made it worse. My feeling is, she may not have even survived long enough to see a vet. Car accidents involving cats statistically have high death rates.

I used to own a gun, and on quite a number of occasions in the past have had to put a wild animal out of its misery; usually an animal which had been hit by a car and was on its last legs, but suffering. Twice I shot rabbits severely affected by myxomatosis; at close range, therefore a mercy shot. That was many years ago, and it used to upset me greatly to take a life. But getting them to a vet was either -impossible, or would have caused them great terror and stress, and made their pain very much greater.

You gave that cat a good, and kind burial, and respect.
She has passed into spirit now, and will know your actions were not of violence, but of compassion and necessity in a crucial moment. Those who have passed can see the hearts of others. Her Soul will know.

I can understand how deeply this must have upset you.

You have support here, if you need to talk further.

[LPC Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close LPC]

Re: Ran over a cat and dont know if reacted correctly (unpleasant story) advice pleas

Thank you, Tobi, for adding your valuable insights. I think that you may well be right. So in that case, likecats may well have acted correctly in sparing the poor cat any more suffering. So not only was the heart in the right place, but the head also!

Likecats, please do not judge yourself harshly. You love animals and you acted out of kindness and compassion. Many blessings to you!

[Tobi Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Tobi]

Re: Ran over a cat and dont know if reacted correctly (unpleasant story) advice pleas

Once a long time ago, I found a squirrel on the side of the road. It had been hit by a car. It was trying to breathe, and its front end was working well, but its back end was completely unresponsive and floppy.
My first thought was to rush it to the vet in town (5 miles away) I wrapped it in a towel, and started to carry it, but when I did that it started to scream. I had never heard an animal make such a sound of fear and great pain.
When I got to the house, I laid it down, as my carrying it was torturing it.
I went and found my gun and after talking to the squirrel a moment, and telling it what I was going to do, and why, I shot it through the head.

Sometimes it is kinder to let them cross over quickly.

[Pawtastic Petz Signature member Find all posts View Profile Close Pawtastic Petz]

Re: Ran over a cat and dont know if reacted correctly (unpleasant story) advice pleas

Greetings and welcome to the forum!

As for your act of putting the cat out of suffering the way you did, it shouldn't have felt any pain at all, just would have passed out and then passed over the rainbow bridge. If you had just left it like a lot of people (those beings suck) would then you'd of been in the wrong in that sense. As for the trying to give it a memorial afterwards with the cat toys, food and something to cover it with then I'd say that's more of a way of you trying to let go of the situation which is a good thing, should mean you won't be haunted by the thought of it forever.
Also don't kick yourself, you didn't know it was gonna happen so you couldn't have prevented it unless you knew but you didn't know in advance.

There's been several times when I've been the passenger of a vehicle and something has been hit, usually a rabbit or pheasant and it's usually me that puts them out of their misery due to the fact the driver is too stressed out about what they've done (even tho it wasn't intentional)

[likecats Hatchling Find all posts View Profile Close likecats]

Re: Ran over a cat and dont know if reacted correctly (unpleasant story) advice pleas

thank you very much for your kind words!

im sorry that i didnt respond earlier...work and life came in the way
I still feel bad. But i know how to handle, if there is a next time (and i pray to god that there wont be)
it was really a bad experience...and im still thinking about it. Will get a tattoo of her so she wont be forgotten
..I just hope that noone is missing their beloved cat....and even if she was ownerless...it makes me sad that she cant enjoy her life anymore-

Again Thank You very much for your response

[Tobi Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Tobi]

Re: Ran over a cat and dont know if reacted correctly (unpleasant story) advice pleas

I have been thinking of you, likecats, and hoped you were coping.