Just found a wee dead kitty

[berties mum]

Poor wee lamb 

Bless him - but well done you, at least he's at peace and not at the side of the road 

[jools]

Just to update you all. Despite having no luck at all with the council, my local cat rescue have been brill. They have taken the wee guy away and are scanning him. If he has not been chipped, they are going to bury him at the rescue centre.

Poor wee lamb 

[berties mum]

That's such a shame MM, it would be nice to think he'd been reunited with his family 

[Millys Mum]

No i didnt Berties Mum  il leave posters up for longer as being such a big cat he could have travelled a fair way.

Jools, did you go back and collect the body?
If they get left too long then crows and magpies start to interfere.

[berties mum]

I've also been trying to contact environmental health so as he can be moved.

You may have more luck with the Highways dept - I used to work for a local authority and our Environmental Health lot wouldn't touch any dead animals - does depend on your local council's policy though.  Here, when I lost Minnie for a while after she was attacked by the dog, I was told the only department I needed to notify was Refuse as no one else would pick up a body if they saw one.

[Ela]

I've also been trying to contact environmental health so as he can be moved.

So sad. In these cases we always ask the finder to make enquiries locally and if no luck take the cat to a vet so it can be scanned and if not chipped inform all local rescues just in-case the owner tries to contact them.

[furballmom]

this reminds me of the time when i was young and i went to the shop for my mum and on the way back i found my poor kitty dead on the side of the road it is very distressing and it has stayed with me all this time who ever owned the poor little ginger kitty must be heart broken not knowing

[jools]

Hmmm.....not sure I'm brave enough to lift his wee body. I could put some posters up tho. I'll go round later and see if he's still there...maybe take OH with me....he's brave.

[berties mum]

MM, did you ever hear if the owners claimed the ginger cat? x

[Millys Mum]

Could you go back and collect the body? And take it to the nearest vet, they can hold it for a week or two. Also put up some posters.
I had to do this the other day for a gorgeous ginger who i think actually was a pedigree 

[Pinkbear (Julie)]

It's a sad fact that entire Toms suffer this fate quite often. Being unneutered, they roam in search of queens and are always at risk from the roads. It's an awful sight to stumble across and sadly I've done it many times. 

I think the general message of neutering is better known and more widely adopted than microchipping, honestly, Jools. If puss is entire, the odds of him having a chip are remote. You are right, he may well be loved but often people are ignorant of the help they can get with the cost of neutering, and if they cannot afford that, they cannot afford vaccinations. If the cat isn't neutered odds-on he hasn't been to the vet for years. Where would his owners know about chipping? To most people who have only vaguely heard about chipping, it usually means something to prevent or detect theft of a pedigree. People never think their pet moggies are going to stray and might be picked up by a rescue...

RIP, little one. Lets hope we all learn by your loss and get the chipping and neutering message across further. 

[berties mum]

How horrible for you ... I've fortunately never been in the situation of finding a poor dead cat but I know I would have to stop.  Someone did it for me when my lovely Matilda was run over - it must have been horrible to have to call a total stranger and tell them their cat had been run over, but I will always be grateful because it meant I knew she was gone within an hour of it happening and never had the anguish of looking for her.  I don't understand how people can just drive past.  My brother's cat was killed on the road last New Year, and when they found him, he'd been dead at the kerbside for 2-3 days, clearly wearing a collar with their phone no. on it.

[Canterbury_cats (Sharon)]

Hi Jools
I hate to say it that in four years of CP work i have yet to come across any entire tom that is chipped.. ! It never crosses their mind, except for pedigrees, we have had unspayed females not chipped but no males at all.. As for strays and even really, really looked after cats that we thought beyond belief belonged to someone, well they were not chipped or done... Its a sad fact, it really is...

RIP little one!

[jools]

Poor kitty    Do you think the CP or RSPCA would go out and scan it at the roadside? If not when you get through to the council ask if they scan for microchips, he might be chipped and that way his Mum or Dad can at least have some closure 

The lady I spoke to at the cat and dog home said that the procedure is that the council take the remains to them and they scan for a chip. The woman from cat rescue was quite snotty actually. She said that if his owners hadn't bothered to have him neutered (he deffo was an entire tom) then there was little chance he'd have a chip. But he looked a really well looked after cat - had a beautiful collar on. Surely there are some people who love their pets but, for whatever reason, choose not to neuter them.

Just because his owners were ill informed about the benefits of neutering, doesn't mean that he wasn't a much loved pet.

I hate it when folk judge others like that.

[Tiggy's Mum]

Poor kitty    Do you think the CP or RSPCA would go out and scan it at the roadside? If not when you get through to the council ask if they scan for microchips, he might be chipped and that way his Mum or Dad can at least have some closure 

[clarenmax]

Thank you for stopping where others have obvioulsy left this little one   

RIP little ginger tom, go play with the butterflies on the Bridge

[Mojo]

Awww poor baby 

R.I.P little one

[jools]

I got the shock of my life. I was driving along and saw this ginger thing at the side of the road out of the corner of my eye. I knew straight away that it was a wee mog, and also knew that, as upsetting as it would be, I'd have to check for it out.

The poor wee soul was dead and, although he had a collar on, there were no contact details on.

I have contacted the local cat rescue, and the cat and dog home just in case his owner is looking for him. I've also been trying to contact environmental health so as he can be moved.

I am shaking like a leaf.

Run free at the bridge, little ginger tom.