Killed my neighbours cat!

Katiehound

Do you have other neighbours who you talk to? I was just thinking you could tell the tale of finding this sick cat , how upset you are and what happened and let the word go round that either someone locally is a bad owner, or that it was a stray.

Yes, and maybe an anonymous note through the door with details of vet & CPR also saying "I'm sure it can't have been your cat so malnourished etc..."

From my understanding although in theory it would have been better to contact the RSPCA I think as far as the cat's plight was concerned you did absolutely the right thing. I doubt RSPCA would have dropped everything to deal with 'your' cat problem.

At the end of the day the poor sickly cat had a humane end and that is what you need to remember.

rising_from_the_ashes

OMG what an awful experience for you.:(

I will reiterate what the others have said - you did not kill your neighbours cat .... you cared enough to take it to the vet to get some help and show it a little bit of TLC which is appears to have been sadly lacking.

I can't believe your neighbours are suddenly claiming to care for the cat now it's "disappeared" when they obviously did little for the poor wee mite when it was alive.:mad:

I'd also suggest passing on the details to the CP / vet and letting them inform the owner.

Nod_Off

arbroath_lass wrote: »

You did not kill their cat.

That said I'd tell them you took a stray cat to the Vet as it was having trouble walking. The Vet and CPL had to put the cat to sleep as it was in a bad way.

I agree with this.

I find it so hard to comprehend a little 6 month old cat in that condition with those health problems (I worked in a vets for 10 years so not a lot does shock me anymore unfortunately)

Katiehound

of course, at the end of the day, it may NOT be the missing neighbour's cat but it does seem to be quite a coincidence.

krlyr

I'm surprised the vet put the cat down without spending at least a day or two waiting for an owner to come forward! For all anyone knows, the neighbours could have just taken on the cat from a bad situation and be nursing it back to health with the full support of another vet in the area :undecided

However, it wasn't your decision. I think I'd just tell the neighbour that you found it/a cat of a similar description and it wasn't well so you took it to the vet. Up to you if you disclose that the vet had it PTS or let them phone - the latter may be a bit more heartbreaking in that they get their hopes up, but the vet should be the one taking responsibility for the decision rather than you getting the blame, which you might do if you tell the neighbours there and then.

Deeperblue

Thank you so much for the replies everyone, I truly don't know how to handle this but I do know that the longer I leave it the harder it'll be.

My dad says that I shouldn't say anything as they don't deserve to know, but along the lines of what krlyr says....

krlyr wrote: »

I'm surprised the vet put the cat down without spending at least a day or two waiting for an owner to come forward! For all anyone knows, the neighbours could have just taken on the cat from a bad situation and be nursing it back to health with the full support of another vet in the area :undecided

...I just keep thinking, what if they were nursing it back to health? What if they just couldn't afford treatment and were looking after it as best they could?

Mum has even offered to tell them it was her who found it just in-case it creates bad blood, as she lives else where. Dunno, that feels like a bit of a cop-out.

I'm thinking what I may say is 'I found your cat by the road. It was having problems walking so I think it must have been knocked down. Took it too the vet who said kindest was to put it down'.

I don't really think it was knocked down, I think it was just weak with starvation and the diabetes or whatever, but maybe it would sound better if I said knocked down?

I don't know how to actually say it to them. May just go do it now and get it out of the way.

Dreading it. Don't know what I'll do if they get confrontational about it.

Also krlyr: I think because the cat was in such a poor state and infested with flees they presumed it must have been dumped. Wasn't even any talk about waiting for an owner

whitewing

Ok, deep breath then go and knock on their door. You've had plenty of suggestions so just see what comes to mind as they open the door. As long as they know what happened eventually then that's all that will matter, and you can stip thinking about it.

pineapple

Not quite the same but I once found what I thought was a stray dog in a remotish rural place which was a favourite drop off place for unwanted pets. No collar, had it checked for a chip, rung round kennels, vets etc, drove round the area for ages. Dog eventually went to a pound. It didn't seem fit and I was worried about my dog catching something.
Following week I stopped and asked a farmer if they knew of anyone who had lost a dog - it turned out to be her and they had had to pay £60 for its release. She demanded I give her the £60 and in fact she and her husband attacked the car one night as I was driving home and I had to call the police. They also tried to drive me off the road one day in their landrover and I had to change my route home.
On the basis of that I wouldn't say anything. But find a way round it to let them know as others have suggested.

sunflowers1

Good luck with talking to your neighbours if thats what you decide to do, maybe have a look at the picture in their window first.
I just wanted to say try not to beat yourself up as it sounds like you did absolutely the right thing by taking the cat to the vets and well done for taking care of the cat as I'm sure some people would have just ignored it. It sounds like the poor cat had been neglected for quite a while so unless it has been missing for longer than a couple of days it make you wonder what sort of care they were taking of it.

Misstress

Deeperblue wrote: »

Thanks so much for reading and any replies


We took it in the house and gave it some milk,

You did what was right for the cat, BUT please don't give cats cows milk it is very bad for them. ( sorry if you were referring to cat milk)