In the past week, several kittens were brought into the practice after being hit by cars. It’s always awful to see, but I’m happy to say that we were able to save the majority that came in.
We don’t know why kittens were suddenly hit by cars. One theory is that all of these kittens grew up during the lockdown when there was not much traffic on the streets. Now spring is here so they keep driving when the weather is nice and the streets are busier so more accidents happen.
Whatever the reason, cats that have been hit by cars are in dire need of emergency care.
Often times, these cats are brought in by strangers – either the driver who hit them or someone who witnessed the accident. I would always urge anyone who sees a cat being hit by a car to take them straight to a veterinarian. We’re not going to argue about which vet she usually goes to. We will only proceed with potentially life-saving emergency treatment.
We’d then like to try to contact the owner as soon as possible – and that’s where microchips come in.
The cat that came in on Monday needed immediate medical attention. While my colleague was doing this, the nurses were able to look for a chip and contacted the owner within half an hour. In the absence of a microchip, it is much more difficult to get owners back together with their injured cats. So keep in mind that every cat with access to the outside world has a microchip.
Read more about how Alice had to perform emergency surgery to remove a Covid mask from a cocker spaniel
Alice Moore is a veterinarian at Castle Veterinary Clinic in Dorchester and Weymouth. Tel 01305 267083