Brian Edwards Media

To the driver who ran over our cat Felix tonight…

Posted by BE on May 29th, 2014

Felix in basin

If you are the driver who ran over our lovely Burmese cat Felix around 4pm tonight (Thursday) in Argyle Street, Herne Bay, would you please be kind enough to contact me on 0274754939. No recriminations. Felix is being treated and it’s touch and go whether he will make it. It would be helpful to know exactly what happened.

Thanks

Brian

Update, Friday:

Felix made it through the night, today’s X-rays show he has a badly fractured leg, but no other life-threatening injuries. Orthopedic vet operating tomorrow afternoon. Max, who raced to his aid when he came in hurt, is fretting. Vet says Felix is coping reasonably well. Looking at horrendous bill and six weeks ‘cage rest’. That will be interesting!

JC

42 Comments:

  1. Gosh, “Felix the Cat” was one of the first TV programs I ever saw. I guess you must have seen it too. Hope your Felix makes it.

    • Same here, Trevor.

      I’m told it was my favourite TV programme as a pre-schooler circa 1967. (Ringo Starr and the singing dollar notes on the decimal currency ads – “the 6th of July next year !!!” – apparently being my other favs).

  2. Dear Brian and Judy

    I just wanted you to know that I was devastated to hear about your cat and that everyone in my household (comprising one human, one dog and one cat) currently has their fingers and paws crossed that Felix will recover. Please give us updates as they become available.

    Kind regards

    Renee Lang

  3. Awwww – poor puss. I’ve had cats perish on the road and it really is gutting.
    Like you, all I wanted was an explanation. I hope you get one and Felix pulls through ok.

  4. Good luck Brian and Judy. Hope Felix makes it.

  5. a very sad thing to happen..i am sorry to hear it!!

  6. If you have never had a pet, it is impossible to understand how attached one becomes to these pets in your life.
    All the very best for Felix’s recovery. But if it was one of those 4wheel ‘trucks’ meant for off road driving that people drive in the city at country speeds, would they know if they hit a a cat?
    Thinking of you both!

  7. Our thoughts are with you, Brian and Judy. We hope Felix pulls through.
    Jenny & Gavin

  8. Understand your sadness. Hoping for the best.

  9. Very best wishes for Felix. He is the spitting image of Jerry, our childrens’ Burmese.

  10. Fingers crossed for Felix. Our bengal was run over recently in beach haven. Whilst he made it through, it was disappointing that the person didn’t stop to check whether he was ok and instead just left him (he’s a big cat, im sure they’d have known). keep us updated!

  11. Really sad to hear this news. I hope he’ll be ok.

  12. 12

    Deborah Coddington May 30th, 2014 at 11:38

    Just read about Felix on Facebook and I hope he is still fighting hard and will soon be back with you. Thinking of you all. No fun when pets are in trouble. Kia kaha.

  13. Im glad you found him. I hope he recovers. Animals always amaze me with their ability to manage pain and recover against the odds. I always lock mine (Burmese also)inside at night.

  14. Being the owners of 2 beautiful burmese I also would be devasted. What a coward that couldn’t stop and check to see if the cat was alright. Shame on you !

  15. Hang in there Felix xx

  16. All the best for Felix, I hope he pulls through ok. It’s really horrible when something like that happens.

  17. Keeping fingers crossed for you. It appears that Felix has a number of supporters wishing him a speedy recovery!

  18. Poor Felix, glad you were able to find him! Fingers and paws all crossed for you.

  19. Cats cross roads. For safety reasons vehicles shouldn’t brake suddenly or swerve to avoid them. I’m sorry that your cat got run over, but it’s probably not the drivers fault and they probably already feel pretty bad about it. Hope Felix recovers and goes on to lead a happy life. Pet lover, professional class 5 driver, and owner of a 4×4 which I drive in the city because I can’t afford to own two cars.

  20. I hope Felix is on the mend … We have a Chocolate Burmese as well, Hugo – your picture of Felix is SOooo reminiscent of him – he’s always sitting in the bathroom sink. Best wishes to you all for a speedy and full recovery.

  21. I will hazard a guess that our good friend and benefactor Gareth has contributed to the “I hate cats” vibe that persists in Auckland and means people like your driver dont stop and check on their accident.Just saying.

  22. Sorry to hear about Felix. Hope he manages to pull through.

    Our female cat, Kitty, was killed by a dog in the middle of the night last year and we’re still upset about it. Same dog killed a number of other neighbourhood cats over the following few months.

    Still feel as guilty as hell that I wasn’t there to save her.

    • 22.1

      Gayle Ferguson May 31st, 2014 at 21:22

      My sympathies. My boy Huxley was killed by my neighbours’ two vicious dogs that were able to scale the 1.8m fence between our properties and get into my garden. This happened in 2010 and I was devastated. I got no help from “Dog Control”, even though the dogs have previously killed a pet rabbit in the neighbourhood. I can’t understand why the Council is so reluctant to enforce laws that state clearly that dogs need to be contained within the owner’s property at all times (when not out on a lead). After that I installed a CCTV camera and got hundreds of dollars of fines for the irresponsible dog owner who could not contain his dogs, but the law never confiscated those dogs. Only a matter of time before a child is attacked.

      • 22.1.1

        Gayle Ferguson May 31st, 2014 at 21:22

        Should add that Huxley was a cat, not an actual boy.

      • Thanks, Gayle. My sympathies to you, too.

        Don’t want to generalise too much but I do have to say I have a fairly negative view of dog-owners these days. Disproportionately anti-social and selfish in my opinion (which isn’t to say they ALL are, mind you).

        Every now and then, we encounter a dog roaming the street at will. No sign of an owner. Not long ago, some kids riding bikes on the road just along from our house were attacked by a loose dog and were naturally very shaken. Dog Control seems to be relatively toothless in our neck of the woods. Sounds like it’s the same in your area.

  23. 23

    Jasper Du Bois May 31st, 2014 at 05:43

    A very fine-looking cat. Has a royal-bearing about him; here’s hoping, he makes a complete recovery.

  24. Last week my wee cat…Slinky…came down with an upper respiratory infection. he spent two nights at the vets, on a drip. He had one anesthetic, so as to check his throat and dental treatment, and came home with anti biotics. He has made a full recovery, and people/family from Timaru, Christchurch to Auckland have been informed of his progress. He is part of our family.
    However, the bill was the best part of $1000.00.Fortunately I could cough up, but I guess some people have to make heartbreaking decisions at times, I don’t how one could!

  25. 25

    Gayle Ferguson May 31st, 2014 at 21:25

    So pleased to hear that Felix will pull through! You probably don’t want to hear this, but pet insurance (e.g. http://www.ellenco.co.nz/, owned by Southern Cross) can help enormously with those huge and unexpected vet bills.

  26. As the owner of two Burmese, a Tortie moggie and a very spoilt greyhound this is my worst nightmare and the reason why we live in a walk-down villa on a very quiet street. I still remember the taxi driving ahead of us and seeing it bowl a cat then keep driving without even touching the brakes. Hoping that Felix suffers is six weeks of confinement with the dignified outrage so typical of Burmese and that he lives on to a ripe old age with no further scrapes.

  27. I have a Birman and my brother, two Burmese. For such bright sparks, their road sense leaves a lot to be desired.. A large personality stuck in a small cage for 6 weeks? May the force be with you all. Glad he’s going to make it.

  28. Hi Brian,
    sorry to hear your bad news. Hope your pet makes it. I lost my last cat the same way, but it was killed instantly by a car. The one before that, which was kept indoors( a seal point Burmese),lived a longer life by comparison. This is an all too common story in NZ for outdoor cats and the concept of containment both protects cats and protects the natural environment.

    New Zealand has experienced a quarter of all the worlds modern bird extinctions, and we’ve lost half our endemic species as a result. 11 of these extinctions are down to house cats as the main causal factor. Many of our surviving birds are now critically endangered and outdoor cats are still a significant element in those bird’s threat status.

    We are a land of 60 unique lizards species and most people have never seen a lizard until it is brought home by their cat. Tragically, like our birds ,most lizards are also in decline and I ask you to possibly treat this sad event as way to help the public understand better, the need for cat containment.. for both our precious pets and our unique and declining biodiversity.

  29. This is an all too common story in NZ for roaming cats – thousands of them the get hit by cars every month, and only lucky few are found (before they slink off to die somewhere hidden, in agony, and often slowly), or are killed on impact. The concept of containment of cats both protects cats and guards their welfare, as well as protects the natural environment in NZ (our native fauna).
    It would be great if you and Felix could possibly treat this sad event as way to help the public understand the need for cat containment better, for both our precious pets and our unique and declining biodiversity. There is a great video on cat confinement system implemented by one very loving cat owner in Wellington: http://garethsworld.com/blog/environment/otis-rubi-cat-enclosure/
    All the best for Felix’s recovery and his future , hopefully without roaming.

  30. 30

    Lee Churchman June 4th, 2014 at 16:31

    Good that the cat seems to be on the mend.

    My wife’s cat’s hobby was head butting cars. Weirdly enough, he lived to 14 and died from non automotive causes.

  31. I was worried as our cat didn’t come last night (we don’t allow her to sleep outside), even though it was so cold.

    She had previously managed to get herself stuck in the same drain twice(!), and inadvertently locked in a neighbour’s garden shed for over a day.

    There were a couple of other cats hanging around the driveway, so I was assuming a bad fight, lots of damage, and a big vets bill or even worse…

    Then I got word she turned up at the door at 10 am, as good as gold, demanding a feed.

    Cats!

  32. 32

    Linda Herrick June 6th, 2014 at 13:41

    what a beautiful cat. very best wishes for a speedy recovery…

  33. Sad about your cat, but this is another reason to keep cats contained. I have run over a couple of cats in my driving career, over 50 years, and have always stopped to assist. Both were dead on impact. I also knocked a runover kitten on the head, the driver was oblivious to running it over, he was turning into his own driveway, I was riding past on my horse. I suspect many drivers are unaware of hitting a lightweight animal like a cat. There’s very little an unprepared person can do to help an injured cat, those teeth and claws can inflict nasty damamge. I’ve even had SPCA people refuse to handle feral kittens that my grandchildren had caught barehanded.

  34. How about a further bulletin?

  35. Sorry you do not love me BE, I can imagine the price those Vets in Wellington charge.
    And as for shaving the cat up, well all it does is spread tiny hair particles into wound. Yes I know they wash the leg down.
    You don’t need a shave, you need a razor clean over the surgical area, with soap.
    There is no such thing as completely sterile femoral surgery.
    Once you get down to a femoral fracture its speed, grunt and sweat. Unless you are a new graduate, then its called shagging around and talking the talk to BE.
    If it takes more than twenty five minutes you have inexperience.
    Go on challenge me. Maybe a multiple femoral fracture
    needing cerclage wire will take longer
    Well now about the driver. This is what they report. I was driving down the road Mr. [ not doctor] Vet and I heard a
    thump, I looked for that cat but could not find it.
    Cats will move away from the accident on three legs very quickly.