Something similar happened to me years ago and to this day I feel bad about it upon remembering it or going down that same road again.

The cat ran right in front of my car, I was going fast enough that I couldn't stop short of hitting the cat...I looked back in my rearview mirror and saw it tumbling over and over and then get on its feet and run into the field. I looked for it and stopped at all the nearby farms and got pretty much the same reaction you did.

They say never to brake for an animal because you could lose control of the car and get hurt or killed yourself, but it is near impossible for me NOT to brake!

Two thoughts here: the cat made it and is fine, so don't worry and if it got hurt bad enough to die, it probably went into a dazed state where it didn't know it...we can only hope...

Sorry to hear this happened to you...I have hit birds and felt the same way!

nola anne

I hit something years ago, and when I looked in the rear view mirror I saw a black cat flying in the air. I couldnt stop, but have felt bad ever since. I guess I should thank the Lord it wasnt a person, but it still makes me sad to think about.

Very upsetting. I feel your pain, Susan.

That is an awful thing to experience and even though it wasn't your fault it's still really upsetting. All you can do is say a little prayer to the God of all creatures to take care of this little one. So far I've been lucky but I've had some near misses that can really shake you up.

We animal lovers know exactly how you feel. I bumped a dog once. He ran right out in front of me. Fortunately I wasn't going too fast and he really wasn't hurt. I spoke to its owner who didn't seem to be half as upset as I was. That was almost fifty years ago and I still remember how shaken up I was.

I know what an awful feeling that is, I hit a cat once when I was a teenager and I had nightmares for months. I still feel terrible when I think about it. I'm sorry this happened to you, I know what an awful feeling it is.

Sorry I repeated myself... I hit "enter" prematurely.

So sorry. I know how you feel, but you did the best you could do.

I know exactly how you feel. I hit a cat once, very late at night, about 35 years ago. I kept on going and have felt bad ever since. i wasn't even sure it was a cat. It may have been a possum or racoon. All about the same size.

Oh, Susan. That's so sad! I hate when animals do that. Well, except armadillos. I don't think there is scientific proof yet that there is a reason for them to exist except to tear up yards.

I feel bad when I hit a butterfly, so I know your heart aches for that kitty...

((Susan))

I feel bad when I hit a butterfly, so I know your heart aches for that kitty... Me too.

I hope the cat was okay... none of us want to hurt any animal. ((((Susan))))

I'm very sorry.

Oh Susan I'm so sorry. I've been lucky so far thank goodness. I am sorry that you didn't find the owner, but hopefully they will find the poor baby.

You have such a wonderful heart Susan and you did what you could.

Susan

I feel so bad for you. But maybe it's all ok. Years ago my husband hit a black puppy running with kids. The puppy died. The kids said it was a stray that was just following them. A few months later, a black puppy followed our 10 yr. old son walking our 14 yr. old dog. And he decided to hang out on our patio. I posted pics, ran an ad in the paper, checked with vets, neighbors, etc. and no one claimed him. We had Shadow for almost 17 yrs. He was the BEST DOG EVER! Karma?

Susan, kudos to you for trying to check up on the cat and find it's owner. So many people would just have kept going. You obviously are a caring person. Unfortunately animals that are left to run outside run the risk of being hit by a car. Sometimes there is nothing that you can do to avoid it. You certainly did all you could, and it is a sad fact of life that some animals do get hit by a car.

That is the worst feeling. We were driving home one afternoon and the car in front of us hit a small cat. It was off to the side of the road. We stopped at the vet's office and told them that we were going to get this cat and could they stay open. In the meantime, someone or someones hit it again. It was dead when we got back. I cried all the way home.

Thank you, everyone. A friend told me this morning that she once hit a dog very hard, and he turned out to be okay. I recalled reading years ago about cats' extreme flexibility. Maybe that helped. I hope so.

Vicki, what a sad story. We always see turtles crossing roads this time of year. One spring I drove past a fairly big one, and pulled off the road to walk back and get him off the road before he got hit. I wasn't far from him when a Corvette came along and ran over him. It looked to me like it was intentional. That turtle had a lot of tears shed for him.

Oh gosh - I feel upset for you, too. It was great of you to try to find the cat and the owner. I don't understand why other people don't do that. Sorry it had to happen. ((hug))

Thanks, Barb. I should have mentioned that when I hit the Doberman so many years ago, it was in an area with no houses at all. I wrote a letter to the editor of the Scranton paper, telling what happened and giving my phone number. The day it was printed, the owner called me. She was so grateful to know what had happened to her dog, who had been chasing a rabbit when she disappeared.