The owner of a 10-month-old cat is appealing for the help of her fellow Island residents to help save the feline’s life after he was left seriously injured as a result of being hit by a van in East Cowes last week.
Jack the cat was hit by a van on Beatrice Avenue last Tuesday, with the driver fleeing the scene leaving Jack on the road with serious injuries.
Observant neighbours noticed the moggy in the road and called its owner Gillian who rushed him straight to the vet. Here it was discovered that Jack had a broken pelvis, a hernia and his liver was nearly poking through his chest.
A successful surgery was undertaken on Friday last week to restore his liver to its original position, but Jack is now set to go under the knife again today (Monday) as surgeons work to repair his shattered pelvis.
Initially, £5,000 was quoted for the first of Jack’s surgeries but added costs after today’s operation have seen it increase to over £8,000. As a result, Gillian has set up a gofundme page to help raise vital funds with around £2,000 amassed so far.
Gillian has said:
“Jack is a gentle sweet boy, I’ve had him since birth. He has a brother here who really misses him. I want him to get the best care but this comes at a cost.
“If anyone could help me with a donation no matter how small.”
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This is why people, firstly need a decent pet insurance, and secondly shouldn’t allow cats to roam freely….. I for one don’t have sympathy and will NOT be donating a penny….. not only do cats decimate local wildlife but they are a nuisance in general…. just 2 days ago I witnessed a cat with a red squirrel in its mouth. We are forced to control dogs, so why are we so lenient on these little murderers?!?!
Oh dear I feel sorry for you but glad you do not look after one .
I do and he goes out to do his business when he wants to and never messes in doors .
he likes it outside because he is an Animal and Animals do what comes naturally to them and do not mug or steal mistreat each other like so called Humans do .
try understanding and less criticism of there behaviour you may find it very rewarding and you may even learn something about being alive .
I am firmly of the opinion that cats are far nicer beings than humans.
Your hate filled comment has done nothing but reinforce that feeling. As for being murderers, when did a domestic cat last kill an adult or for that poingniant matter a small child? As we have sadly seen on multiple occasions with dogs recently.
I wish Gillian and Jack all the very best and hope a full recovery is made quickly.
Emily, are you the asshole van driver by any chance?
Maybe , you should grow up and stop spending your day on island echo waiting to find a story to be horrible about ? If the cat didn’t eat that red squirrel then I’m sure you would just start moaning about all the red squirrels stealing all the nuts . If you havnt got anything nice or relevant to say just keep it in your head next time
oh shut up. dogs are controlled because they attack people, cats just wander about minding there own business mostly. Decimate wildlife, my goodness your so out of touch. Get a life and stop moaning.
Don’t have what you can’t afford
What a truly unattractive excuse for a human.
Forced to control dogs???? Where is that exactly? The streets and pavements are strewn with dog muck from all these ‘responsible dog owners’.
You are not very bright, are you?
BTW I call your red squirrel story total BS – Felines do not predate on squirrel, and if per chance they ever did catch one it would be because the squirrel is already ill or injured and probably already done for. And yes, this is something I know about
And BTW 2 – I hope hordes of cats converge on your garden and sh*t in it copiously for all eternity.
Wow 8k. Ant being funny but kitten’s are free on wightbay lol
Hey, Island Echo, I get “free speech” and everything, but this is just nasty trolling of the worst kind.
Vets are supposed to care about animals,but what they charge is just extortion as it simply does not cost that amount to fix. It’s just pure greed.Friends of the Animals a charity sometimes help with extortion-I mean vet bills
Just coughed up over £800 on our cat, despite it being insured. By the time they had deducted the excess and various exclusions, the insurance covered £97 of that.
That’s how private insurance based medicine actually works in the United States, too.
The median cost to the NHS of an appendectomy is £900. The cost in the US is around $8000
If the NHS keeps on its current trajectory (which it will if the Tories get in again) it will be you being extorted for your own treatment rather than your pet’s.
Oh dear, we’ve got an article about a cat being run over in the street and you manage to twist it round to get in some comments about the Tories and the NHS.
If you’ve got political points you want to make, that’s great, but keep them to a relevant article, please.
Get in the real world, veterinary care costs a lot of money, as will human care if we end up privatising it. Do you think vet practices are shutting down across the island because they are too profitable?
I’m actually surprised that the vet did any surgery without demanding payment in full, up front. This seems to be the “norm” now.
Unfortunately cats that are outdoor cats are always going to be at risk of being hit and killed by traffic,seen a few over the years,one whislt walking down a narrow town road got hit,picked it up and first door I knocked was the owner by chance,the cat was dead instantly.i think some drivers wouldent even notice they had hit a cat run into the road last second as this one did.only thing the owner said was did you hit it ! No I was just walking past.its the risk you take with outdoor cats.
As a pet owner myself – and a cat owner at that – I think that the Owner should either accept that they are responsible for any costs involved for pet ownership, or, at the very least, should have the relevant insurances in place!
sorry, sounds unsympathetic I know, but pet ownership comes with certain responsibilities!
10 comments but you only let us read 4…. hiding the rest rather than removing….
Yeah, and look how many are about you ‘karen’.
Fleeing the scene is a bit dramatic. I appreciate it’s a cat, but it’s not covered under the law.
I’m very much a cat lover and I have a cat. I totally get the heartbreak and upset here.
BUT this is very much a risk with cats. Whilst nothing can stop the upset a very simple thing such as insurance can mitigate the costs. Yes premiums might seem expensive but every cat is going to have vet bills at some time in its life.
As heartbreaking as it is, sometimes you have to say goodbye.
Pet insurance is a bit of a scam. They charge huge premiums, then try to find any excuse to avoid coughing up on top of the excess.
Then, when you renew, you find your premiums have skyrocketed to cover an exiting condition (or it is excluded from cover).
Pretty much like health insurance in the US.
Pretty much like what we will have here if people are stupid enough to re-elect the corrupt bunch of incompetent idiots we currently have running the country.
Im afraid people don’t care when I hit a cat by accident I took it to the vet first and then contact the owner they were so grateful.hope your cat recovery is going well .sorry but vets are a rip off and so are dentists.i run a business and have overheads but no way can I charge what they do
i’m sorry for the cat and owner but making out like he’s hit a child, driver fleeing the scene lol. he probably didn’t realize. but what exactly could he have done if he had stopped. if you are going to let cats roam the streets then this is inevitably going to happen
i have 3 cats and I love them more than any kid. I would be absolutely devastated if one of mine got hurt, luckily they only go out the back of the house. Cats have always had the freedom to roam, they were here long before cars, maybe people should drive with due care and attention
People can drive with due care and attention and still have an accident or run over a free roaming animal. There is no law for a driver to stop if they hit a cat. As always we don’t know the full story, all we have is the owner asking for money to help pay for her cats vets bills, we have no idea if the person who hit the cat even knew, cats and other animals have a habit of panicking at the last second and running into a direction of danger rather than safety.