Cleo's story

A year and a half ago, stunning little Cleo came in to the Devereux family with her brother Cooper, and they have been inseparable ever since their arrival. Lauren and her partner Sam took Cleo, and Lauren's mum Colette took on little Cooper. Cleo was Lauren and Sam's first pet together and would enjoy having her belly tickled before nesting down for the night on their feet, but always be first up and ready to go on her daily adventures. Cleo loved being outside with nature, whereas Cooper prefers chilling at home indoors. Cleo always had been the confident one and even got on well with the dogs Socks the collie and Juniper the golden retriever, who was the younger one who would chase her, although would end up with a paw for it.

Initially, Cleo and Cooper were originally brought up as house cats. The family were conscious of potential dangers so had all intentions of keeping them as indoor cats. They would be taken out on a harness occasionally but it soon became clear they longed for adventure. Cleo proved to be very much an outdoor cat at heart so the family very slowly introduced her in to it.

Cleo was constantly exploring and loved to climb and balance on things, hunt, and even enjoyed making friends with the local toms. She was the confident one of the two and defended her little patch of the planet proudly, even gaining a few nose cuts in the process.

One rainy night, Cleo chose to go out on her usual adventures, not bothered about the rain. A little later on, the family began getting worried when she didn't return for her food. They wasted no time in dishing flyers out to find out if anyone had seen her or knew anything. She had been missing for a few days when they eventually found out that she had been hit by a truck on the Tuesday. Right outside her house! A neighbour found her on that rainy night and put her in the rubbish bins. Nobody attempted to help her or have her microchip checked, nor did they bother to knock on surrounding doors to try and notify them. The family were left with the haunting questions so many have when drivers fail to do the decent thing. They wonder, if she had got medical treatment straight away, could she have been saved? The family will always wonder if the driver was speeding or if they cared at all, along with why couldn't people simply knock on doors to let them know. To make the situation even worse, by the time the family found out where the neighbour had put her, the bins had already been taken away leaving it impossible to retrieve her little body and bring her home to pay to rest with the dignity and respect she deserved surrounded by the family who loved her.

Cooper is sad wondering where his sister is. Cleo was the leader and Cooper would follow. Now he has to be a brave cat without his sister. As the family try to grieve and make sense of what's happened, they remember her fondly. They remember her little tricks and traits, how she would love to catch moths and paw their faces for breakfast. Cleo will clearly leave a big hole in the family.

The family felt a microchip was enough, but suggest perhaps nobody knew what to do at that time. It was cold and wet outside, and classed as 'out of hours'. A microchip is an animals best chance of being reunited with family if they get lost, or the worst sadly happens, but the family and ourselves realise it also takes people to understand what to do in certain situations.

See highlighted links for further info;

If you hit a cat, especially out of hours, never just drive off. It takes only a few moments to stop the car and check on the cat. Should the cat still be alive, there are some simple actions you can take to stabilise the cat. This will allow you time to either take the cat to a vet or knock on neighbouring houses to try and locate an owner. If the cat is sadly deceased, a veterinarian can scan for a microchip or use this simple tool to find your nearest scan angel who can attend the scene to scan for you and notify the owner. The same applies should you find a cat in the road. It takes a few moments to contact your local scan angel simply telling them you have found a cat and asking can they come out to scan them. Putting animals in local bins will lead to the clock quickly ticking down for an owner to locate them and, due to them having no clue of the situation, it is likely the bins will be emptied before the owner has chance to search them. It likely takes more time and effort picking a cat up and locating a local public bin and taking them there, than it does simply knocking on a few neighbours houses or calling the scan angel to take over. Your actions will cause a lifetime of misery for an owner who simply wants closure and the chance to lay their beloved pet to rest properly.

In most instances, incidents happen in close proximate to the cats home. Simply knocking on a few surroundings doors will more than likely reveal the owner, or a neighbour who knows where the cat lives.

Please do the right thing.

RIP Cleo