When nine lives are not enough.
Cats often pay a fatal price for their freedom.
These are dangerous times for Britain s 7.7 million pet cats. Dr Irene Rochlitz, who is currently compiling a study on feline road casualties at Cambridge Vets School, says that an estimated 12 per cent of all pet cats are now killed on the road. Road accidents have also become just about the greatest single killer of cats under the age of four, and even if cats are not killed outright they can often suffer appalling injuries, causing them to lose limbs or eyes. Anyone who has had a cat killed or seriously injured on the road knows what a shattering experience it can be. He had been hit by a car and fractured both back legs, which I treated.