Help- cat has caught a bat

Just heard a horrible sound downstairs, turned out the cat has caught a bat- not for the first time but this one is alive.

It was squarking at her and showing some fight, I've checked the poor thing and apart from a little damage to it's wing-not the bones it seems fine but very shaken. It has stopped squarking since removing the cat and apart from it's little chest going very fast it is very quietly sat in my hand, I think it may die and if it was obviously injured I would put it out of it's misery but- if anyone knows if there is anything I can do to help it please say. I love bats.

Bloody cat! she is a nightmare for catching things, she spends her whole time stalking. Bell collars make no difference, she is too quick!

Can you check the bat over and look for puncture wounds to the chest or abdomen? If there's any puncture wounds then the poor wee thing will almost certainly die and putting it out of its misery is the kindest thing to do.

If there are no puncture wounds or broken bones then it may have a chance. It's probably knackered and would benefit from a rest somewhere dark and quiet and possibly some fluids with a little bit of sugar being syringe fed to pep it up a bit, but other than that there's not really a lot you can do I don't think.

If it's sitting in your hand it's probably too done in to escape or make a sensible flight attempt, so I'd put it somewhere safe and quiet for a bit and see what it's like just before dawn (if you can get up in time to check it out and release if it's doing ok).

Most bats can't fly from sitting on something, so to release them you have to find a place for them to hang from or throw them up in the air and hope.

Should beable to see any puncture wounds easy depends on damge on wing see if it will climg a towel using all limbs

If all looks ok i would release it on a large tree if possible

If its torn its wing only you can repair it

I checked a bit straight away, it has a puncture wound in the wing but no bone issues, body looked fine. It is still but responsive to sound, it's ears moved around when OH walked past the room. I don't want to put it out as I'm not convinced it is too injured. Just seems knackered. But still sat in my hand

Just read something that says keep warm in a box with damp tissue, cat food and try and release at dusk hanging off tissue. Will see if we get that far poor thing. Seriously fallen out with the cat!

I checked a bit straight away, it has a puncture wound in the wing but no bone issues, body looked fine. It is still but responsive to sound, it's ears moved around when OH walked past the room. I don't want to put it out as I'm not convinced it is too injured. Just seems knackered. But still sat in my hand

 

Just read something that says keep warm in a box with damp tissue, cat food and try and release at dusk hanging off tissue. Will see if we get that far poor thing. Seriously fallen out with the cat!

Can you check the bat over and look for puncture wounds to the chest or abdomen? If there's any puncture wounds then the poor wee thing will almost certainly die and putting it out of its misery is the kindest thing to do.

 

If there are no puncture wounds or broken bones then it may have a chance. It's probably knackered and would benefit from a rest somewhere dark and quiet and possibly some fluids with a little bit of sugar being syringe fed to pep it up a bit, but other than that there's not really a lot you can do I don't think.

 

If it's sitting in your hand it's probably too done in to escape or make a sensible flight attempt, so I'd put it somewhere safe and quiet for a bit and see what it's like just before dawn (if you can get up in time to check it out and release if it's doing ok).

 

Most bats can't fly from sitting on something, so to release them you have to find a place for them to hang from or throw them up in the air and hope.

Thanks Medusa. The only syringes I have have, have had metacam in- except horse sized ones.

It seemed the warmth of my hand has helped, he started chattering so I assumed he was making echo noises, so I put him in the box and he started scrambling around. I picked him back up and he is now sat here in my hand looking around and waking up. He doesn't move if sat in my hand but scrambles if in box. If he continues to improve I'll see if he can fly off, being very careful he doesn't do this in the room.

Can you believe the other cat has just caught a vole. I fed the rest of the cat food sachet from the bat to them but not hungry! Just on mega cat catching mission. Is it a full moon or something?

Hopefully little Bruce will be off in flight in a couple of hours, amazing little creature.

is it then just a punture in wing then not torn.Should be ok if so will heel quiclky yes above right make sure its nice and quite best of luck

Thanks, Bruce seems to be improving. It looks like he was shattered and needed a rest somewhere safe, warm and quiet. Hopefully he carries on in this direction.

If its torn its wing only you can repair it

How do you repair? I'm guessing duct tape won't work.

Just took Bruce outside and he flew off into the distance. Happy little bat survived.

Well done Jess, sounds like Bruce is a very lucky little chap

Gosh how unusual, how on earth do you repair a BAT'S wing? Call a witch? Lol seriously I had to rescue a swift from the eaves as he got himself tangled in some string. All I did was make sure he was okay then put him in a dark box to recover. Lil ones panic and do die from this so dark quiet place best till evening, then take him outside hang him upside down and see if he'll take off? Best guess if not too badly damaged. Good luck luv x