Campaigners are calling for more ‘pawsitive’ action to help cat owners, should the worst happen to their pets.

Mandy Lowe and Tiya Ivy set up #CatsMatter after their moggies were involved in hit-and-run incidents.

And they want to see a change in the law that would mean motorists whose vehicle hits a cat are obliged to stop and report the matter to the authorities.

In the meantime, cat owners across Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire are being urged to make sure their pets are micro-chipped in the hope this will lead to less heartache.

Currently, councils are not obliged to scan cats but CatsMatter have managed to persuade 20 local authorities to make this common practise.

Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire both have their own cat scanning strategy in place.

Karen Minnery, of Cats Protection’s volunteer-run Giffnock branch, said: “Since 2015, we have been working with East Renfrewshire Council to scan cats involved in road traffic accidents for a microchip.

“The council’s street sweepers carry microchip scanners donated by the branch which they use to scan dead or injured animals.

“If the cat is chipped, then either ourselves or the council can swiftly inform the owners and, if the cat isn’t chipped, then their distinguishing characteristics are recorded so that we, or a local vet can make further efforts to find the owner.

“Since the service was introduced, we have picked up an estimated 20 deceased cats and informed their owners, which enables us to provide an important sense of closure.”

A spokesman for Renfrewshire Council added: “We already adopt a scanning approach to ensure that owners are informed if their cat is involved in an accident.

“Any cats which have been injured or killed are reported by our StreetScene team to our animal warden service in the first instance.

“The wardens will then scan the cat to identify whether it has been microchipped and, if registered, the owner will be notified.”

The Scottish Government has urged all drivers involved in a road accident with a cat to ‘do the decent thing.’

A spokesperson added: “Any legislative change would be a reserved matter for the UK Government but we would expect all responsible drivers to report accidents where animals such as cats have been injured so that the authorities can, if possible, take steps to notify the owners of the animals involved.”