Do we have an instinctive aversion to dead animals?

….my cat just got hit by a car. The neighbor came and got me…he had picked her up off the road and put her in the trash can in front of his house. It was dark, so I could only see the suggestion of what…..where she was hit. It was… in the head. I touched her, and I could tell she was dead, although she was still warm. I wanted to pick her up but…I took off my jacket and scooped her up in that because I couldn’t bring myself to….touch her. I cradled her like a baby in my jacket and brought her home. I kept the jacket loosely over her head, and I could see the back half wasn’t affected, so I kept my hand on her tummy and legs until the warmth left her. Then I wrapped her all the way up and put her in a box until till tomorrow.
Was the…it was almost a terror I had of touching any of the blood or…anything because she was dead. Knowing me, if there was a chance for life I could have dealt with looking at or touching anything but…the fact that she was dead made everything very, very different….is it an instinct? Or a social construct. I’m having a difficult moment here….thank you for your patience…