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10/30/09
A female tabby, since nicknamed “Daikin” was rescued yesterday in Coorparoo on Brisbane’s southside after spending nearly a week trapped within an old air conditioning unit.
The property owner heard strange noises from her 1970s-era air conditioner, but attributed the sounds to a rat infestation.
Rescuers were shocked to find an adult cat in such a tight space.
When we got out there we saw this very old air-con unit built in the 1970’s, a real dinosaur of a thing,” RSPCA ambulance officer Katrina Farmer said today.
“We thought we might be dealing with rats at first, the smell of urine was so pungent.”
Rescue workers said that the badly malnourished and dehydrated tabby had been trapped inside by a turbine for at least five days and could only be freed when the air conditioner was ripped off the wall.
“She is extremely dehydrated, frightened, and skinny which is no wonder after being stuck in there for so long,” RSPCA senior veterinarian Vicky Lomax said.
“She also has burns to her ears, and injuries to her front legs as though she has been dragging herself along.”
Rescuers have no clue as to how Daikin was able to climb inside the air conditioning unit.
“It has really surprised us. Cats are known to squeeze into strange places, but this was a very, very tight space.”
Daikin has undergone surgery today while the animal charity begins the search for her owners.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the RSPCA’s Fairfield shelter on 3426 9989.
[LINK: Brisbane Times]
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10/27/09
A tiny tuxie kitten who was clinging by his claws to his 9th and final life was rescued from a frigid Long Island storm drain this week.
A passerby heard his faint mews and investigated, locating him beneath a drainage grate in a parking lot. She called the Humane Society, and was lucky enough to talk to a volunteer who happened to be the wife of Oceanside Fire Chief Tim Biscay. The Biscays raced to the scene as the chief called his ladder company for assistance.
“We have a lot of tools, and deep down, most of the guys here are real animal lovers,” said Biscay, who has performed several cat rescues.
The firefighters tried to coax the shivering tuxie from its perch inside a pipe but he was too frightened to move. Then they “spooked” it with a fire extinguisher and the kitten leaped into the arms of firefighter Matt Martin.
“The poor little thing was pale and shaking — he was probably hypothermic,” said Biscay.
The kitten was taken to the Hilton Animal Hospital. “He was definitely hypothermic,” said Dr. Jeffrey Strom. “But he’s eaten and is in a warming cage, and he seems to be brightening up.” The kitten, nicknamed “Storm” spent the night in the warming cage. The next morning he was admitted to the Long Beach Humane Society for adoption.
He didn’t have to wait long. Two hours later, he was adopted by the mother-in-law of the original good Samaritan who alerted authorities to his predicament. How’s that for a happy ending?
[LINK: New York Post]
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10/23/09
One lucky orange tabby expended a few of his nine lives this week when he was trapped inside an SUVs engine compartment while the SUV traveled across town.
The driver, Wilfred Rodriguez, heard a strage rattling sound when he was driving in the Bronx. When he stopped, he got out to investigate, only to see a floofy tail and paw poking out from beneath the hood.
His first reaction was, “Oh my God! I killed a cat.” He was relieved when the paw moved.
The NYPD’s Emergency Services Unit responded and freed the oil-covered cat by removing the SUV’s battery and a few other vehicle parts.
Richard Gentles of New York City Animal Care & Control reported that the stray cat appeared to be in good physical shape However, the cat was suffering from fleas and severe fur-matting.
David Ziegler of the Center for Animal Care and Control told the New York Daily News, “He seems pretty calm, like he’s not in any pain,” Mr Ziegler said. “But he’s mean. He has been growling.”
Animal Care and Control said it would hold onto the cat for three days, although hope seemed dim that an owner would come forward to claim him.
[LINK: Telegraph.co.uk]
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10/20/09
 This week, a stowaway kitten was discovered perched precariously beneath the driver’s door of a Chiltern Railways train in the UK. Despite flying across the countryside at speeds in excess of 100 mph, the kitten was able to cling to the underside of the train over the course of his 900-mile journey until discovered and rescued at a station stop.
When drivers heard what sounded like soft mews coming from the underside of the driver’s cab door, they investigated, finding the black cat perched in a gear box area near the train’s wheels. He was lured out with a slice of salami, and taken to a vet where he was given a clean bill of health.
Chiltern Railways spokeswoman Emma Gascoigne said they believe the kitten leaped on to the train at Banbury train station in Oxforshire
She said, “The night before a driver at Banbury spotted the kitten run towards the train and then disappear. He couldn’t find it so he just carried on as normal.
“It wasn’t until the next night and 900 miles later than he realized that it must have been the same cat.
“This has never happened before. It managed to stay there for 900 miles and not fall off – it is absolutely amazing.”
Jodi Fox, a fleet resources assistant said, “It’s remarkable how he survived a 900-mile journey travelling at over 100mph – I was really shocked when I heard what had happened.
“He would have been able to see the tracks where he was and he must have been petrified.”
Jodi ended up adopting the kitten and naming him “Diesel.”
“When I got to work in the morning, I was asked whether I wanted a cat. I thought it was a joke but then I looked inside the box and I fell in love with him straight away – he just looked so cute.”
[LINK: DailyMail.co.uk]
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10/10/09
Cody the Cat is safe at home after a cross-country adventure that started in a Dallas UPS truck and ended in Chicago.
The adventuresome blue-eyed tuxie was accidentally packed and sealed in a packing box by his owner, Marie Webster, who runs a company which supplies materials to chiropractic offices. She was taping up a large box when Cody, sensing the opportunity for an excellent adventure, snuck inside.
“We arranged the foam and then we walked off [to] find a label … so I’m thinking he must have gotten in there then,” said Webster. “I’m sure he was completely panicked.”
She and her daughter searched frantically for Cody for the next few days.
On Wednesday, Brett St. Aubin, the director of a chiropractic clinic outside of Chicago, received the package of home traction units.
“We opened it up and we found cat hair on the merchandise,” the chiropractor said. “And [then] I saw the cat. I quickly closed the box back up.”
Cody’s collar had come off during the trip, so it took a few minutes to sort everything out. They pulled him from the box and initiated petting therapy.
“He was in shock, but well-behaved,” St. Aubin said.
Upon emptying the box they found his collar, and they immediately called Webster.
“He said ‘Are you the owner of Cody the cat?’ I said, ‘Yes I am,’” Webster said. “I started screaming. He said, ‘We’re in Illinois.’ I’m like, ‘What?’”
Plans were made to transport Cody back to Texas. St. Aubin took Cody to an animal hospital to get him checked out.
“He was just a little bit in shock,” said Brenda Brown, certified veterinary technician at the hospital. “We actually kept him here overnight, and he was eating and drinking normally. He definitely appeared to be in good spirits.”
Cody received the distinguished honor of “Patient of the Month” from St. Aubin before a courier whisked him to the airport.
“Everybody was just outstanding in helping me get this cat back,” Webster said.
[LINK: nwherald.com]
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09/18/09
This week in Syracuse, NY, a black cat named Sassy was rescued from a weeklong stay in a tall Pine tree by Mike Shetler of the A Cut Above Tree Service.
Sassy had been spooked, and found herself unable to shift into reverse to exit the tree. Shetler expertly scaled the tree, stashed Sassy in a backpack, and returned her to terra firma, into the arms of owner Brian Kattenborn.
Here’s the video:
In a reader? Click here.
Sassy was lucky. Shetler recalls a cat who was stuck in a tree for 14 days back in 1998. He rescued that cat, too, and nursed him back to health.
Kattenborn reports that Sassy smells like a Pine tree, but is otherwise doing fine.
[LINK: 9wsyr.com]
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09/16/09
The Goodwill Store in Huron, Ohio got a bonus this week in a donated sofa.
When the sofa in question began yowling, it took store personnel a few minutes to locate the source.
“We heard meowing and didn’t know where it was coming from,” store clerk Kaila Voight said.
“We finally figured out it was coming from the couch. We removed the cushions and out popped the kitten’s head through a slit in the fabric covering the springs,” she said.
Workers tore apart the couch to be sure no addtional kittens were trapped.
The donor called later, saying she was missing a kitten. When she learned the cat had been located, she gave her permission for a customer to adopt him.
This isn’t the first instance of a couch cat stowaway. In March, Callie Jean was discovered in a thrift store couch after being trapped inside for 12 days, and Autumn the Cat was discovered in a discarded box spring minutes before being dumped in landfill.
REMINDER: When donating getting rid of furniture — especially couches and box springs — thoroughly inspect it and do a kitty count before it leaves your home.
[SOURCE: Sandusky Register Online]
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09/10/09
 It’s miraculous enough to find a cat buried but still alive beneath a huge pile of rubble from a building destroyed by fire, but even more miraculous when that cat is found a month after the fire.
Smoka the Cat was last seen on August 9th, the night that the Franklin, Ohio apartment building in which she and owner lived burned to the ground. There was no sign of Smoka in any of her regular haunts, and everyone assumed she had perished in the fire.
Sandy LaPierre, Smoka’s owner, said, “Whenever my neighbor kicked the door in to get me out, she hid under the bed and that was the last I’ve seen of her.”
This week, as Starks Wrecking Services was clearing away the remaining hull of the building, one of the workers spotted a furry head poking up from beneath a pile of rubble. “I imagine 20 to 30 tons of trash on top of it,” said Clarence Witte. It was Smoka, dehydrated and emaciated, but still alive.
“I was stunned, shocked,” LaPierre said. “She is a miracle after staying there almost a month in the rubble.”
A veterinarian examined the cat, who was relatively healthy, given her ordeal, and said she had probably survived by eating insects.
“It looked like (she) just got off a boat from Ethiopia, but (she) was unscathed,” said Dennie Fitzgerald, the building’s owner. “With those bulldozers, those big bulldozers rolling over the top of that thing day after day, it should not have made it.”
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08/31/09
A grey and white kitten found by a field technician in the J. C. Elliot Landfill in Corpus Christie, Texas, has been rescued and immediately put to work as head office cat. Rescuers named him Elliot after the landfill.
Like most youngsters, Elliot has had no trouble at all learning how to use the computer. Most days he can be found, like most office workers, surfing the interwebs and filing TPS reports. Don’t forget the cover sheet, Elliot!
Don’t forget! You can leave a comment on this post for an entry in The Cat’s Meow’s giveaway of a custom oil painting of your cat by Linden Alley.
[LINK:kiiitv.com]
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08/16/09
Thanks to an alert clerk at the Stop & Shop Supermarket in the Swampscott Mall, Gloria the Cat has a chance of enjoying her remaining eight lives.
The clerk called the Swampscott (Mass.) Police Department when he heard a cat mewing from the inside of a glass-crushing recycling machine. The machine operates by having two grinding gears come together to crush glass upon activation by an internal motor. If another glass had been dropped in, Gloria would have been mutilated.
They unplugged the machine and removed the front so that animal control officer Diane Treadwell could reach in and pry the cat out.
“I looked up into the machine. Gloria was up inside, perched on a little shelf maybe an inch wide, between the motor and the two crushers,” Treadwell says. “There was a space, maybe an inch or an inch and a half wide and when I looked into it, all I could see was a tail.”
Treadwell stuck her hand into the space to reach the cat.
“I just grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and by her tail and pulled,” Treadwell says. “Her head got a little stuck trying to get through the narrow part but I wiggled and it came out.”
Gloria was totally covered in glass dust.
“She had glass dust in her eyes that I flushed out as soon as I could,” Treadwell says. “But the most amazing thing is that throughout this all, Gloria never scratched or bit.”
Gloria was named after disco queen Gloria Gaynor, who performed the 70s hit, “I Will Survive.”
Treadwell added, “I can’t imagine anyone cruel enough to have put the cat inside the machine. But I do know that Gloria has used up one of her nine lives.”
You can make this happy ending complete by adopting Gloria. She’s at the Marblehead Animal Shelter, 44 Village St. Marblehead, Mass. They’re open from 4 to 6 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays and from noon to 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Their phone number is 781-631-8664.
[LINK: Wicked Local]
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