Cat survives 200-mile journey to Shropshire in van's engine bay – with barely a scratch
A miracle cat has been reunited with its owner – after surviving a 203-mile journey trapped in the engine bay of a van.
The female, ginger cat was taken to Leonard Brothers Veterinary Centre in Whitchurch after being freed from the engine bay of a van by firefighters based in nearby Prees.
The cat did not have a microchip or a collar so veterinary nurse Heather Venables started an investigation to find its owner.
Vet Steve Leonard said: "We were given a stray cat that had crawled into the engine bay of a van. It had minor injuries when it was taken to us – slight grease on the coat and abrasion to the upper lip – but otherwise unharmed.
"The big mystery was where she had come from. If there had been a microchip we could have traced her owner in 10 minutes but because there was not one in place we had no idea.
"Heather went the extra mile and tried to investigate where the cat had come from. She initially contacted the people who had brought her into us. It turned out that the van had began its journey in Southend-on-Sea and had made two stops along its way back to Shropshire.
"Heather then found the details for the local vets in each area the van had stopped. She contacted each one informing them of the cat's story.
"The Downs Veterinary Centre in Southend-on-Sea kindly said they would place a Facebook post with some pictures to see if there may be someone local to them missing the cat.
"The story was quickly shared by many and by the next day a matching lost post was identified on another Southend-on-Sea Facebook page. The owners were directed to the post by the Downs veterinary centre and were able to get in contact with us.
"They quickly supplied us with photos of their missing cat which was an exact match for the poor lost cat we had, and before we knew it they were on their way, making the 203-mile journey up to us.
"When they arrived it was immediately apparent that it was Kitty as she suddenly became content in the arms of her owner."
Konstantins Marackovski, Kitty's owner, said he was "over the moon" to find his cat safely back home.
