Kitten ‘lucky to be alive’ after crawling into car engine

The kitten was rescued after wedging himself in a car engine bay. Picture: CONTRIBUTED (Image: Archant)

The vets who were looking after the kitten - dubbed Sparky - said it was fortunate that car owner Zoe Slocombe heard his cries before driving her vehicle.

Zoe and her dad Les had to take a wheel and the headlights off the Ford Fiesta to release the kitten which was stuck deep inside the engine bay.

Sparky was taken to Cromwell Vets in Huntingdon where he was found not to have been harmed by his ordeal and now a bid to reunite the errant kitten with his owner, or find him a new home, has been started.

Zoe, 25, was at home in Huntingdon with her partner Jon, when she heard a 'meowing' from outside.

The kitten was rescued after wedging himself in a car engine bay. Picture: CONTRIBUTED (Image: Archant)

She said: "It was Monday evening and we were in the living room at home and I could just hear this 'meowing' which was coming from outside but we were not sure where it was coming from.

"I had a good look around and I couldn't see anything anywhere but then it seemed to be coming from my car."

Zoe said she looked around the car but still couldn't see the kitten, even though she could hear it clearly.

"My dad came out because I don't know much about cars and he couldn't see anything either. We took one of the wheels off and then we could see the cat right inside the engine."

She said: "It was trapped and we had to take both the headlights off to try to encourage it to come out. Then we managed to pull him out."

Zoe posted an online message to try to find the owner of the kitten which was taken to the vet's on her behalf.

"I just want to know he has gone to a good home," she said.

Lyndsay Burrell, from Cromwell Vets, said: "Nurse Megan Slack went out at midnight to collect him from the lady who was looking after him following his ordeal.

"Vet Marta Villuendas checked him over and was amazed to find he had no injuries. He was obviously quite scared and hissing at us."

Lyndsay said: "Marta says he is a very lucky little kitten. There is no end to the scenarios that could have happened - he could have got severe burns, got injured by the machinery of the engine or fallen out when the car was moving.

"The bottom line is that if Zoe hadn't found him and got him out he probably would not be alive today."

Lyndsay said they estimated that Sparky was probably only about seven weeks old, which was young to be let outside if he had an owner and had probably gone into the engine for a rest in the warm before becoming stuck.

She said the kitten was now coming out of his shell and, although they had received plenty of offers to rehome him, they felt it was right to pass him on to a rescue centre.

Lyndsay said the local RSPCA branch had agreed to care for him and put him in a temporary foster home before rehoming him, unless the owner came forward.