A HITCH-HIKING kitten was lucky to have lost only a couple of its nine lives after crawling into a vet’s car engine and staying there while he drove 12 miles to and from his home.
Vet Peter Scales with Itsy
Itsy, a 12-week-old black and white moggy, decided to hide in the engine compartment after escaping from her cat carrier outside the Carsdale veterinary practice, in Witham Close, Hilton.
Her owner, Ann Hallam, of Dryden Street, Derby, was distraught when the kitten slinked out of the carrier, hopping over her shoulder and disappearing out of sight.
Vet Peter Scales said: “I came out of the surgery when I heard a commotion outside.
“Mrs Hallam was crying and searching for her kitten.” Mr Scales joined in the hunt for the mischievous moggy, and was joined by several other members of the public.
Mrs Hallam, who is an animal lover, with four dogs, a pony and six other cats, scoured through bins and under parked cars, as well as knocking on neighbouring doors in search of the animal for more than an hour.
She even returned later in the evening, before giving up and going home, broken-hearted.
The following morning, when Mr Scales had driven to work from his home in Repton, he heard a faint mewing from his car.
He said: “I could just hear this little kitten crying from somewhere.
“I figured out it must be coming from the engine so I had a look and the kitten was literally in the depths of the engine.
“It’s a little black and white kitten, but all the white bits were just black.”
After examining the traumatised animal, he found nothing wrong with it, apart from a little dehydration, and he called her owner with the good news.
Mrs Hallam said: “I was crying when I got the call.
“She’s alright, she’s her normal mischievous self.”
Mr Scales, who has worked at the practice in Hilton since qualifying as a vet three years ago, said the car journey to Repton and back was approximately 12 miles, travelling along roads that have 40 and 50 mph speed limits.
He said: “It’s a miracle that it didn’t fall while I was driving or get burned by the heat of the engine.
“It’s a very lucky kitten but I think it’s lost a couple of its nine lives.”