Stowaway cat travelled 3,400 miles from Egypt to Nottingham in luggage hold of plane

A cat that was accidentally scooped up in its owner's luggage survived a 3,400-mile plane and car journey from Egypt to Nottinghamshire. Bisou, a seven-year-old Persian, had hopped into Mervat Ciuti's suitcase for a nap at her Cairo home as she packed to visit her sister Monica in Radcliffe-on-Trent.



Mervat unwittingly zipped her pet into her luggage at her house in Egypt as she rushed to get a cab waiting to take her to the airport. Bisou slipped through security at Cairo unspotted and was stacked into the hold of the plane with hundreds of other bags. It was only when Mervat's mobile rang while she was in a taxi on the M1 up to Notts – after the six-hour flight landed at Heathrow – that she realised what had happened.

A relative back home in Cairo had realised the cat, who normally never leaves the house, was missing, and frantically called her owner. Monica, 40, said: "When she realised what had happened she said she was trembling. She thought she would be dead. How could she survive? At the airport the cases could have been thrown and banged about." Mervat, 42, returned to Egypt after spending a few weeks staying at a flat in Mapperley and visiting her sister.


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But she had to leave Bisou in quarantine at Calagran Kennels in Chesterfield, where she is still waiting for the all-clear to be shipped safely back to Egypt in the summer. Mike Binks, owner of the centre, described the cat's adventure as a "miracle". He said: "She's a healthy, happy, laid-back Persian who likes sitting outside in the sunshine."