Thursday, June 18, 2009

Cat survives month in container

A cat has survived being trapped inside a 20ft industrial storage container for more than a month. Socks, from Arbroath in Angus, kept himself alive by licking condensation from the sides of the metal container. When the 11-month-old was discovered by an electrician he was dehydrated and half his ideal body weight.

His owner Michelle Maher, 24, had put up missing posters and searched the streets for Socks. She said she was "overjoyed" to have him back. Socks was last seen on 13 May and Ms Maher said that she thought he had been run over by a car.

"I didn't think he was coming back at all. I thought I'd lost him, I even got a new kitten because I thought he had gone," she said. "I was over-the-moon at the sight of him. I was scared to see him at first because I didn't know what kind of state he would be in but he's fine, he's a bit skinnier but he's going to make a full recovery."



Socks was discovered on 16 June in a metal container, similar to a shipping container, used to store supplies for electrical firm D Adam and Company in Arbroath. Electrician Murray Ruxton said: "I was just going through some stock and I saw something out the corner of my eye shuffling about. When I realised it was a cat I knew straightaway he must be in trouble as none of us had visited the unit for at least four weeks.

"He was really friendly and came up to me but I realised how thin he was and was very concerned so I rang Cats Protection, and a volunteer came straight out. I'm amazed by him and so thrilled he is doing well. I am planning to go and see him and say hello properly."

Sharyn Wood, co-ordinator of Cats Protection's Arbroath branch, said: "We got Socks to a vet straight away, who said it is an absolute miracle he has survived. Cats do have a habit of sneaking into all sorts of nooks and crannies, but I've never heard of anything like this before. Cats are remarkably resilient but to survive for over a month in those conditions it really quite amazing. We are just so happy that Socks is okay, but I hope he will be a little more cautious in the future."

Many thanks Jack, who is Associate Editor at BuzzFeed.

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