NYC cat OK after being dropped by hawk

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NEW YORK, July 16 (UPI) -- A New York woman says she had nearly given up hope her pet cat, Eddie, was still alive after the feline was carried off by a red-tailed hawk.

But Eddie, who weighs in at a hefty 15 pounds, was found stunned and disheveled but still kicking in the back yard of an apartment building after the estimated 4-pound bird apparently couldn't hang on and dropped it.

Eddie plummeted an estimated five stories but was no worse for wear, the New York Daily News said Saturday. "He checked out fine, other than some minor cuts, scrapes and bruises," said Eddie's owner, who did not want to be identified. "The vet says he's an amazing cat."

The woman admitted she wasn't so fine after hearing a ruckus outside her Upper West Side apartment and finding "fur, broken nails and feathers" when she went out to investigate.

"I walked for hours all over the neighborhood and up Riverside Drive, sobbing, looking for his body," she said. "I went to all the hawks' nests. I put up signs with Eddie's photo."

Animal experts said hawks generally don't consider household pets to be on their menu; however, they did recall a 2003 incident in Bryant Park when a hawk swooped down on an unsuspecting Chihuahua.