Advertisement

Kitten survives 17-mile drive in engine compartment

By Ben Hooper
Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter

Oct. 11 (UPI) -- An Idaho man who heard a sound coming from the engine compartment of his car said a kitten survived his 17-mile drive home from work.

Brian Ray said he didn't hear meowing coming from under the hood of his car until he arrived home from work and enlisted the help of his wife, Amanda, to find the cause.

Advertisement

"It's crazy to have driven 17 miles ... and not have noticed that I had a cat under the hood," Brian Ray told KBOI-TV.

"The kitten dove under the engine block and we couldn't get her from below and we couldn't get from above," he said. "And, so we tried to hatch this plan."

Ray used a carjack to lift the front-end of the car so Amanda could get underneath to look for the kitten.

Amanda Ray said she quickly caught a glimpse of the feline, which had a red spot on her face that appeared to be an injury.

"I was honestly afraid she was bleeding internally," Amanda Ray said. "And, that when I got her out, she was going to be like gushing blood."

The Rays were eventually able to free the kitten and take it to the Simply Cats shelter, where veterinarians identified the injury.

Advertisement

"We later learned that that's called degloving," Simply Cat's Outreach Coordinator Kate Beyer said. "And, it is exactly that. It's when your frontal lip gets detached from your gum line."

The shelter said the kitten, dubbed Briar, will soon undergo surgery to treat the injury.

"This is a reminder to bang on your hood when in cold weather!" the shelter said in a Facebook post. "Cats and other small critters like to climb in for warmth."

Latest Headlines