This lucky cat is counting her nine lives after surviving over a MONTH trapped in a cellar in Wick with absolutely no food or water.
The tortoiseshell cat, who is named Gizmo, was rescued on Friday after a passer-by heard a mewing frenzy from an ironmonger’s basement.
And she was reunited with owner vet Iain Maclean – who had actually given her up for dead after she disappeared from his home in Milton on June 19.
Gizmo is now believed to have survived by catching an odd mouse and by also licking condensation from a copper pipe.
And she was quickly put on a drip after being missing for a whopping total of 39 days.
Kevin Milkins owns the cellar on Miller Lane, Wick, and also runs Birons the Ironmongers on the main street.
He stated: “Someone came into my shop on Friday and said they heard cat noises coming out of my cellar. I told them that was impossible as I’d put new doors on the cellar and we hadn’t been in there for at least a month.
“There was no way a cat could have got in as the space is totally sealed off from the outside world.”
Kevin opened the cellar and was gobsmacked to find the friendly feline who was “as skinny as a farm gate.”
He went on to say: “We brought her up to the shop and gave her a biscuit and some milk and she seemed quite happy but I very much doubt if she could have survived down there much longer.”
Kevin explained that he’s certain the cellar hadn’t been opened since June 26 and with no other entry points, Gizmo must have been trapped since that time.
After contacting the SSPCA and posting various photos on social media, the cat’s owner was located very quickly and turned out to be local vet Iain Maclean.
He and his wife Dr Emily Cobb live approximately a mile outside the town in Milton, and guess that Gizmo hitched a fly lift into Wick in a local person’s car or truck.
Iain stated: “It was June 19 when we last saw her so that’s well over a month. We’d actually given her up for dead.
“She is a good mouser though, so perhaps she survived by eating the odd one she caught.”
“She’s never been lost for more than 48 hours so we really thought we’d never see her again. She was very wobbly that first day and I took her up to my surgery to give her some fluids but she’s gradually picking up.
“We let her out under supervision but she’s just spending most of the time relaxing in the conservatory.”
Kevin added: “I’ve done a bit of research and they reckon a cat can live possibly two weeks without food and four days without water.
“There is a bit of dampness down here but not enough to keep her going I’d have thought. Maybe she licked moisture from a copper pipe to stay alive. It’s really quite a mystery.”
Now, that’s one VERY LUCKY kitty!
