Stow-away kittens hitch a ride to Sun City
Ashtyn Mackenzie
A trip to Sun City last month for Parkhurst resident Sue Craft and her family took a strange turn when Craft heard a meowing sound from her husband’s car.
He brushed off her claims, prompting Craft to think she was going crazy, she told Rosebank
but on arrival, they were in for a surprise from under their bonnet.
Craft has a domestic feral cat colony in her Parkhurst garden, and assumed the meowing may be one of the cats nearby. With children and grandchildren in tow, the group left the leafy suburb of Parkhurst for the heat and waves of Sun City on January 7. Throughout the trip, the sounds of tiny meows haunted Craft.
“When we arrived at the resort I called over my grandchildren. At this point I really thought I had lost my mind, but luckily they heard it too.”
Her daughter jumped into action, stopping an irrigation staff member, Gladwin Nkumane, for help. He could not get far enough under the vehicle to check the undercarriage for a stow-away cat.
Nkumane contacted his manager, Bennet Mohube, who called the resort’s indoor plants and fauna manager, Marinell Munro.
“The guests brought the car here, but Jabulani Khumalo (our workshop supervisor) couldn’t see anything by the engine space, so he decided to jack it up and look underneath,” said Munro.
Not one noisy cat, but four tiny kittens, were discovered and had miraculously survived the 162km journey.
“We took them to our animal shelter where myself; Dorin Moyo, our administrator; Lizzy Laka, our cleaner; and Manono Diko, one of my fauna staff, cleaned their eyes out, put eye drops in, and gave them some water and kitty milk to drink.”
The kittens, who were about four weeks old at the time, are fully recovered and, according to Munro, are getting fat and rather cute. They have been named Jabulani, Bennet, Rasta, and Lucy, after some of the staff who rescued them.
“I guess the little ones decided that they also needed a holiday in Sun City and jumped in the car,” said Munro.
Craft could not believe these little souls survived such a long trip. “I have contacted the Animal Anti-Cruelty League to help me sterilise the colony.” All four kittens were put up for adoption. – Caxton News Service