Stowaway kittens from S Cyprus hit UK headlines
THREE tiny stowaway kittens from South Cyprus have hit the headlines in the UK after they were discovered trapped inside a car and apparently survived a week-long journey without food or water.
Neptune, Sinbad and Galene, as they have been named, were found inside a vehicle on board Eddystone, a military vessel, a week into a ten-day, 2,000-mile journey from Limassol to Southampton in the UK, according to a Just Giving page that has been set up by the UK Cats Protection charity to raise money for the trio.
Cats Protection is the UK’s leading feline welfare charity and they help around 200,000 cats and kittens every year.
The lucky felines were discovered by the ship’s crew who looked after them for the remainder of the journey and gave them their names.
The kittens were given a clean bill of health and have now begun a three-month stay in quarantine, being paid for by Cats Protection after which the charity will find them new homes. The ship’s agent, Patrick Fortnum told Metro UK on Wednesday how surprised the crew were to see three kittens sitting on the car’s dashboard staring out at them.
“They were about three or four weeks old and were in remarkably good condition considering they’d had no food or water for a week. Their survival is miraculous,” he told the paper.
He added that the vessel’s crew quarantined them in an empty cabin for four days and kept them fed and warm. He said that the kittens were very friendly and not at all timid or shy.
“We don’t know how they got into the car and they must have kept very quiet when the car was driven onto the boat because the driver didn’t hear or see anything odd.”
He added that the car was locked at the port of Limassol so it’s possible the kittens’ mother had exited the car and is still in South Cyprus. Cats Protection said they would be grateful for any donations towards the cost of their care, as quarantine and finding them a new home is likely to reach in excess of £2,000.
Any funds raised in excess of the appeal will be used to help other cats and kittens in the charity’s care.
You can donate via www.justgiving.com/ fundraising/cats-protectioncypruscats www.cats.org.uk.