Towcester Veterinary Centre on Burcote RoadTowcester Veterinary Centre on Burcote Road
A lucky cat is being nursed back to health after getting trapped under the floorboards of his neighbour’s house without food or water – for nearly two MONTHS.
Seven-year-old Harry disappeared on December 19 and had been given up for dead by devastated owners Paulette Kennedy, 62, and her husband Rod, 63.
Unbeknown to them, the mischievous moggie had climbed under the floorboards of the house next door during building work.
He was only discovered when the Kennedy’s neighbours went to inspect the ongoing restoration work and heard scratching under their feet.
Harry – who weighed just over 6lbs and was close to death – was rushed to a veterinary clinic and put on a drip.
Vets reckon the emaciated cat survived by licking condensation from the water pipes running under the floorboards.
Now Harry, a British short-haired blue, is on his way back to full health thanks to what owner Paulette described as a ”minor miracle”.
She said: ”It is absolutely astonishing. We had given up all hope.
”No one knows how he got under the floor boards or how he could possibly have survived.”
The Kennedy’s spent weeks plastering their village of Blisworth, Northants., with missing posters but had resigned themselves to the worst by the time Harry was found.
Paulette said: ”After seven weeks of looking we had done everything we could think of.
”We were just looking for a body really so we could get some closure.
”Thanks goodness the neighbours chose to go round to the house that particular morning.
”They were in the house just talking when they heard a noise. Harry must have moved underneath the floorboards because by this time he was too weak to make any noise.
”They pulled up a board and looked down to see him underneath a pipe. It was incredible.”
After being rescued two weeks ago Harry had to stay on a drip at Towcester Vetinary Centre for seven days.
Paulette, who runs a sports shop in Northampton with her husband, said it is a mystery how Harry got under the floorboards in the first place.
”It is very perplexing,” she said. ”He must have snuck in there and gone to sleep without the builders realising.
”One of the builders said he had lifted the particular floorboard Harry was found under lots of times to store his tools so maybe he could move around under the floor.
”You’d have thought he’d have made himself heard or something while he was trapped, but he didn’t come out. Maybe he was just so traumatised.
”All the nurses were just amazed, they said in all their studies they’d never seen anything like it. It’s a very happy ending.”
Towcester Veterinary Centre head nurse Vickie Boswell said Harry was ”nearly dead” when he was brought in.
She said: ”He weighed just three kilos, he was very very dehydrated, as well as being emaciated.
”We’ve done some tests and everything is functioning as it should be.
”We think he was without food or water for somewhere in the region of about seven weeks, but we think he was probably getting some moisture or water from some soil somewhere because he had some soil in his mouth.
”We’re really pleased, everybody’s really pleased. It’s such a rare case to be involved in. This is not something you see very often.”
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