In a Lidl spot of bother: Tatty the cat uses one of his nine lives after hitching 70mph ride to the supermarket while stuck under a car’s bonnet
- The driver did not notice Tatty the cat until he pulled into a car park and heard it
- Once the car stopped Tatty ran out and got stuck in the engine area of another
- The driver called the RSPCA and Tatty was rescued and returned to his family
A remarkable ginger cat managed to survive a 70mph journey down a duel carriageway while being stuck under a car’s bonnet.
Tatty sat in the engine bay of the car’s bonnet for four miles before the driver noticed him.
The driver pulled into a Lidl car park in Stockton-on-Tees when he heard a meow and noticed Tatty.
Tatty ran out and behind the engine of another car in the parking lot where he was stuck and unable to get out.
Tatty the cat survived sitting in a car’s engine area while it drove for four miles at 70mph on a duel carriageway
Tatty is a six-year-old ginger cat who lives with his owner Caroline and her two daughters Rihanna and Naomi
Animal Collection Officer (ACO) Shane Lynn rescued the cat from the second engine he managed to get himself stuck behind
The driver called the RSPCA and Animal Collection Officer (ACO) Shane Lynn rescued the adventurous little guy.
He said: ‘He was well and truly stuck behind the engine of the other car when I arrived but with the car owner’s help we managed to disconnect the battery and several electrical components under the bonnet to make just enough room for me to reach him and bring him to safety.
‘The rescue took around an hour as it was quite tricky.
‘We then put the car back together and checked everything worked before I left.
‘Thankfully, this intrepid cat had no injuries which was quite a surprise. It would have been quite hot being stuck in the engine bay of a car at that speed so Tatty was very lucky.
‘After a health check at the vets, I was able to reunite him with his owners.’
Six-year-old Tatty had only been missing for the afternoon but he usually stays inside or very close to their home.
So his owner, Caroline Ludlam, had already posted on Facebook asking people in the area to keep a lookout for him.
Pictured: Tatty reunited with his family Rihanna and Naomi Ludlam after he was rescues from the carpark unharmed despite his dangerous journey
Caroline said: ‘We were very much relieved to have him home and he purred all night!
‘We’ve had a lot of loss in the last few years with two of our dogs and our cat was run over so I didn’t think we could handle anything else.
‘We were just so relieved to have him back in one piece.
‘It really was the power of Facebook as someone spotted a post from the driver of the car and asked if it was my cat.
‘He’s not used to going outside and he’s quite a shy cat so he probably just ran and hid under the car.
‘He was very lucky he wasn’t injured!’