Cat survives being walled in under bath for 7 week

[real6]

http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSLQ33176320080826?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews

BERLIN (Reuters) - A four-year-old cat in Germany called Bonny has survived after being walled in beneath a bathtub for seven weeks, its owner said Tuesday.

"It's a miracle," said Monika Hoppert, a 60-year-old widow from the western town of Stadthagen. "I'm a strong believer, I think she must have had a guardian angel. I'm so happy."

Bonny disappeared on June 19 while workmen were replacing pipes in the block of flats where Hoppert lives. The black cat was last seen in a neighboring apartment, where the cladding around a bathtub had been removed.

Just before tub was sealed up again, Bonny had probably crept underneath, Hoppert said.

By the time the neighbor heard Bonny's plaintive miaowing from behind the tiles on August 8, the cat's weight had dropped from 13 pounds to 4 pounds.

"I couldn't believe it. But when I got down there, I knew it was my cat because they all have their own voice," said Hoppert.

Bonny was so weak the vet recommended she be put down. But Hoppert nursed her back to health with watered down kitten food.

"She's almost back to normal now. This morning was the first time she'd jumped onto my bed again," Hoppert said.

[w1nstonsm1th84]

Poor cat... typical, shoddy workmanship... I can definitely believe this story. :eek:

Great ending, must have been absolutely terrible for the cat... but it turned out purrrfect for that cat, and its owners in the end. :rolleyes: :o

:)

[notthisshitagain]

This reminds me of that Edgar Allan Poe story... :D I'm glad for the kitty, though.

[deafbred]

http://www.brooklynpaper.com/assets/photos/31/29/31_29_savedcat2_i.jpg
they put him in the psych ward for saying his cat was in the wall

http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/31/29/31_29_bm_cat.html?comm=1

Trapped cat drives man to psych wardBy Ben Muessig
The Brooklyn Paper
Enlarge this image

The Brooklyn Paper / Ben Muessig
Chris Muth gets some quality time with Rumi. It was only Muth’s dogged determination that saved the cat from his imprisonment in a building wall for 15 days.

It took animal rescuers, neighbors and a concerned pet owner 15 days — and one trip to the psych ward — to save a 7-year-old kitty that was trapped in a narrow shaft in a Carroll Gardens apartment building.

The part-Persian, part-American short-haired cat — named Rumi in honor of the famed Middle Eastern poet — owes it all to Chris Muth, the man who actually ended up in a mental hospital during the ordeal.

He has the “bizarre delusion [that he] was trying to ‘save’ a cat of his friend,” medical records show.

This story was bizarre, but the “delusion” was actually quite real.

Rumi fell nearly 30 feet after his owner, Yanusz Gilewicz, brought him to Muth’s Court Street sublet on July 7. Though known for his calm demeanor, Rumi became a scaredy-cat and dashed away from the pet-sitter.

Cats will be cats, so Muth wasn’t alarmed. But after two days without seeing the puss, Muth, a 49-year-old contractor, searched his apartment and made a horrific discovery: A clump of Rumi’s black hair sat on the lip of a small hole beneath his bathroom sink that plummets from the third-floor to the ground level.

Muth immediately ripped a larger hole in his bathroom wall and made catcalls to the confined kitty, who meowed back from the bottom of the shoebox-sized duct.

But Muth couldn’t reach Rumi through his own bathroom, nor could he rescue the cat after ripping holes in a neighbor’s apartment (with permission, of course).

Muth claims he called 311, the fire department and police to help him save the cat, but couldn’t get through the bureaucracy.

That’s when this feline Baby Jessica story took a crazy turn.

After 21 straight hours of trying to rescue Rumi, Muth determined that the only way to save the cat was to break into a third apartment. But this time, the owner of that unit wasn’t home to give Muth the OK.

So in a decision that was certainly heroic but possibly criminal, Muth broke into the unit and barricaded himself inside as he attempted to rescue Rumi.

“After 60 hours stuck down there, I thought the cat was going to die — otherwise, I wouldn’t have panicked like I did,” Muth said.

But before he could reach that cat, authorities talked Muth out of the apartment — and into the psych ward at Long Island College Hospital.

It proved easier for Muth to earn his freedom than Rumi, who was still trapped in the duct when Muth was released six days later.

According to animal rescue experts, Rumi’s confinement proved to be one of the field’s greatest riddles.

“This was a very difficult cat rescue because there was no way to maneuver,” said Mike Pastore, director of field operations for the Center for Animal Care and Control. “There was no way to reach the cat and because of the length of time, I was getting worried that the cat would pass away.”

Well-meaning amateurs like Gilewicz and Muth — who continued to try to save Rumi after getting out of the psych ward — shared the same fears, Pastore said.

Concerned building residents thought they were keeping the imprisoned kitty alive by dropping food down the hole, but they were actually making it harder for experts to save Rumi.

“Because he wasn’t too hungry, it wasn’t really enticing for him to go into the devices we had lowered down there,” Pastore said.

So rescuers stopped feeding Rumi, who after 15 days in solitary confinement in the bowels of the former church, wandered into a lasso dangled by an Animal Care and Control expert on July 21.

Rumi emerged from the shaft filthy, antsy, and ill with a minor respiratory infection, but the tough kitty wasn’t much worse for the wear.

“I knew he’d survive, Gilewicz said. “This cat is a fighter.”

Depite the consequences of his actions, Muth says he’d do it all over again.

“Was going into the apartment and making holes a bad idea? I don’t think so,” he said. “I can fix holes, but I can’t bring a cat back to life.”


©2008 The Brooklyn Paper

[stealth]

A happy ending that's nice,I guess that cat only has 8 lives left now.:)

[dude111]

Bonny was so weak the vet recommended she be put down. But Hoppert nursed her back to health with watered down kitten food.Sure...... The fucking VET didnt wanna take care of this kitty so they suggested the "easiest" thing (Which they would have gotton $$$ for)

Fucking assholes... Im glad the kitty was found and got better :)

That 2nd story of the guy was sad also (That they didnt believe him @ first)

Im glad both ended positive :)

[herzmeister]

This reminds me of that Edgar Allan Poe story... :D

Which, the tell-tale cat? :D

[marpat]

http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSLQ33176320080826?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews

BERLIN (Reuters) - A four-year-old cat in Germany called Bonny has survived after being walled in beneath a bathtub for seven weeks, its owner said Tuesday.

"It's a miracle," said Monika Hoppert, a 60-year-old widow from the western town of Stadthagen. "I'm a strong believer, I think she must have had a guardian angel. I'm so happy."

Bonny disappeared on June 19 while workmen were replacing pipes in the block of flats where Hoppert lives. The black cat was last seen in a neighboring apartment, where the cladding around a bathtub had been removed.

Just before tub was sealed up again, Bonny had probably crept underneath, Hoppert said.

By the time the neighbor heard Bonny's plaintive miaowing from behind the tiles on August 8, the cat's weight had dropped from 13 pounds to 4 pounds.

"I couldn't believe it. But when I got down there, I knew it was my cat because they all have their own voice," said Hoppert.

Bonny was so weak the vet recommended she be put down. But Hoppert nursed her back to health with watered down kitten food.

"She's almost back to normal now. This morning was the first time she'd jumped onto my bed again," Hoppert said.

You gotta be kitten me :D

[zsymon]

I'm glad both cats ended up alright. This shows the amazing events that can
occur when people stop thinking of animals as lesser beings for a moment. We
need to start realizing that an animal life is just as valuable as a human life.

[wildhorse]

Sure...... The fucking VET didnt wanna take care of this kitty so they suggested the "easiest" thing (Which they would have gotton $$$ for)

Fucking assholes... Im glad the kitty was found and got better :)

That 2nd story of the guy was sad also (That they didnt believe him @ first)

Im glad both ended positive :)

anno...vets are as bad as big pharma, only concerned with lining their pockets and not the true welfare of the animal

You gotta be kitten me :D

rmfto @ that :D

given the thread I did think Bonny read Bony mind, jus my own warped mind kicking in there :rolleyes:

[starshine]

I am always happy when a cat is protected and safe.

[dude111]

I like the kitty in your avatar;wanna give her a big hug :)

This shows the amazing events that can
occur when people stop thinking of animals as lesser beings for a moment. We
need to start realizing that an animal life is just as valuable as a human life.Yes... WE ARE ALL ANIMALS!! (Even Humans)

We are all equal on this planet (Only ones above us ARE SPIRITS)