Tiny kitten survived 20 mile trip lodged in car's engine

A tiny kitten survived a 20 mile trip in the engine of a Perthshire politician's car before being found by a team of mechanics. The small grey and white cat, believed to be only a few weeks old, hid under the bonnet of John Kellas's Rover 75. Mr Kellas, an SNP member of Perth and Kinross councillor, suspects the moggy crawled under his bonnet when he was bowling. Mr Kellas, from Bankfoot, Perthshire, said on Tuesday that his wife thought she heard a cat when she walked passed the car later that evening, but did not see anything.

Mr Kellas said: "I thought there might have been a cat under the car, which had ran off when I had a look. I had forgotten about it until the next day, when at my business in Perth my PA said she heard a miaow coming from my car. I said no, no, it must be some engine part - as I could not see any cat. But when I went into town in the afternoon, I was convinced too that I heard something. But every time I stopped the car, I could not hear or see anything. I decided to take the vehicle to Farmer Autocare in Perth, but the mechanics couldn't find it either. They were thinking I was taking the mickey out of them, that I was referring to a catalytic converter or something.



"Just when they were about to give up, we all heard the kitten. At that point two of the mechanics stripped out the bottom of the car. That was when we saw a couple of little eyes peeking out from the dark corner, looking very terrified. The cat somehow got under the engine and got trapped behind the wheel arch. It was very frisky, and it put up a fight when the mechanics took it out of its hiding place. But besides being very frightened and shaken, it was okay. I think that is a miracle, as I had driven about twenty miles with it."

The scruffy grey and white bundle, which is believed to be only weeks old, has been named 'Farmer', after the garage which saved it. It is now in the care of Mr Kellas' PA, who will look after the kitten until the owner is found. Praising the staff at the garage, Cllr Kellas added: "There were five different guys that had a look at the car. They did a great job and probably lost work to save the kitten. They didn't even charge me, they genuinely did it out of the goodness of their hearts." Garage manager Chris McBrearty labelled the situation "very, very unusual".