A kitten survived a 100-mile California road trip stuck somewhere inside the inner workings of a Range Rover.
The driver didn’t realize the cat was stuck until she arrived in Santa Cruz.
It was a shocking discovery for Amelia Escalante and her friend Jan Furman when they realized a little kitten had been stuck inside Escalante’s SUV the whole time she was driving home from Sacramento.
“When it came down to Santa Cruz with me, the first instinct was this cat needs to be rescued, and it needs love,” Escalante said.
Immediately, Circle Star Motors autobody shop owner Max Eder stepped in to help.
“I just couldn’t believe that this car drove for hours, and there was this little kitten still alive in it. And so, it just became kind of like this mission,” Eder said.
It took hours, but Eder wasn’t giving up.
“Come hell or high water, he was going to get that kitten out of the car,” Furman said.
After searching for hours to find the source of the meowing, Eder brought in some special equipment.
“I decided to use a piece of equipment that we use here for looking internally inside engines, which is called a borescope,” Eder said. “You snake it down through the car, but then you have to be like, ‘OK, am I looking left or am I looking right? Is this up or down?’ You’re just looking at an image on a screen.”
Seven hours later…
“Lo and behold, was this amazing little kitten that came out crying like a banshee,” Eder said.
Against all odds, the kitten managed to survive hours on the road with the heat, exhaust and speed of the highway.
In the end, the stray cat, now named “Rover,” found a family.
“When she came home, she was obviously like really scared, and I just sat on the floor with her and fed her,” Escalante’s daughter, Ellie, said. “She hissed at me and then just laid her whole head into my hand and just laid there and was purring. And that was it.”
Rover has been to the vet and is now updated on all her shots with a clean bill of health.