Welsh Kitten Tries Manuka Honey After Car Engine Ride

Daredevil Kitten Gets More Than He Bargained For

Many have likely heard stories of some of the strange things stray cats and even house cats do when given the opportunity. One story might be that upon getting into his or her car in the morning to go to work, someone turned on the car engine and saw a cat run away from underneath the vehicle into a bush or up a tree. While the safe assumption is that the cat was simply crouched under the car for whatever reason--hiding from a predator or the elements--the cat may have actually crawled into the car engine bay to stay warm and then ran out before the car started moving. Ten pound cats have been reported to sneak up in there!

One six month old kitten from Rhyl, Wales did this very thing--Paws, the kitten owned by Chris and Elaine Gardiner, became trapped in the car engine bay of neighbor Andrew Higgins’s car and went for a 20 mile drive on Leap Day. Higgins, driving an older vehicle, was on the highway when he lost power and had to pull off the road in the village of Old Colwyn. As procedure calls for, Higgins opened the hood of his car and discovered Paws, suffering from burns but very much alive. Recognizing his neighbor’s cat, Higgins took Paws to the vet where he was treated immediately, and Chris and Elaine were informed as soon as possible. Chris said, “A few days after, he was quiet and subdued. His burns must have been painful with any movement.”

After two weeks of burn treatments and several vet appointments, Paws is reportedly making a full recovery, having avoided infection and returning to his old self according to his owners. “He has had several follow up appointments in Colwyn Bay,” Chris said, with the vet giving Paws Manuka honey in his bandages. “We are intentionally keeping him in the house for now and have a fear about letting him out again. We will have to get him chipped sometime soon just in case he decides to pack his bag and recommence his travels further.”

Despite the potentially traumatic car ride within an engine bay, Paws is still as playful as any kitten should be. “He’s back to playfully jumping on our cats Buffy and Willow and eating their food,” Elaine said of Paws, happy that his feistiness has not been lost in one occurrence. A return to form suggests a quick bounce back for the lucky animal, which is not always the case in incidents like these.