HENDERSONVILLE, North Carolina: A cat has emerged just a little worse for wear after spending 35 days locked in a shipping container without food or water.
'China' the cat was apparently locked in the container just before it left Shanghai on April 3, according to the BBC.
The theory is that it chewed its way into a cardboard box which was then loaded into the shipping container.
Shop owner Eric Congden only discovered China when he opened the container of motorcycle helmets. "I saw something in the container move," Congdon told CNN. "I turned up the headlights on the forklift to get a better look."
The headlights revealed the cat cowering in a dark corner, weak but alive. Congdon told CNN he summoned county animal services when the cat would not let them near.
Local vet Michelle Misavage told the Seattle Times that while seemingly impossible, this incident proves how resilient cats really are and how well they cope without food or water.
"Usually we say that animals can only survive a few weeks without food and only a few days without water," Misavage said.
"The theory is that cats have such good kidneys their bodies adjust to the lack of water and somehow they received small amounts of moisture from condensation."
According to the BBC, a co-worker of Congdon's wants to adopt China as long as she passes veterinary checks. North Carolina regulations say any animal arriving in the US must be vaccinated and quarantined for six months.
"We have to take precautions," animal-services manager Brenda Miller told the Times.
poor little kitty probably was just looking for some place to keep warm, and ended up halfway across the world. somebody give her a nice can of cat-food! you think china is up for adoption?
hey didn't they used to keep cats on ships back in the old days to take care of the rats that come on bored?
Poor cat must've been scared out of it's wits...
poor little kitty. she just wanted to get comfy so she went inside the box. i can just imagine how scared she was. poeple loading boxes onto shipping containers should check the boxes if there are gnawed corners to stop this from happening to innocent animals who just want to seek shelter.
awwww.. i feel sorry for the kitty. it was probably a cold night out and she just wanted to sleep in a warm place. but hey, at least she's alive. hope she's doing well now and being treated right. she deserves to be treated like a princess after the ordeal she went through.
Talk about a curious little kitten! How'd he get there anyway? Reminds me of my cats, they get into lots of troubles all the time. They can be a pain sometimes but i love them to bits.
cats really do have not only nine lives but more than that. china is so cute. its a good thing that she survived. it would have been terrible had she died. i hope she gets cleared from quarantine and gets adopted by that person who found her.
its amazing how China survived for 35 days without food and water. i wonder how she is doing now? i hope she is still alive and well.
My heart goes to the little kitty. I sure do hope she's allright now. But this is amazing. Imagine, 35 days without any nutrition! Though frail on the outside, a cat's instinct for survival is to be marveled at!