I’ve been posting in mini-rants about a kitten who was dumped at my house and now has been under my engine since at least 3 a.m. With this thread, I’m just hoping to hear from anyone who has been through this. I’ve put tuna under the car. A neighbor took out my battery but we still couldn’t get to the kitten. It is moving around. It’s only about 2 months old and so scared.
It looks like I’m just going to have to wait it out and hope for the best. But hearing it’s cries is breaking my heart.
Has this ever happened to you? How long did the kitten take to come out? Any advice?
Don’t have any advice on what to do, but to answer your question, we had a full-grown cat climb up into the engine compartment – we think she was somewhere between the fan and the radiator – and ride there while we drove four miles to town…and four miles back. Very odd experience. (Big ol’ 66 Chev.)
The kitten is able to move around right now. In fact, I just went out and saw it and was able to touch its head but it backed up and I couldn’t reach any further. There is tuna and some wet cat food under the car. It’s very scared and crying. But at least it has stopped raining for now. Maybe that will help.
Had one on top of the engine once. Not only that, it had a claw hung in a zip tie bundling some wires together. The tie had to be cut before the kitten could be freed.
Not in the engine, but under the car out of reach. I fished him out (after a while) with a cat lure - feathers on a string, attached to a stick. Took about half an hour, maybe forty-five minutes to get him out to the point I could pick him up.
I’ll try that tomorrow. It’s dark now and I can’t hold the flashlight and try to fish it out so I’ll have to give up for the night. I feel so helpless. The little thing is so scared. It had a tough night last night - trapped under a pile of branches, getting away from me and hiding in the rain and then ending up in the car. I wish it could understand that I want to help. If the water hose doesn’t work, I’m going to call a mobile mechanic to see if they can jack up the car and get it from underneath.
My brother got a cat this way. He was driving an old mustang at the time. Him and his wife were taking their dog to the vet. She said the car kept making this funny sound as they were driving down the road. They got to the vet and turned off the car and it kept making the sound. They named the cat “Lucky(dumbshit)”. He grew from small kitten to small cat, called Lucky because of how he joined the family, (dumbshit) cause his favorite game was to tease the convicted cat-killer dog into full mouthing him. I don’t recall how they got him out. I think the vet may have had some treats or something they lured him out with
My first thought when I read your posts was “how heartbreaking!”. Poor lil furrball.
I’ve not had that happen, but I wonder what would happen if you were to drape towels around the front of the car (as impromptu nets) and then clicked the ignition a few times?
Best case, kitty gets tangled in the towels while trying to get back to the bushes. Worse case, kitty is in bushes again, but you know where the frightened baby is. Or, kitty might just hunker down and do nothing.
I’m absolutely not starting the car until the kitten is out. My neighbor asked if I wanted to start it after he put the battery back since we could see where the kitten was but I wasn’t going to take that chance at all.
I talked to the dispatcher for a mobile mechanic. If he thought I was crazy, he at least didn’t say so. He said to contact them tomorrow if I need them. It makes me feel a little better confirming that there is that option.
NONONO!!! I did not say START the car! I would never suggest that even if I thought the battery was back in the car. I just suggested clicking the key to make a scary noise behind kitty.
I dropped the hood down loudly several times today with that in mind but noise didn’t do the trick.
I just went out to check on the kitty and it’s still there. Something had eaten some of the tuna but I’m sure it’s one of the neighbor kitties. I doubt the food will last the night but maybe when it gets light, especially since it finally stopped raining, the kitten will come on out. Fingers crossed.
I have the kitten. When I opened the hood this morning, it was sitting on the engine and I grabbed it. I have it in my spare room for now and after some fuss it has quieted down. I put some food in there but I’m just going to let it be for a couple hours. I can’t keep it so I need to start looking for placement.
My wife had two kittens in the engine of her Mini Cooper while she was at work. The female became Minnie and the male was Cooper. Minnie was adopted by a co-worker and reportedly turned into an instant diva.
We kept Cooper. He remained just feral enough to be unworkable. He got along with our dogs fine, but was otherwise psychotic. The last straw was when he used my sleeping face to climb up to the windowsill. He was sent to my sister-in-law, who kept a menagerie already. He lived a full life, but stayed twitchy and skittish, and spent his days sitting in his litter box staring off.
Wife had her Siamese crawl into the engine bay of her little truck. It was messy. One of the many cats we’ve been through over the years. Usually its the coyotes that get them.
The kitten now has a home. Someone on Nextdoor offered to take it and I just delivered it to her.
I have a clearer picture now why someone would dump it. (Not that that is really ever a good idea.) All the cat rescue places I called are not accepting surrenders because of covid restrictions, even the city animal shelter. They will only take injured or abused cats. If you have an unwanted cat or kitten, you are on your own to find a home for it. Cats seem to get the short straw. There are many, many more dog rescue organizations. I was very lucky someone was looking for a kitten just when I had this one.
