Two cats have been pulled from the ruins of Italy's deadly earthquake more than two weeks after the disaster which claimed nearly 300 lives.

In the town of Amatrice, the worst affected by the August 24 quake, firefighters rescued Pietro the cat after his owners, who came back to retrieve some belongings, heard him meowing weakly.

Dehydrated and weak, he was taken into the care of vets.

Meanwhile in the nearby hamlet of Illica, another cat called Giorgiana was plucked from a ruined house.

Her owners were killed in the quake but their daughters, who survived, asked animal welfare group Oipa to look for their three cats.

After a series of unsuccessful attempts, Oipa volunteers leaving food and calling the cat were surprised to hear at long last a quiet meowing.

Freed by firefighters, Giorgiana was weak and dehydrated but alive.

Last week firefighters pulled a golden retriever called Romeo alive from the rubble of his owners' house in the village of San Lorenzo a Flaviano, more than nine days after he was given up for dead.

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AFP