Cat survives 40 miles trapped in car engine compartment Published duration 23 June 2019

image copyright PDSA image caption Chi suffered serious burns to her body after becoming trapped in the engine compartment

A cat survived serious injuries after travelling 40 miles stuck in the engine compartment of a car.

One-year-old Chi, a tabby, had slid under the bonnet of a car next door to her owner's home in Brighton, East Sussex.

Kaylie Banks, 30, said the grill at the front of the car had to be removed to get her "stressed pet" out.

Chi needed an operation on burns to her body but is recovering well.

'Very stressed'

Ms Banks said: "I returned home from work and Chi was nowhere to be seen.

"After turning the house upside down, I began knocking on my neighbours' doors."

"One of my neighbours then approached me to say he had found Chi trapped under the bonnet of his car," she added.

"She was very stressed and he had to take the grill off the front of the car to get her out."

The cat was taken to the PDSA's Brighton pet hospital for treatment.

image copyright James Pike/PDSA image caption Kaylie Banks and her daughter Lucie were very grateful for the care Chi received

"Chi's wounds needed to be cleaned and repaired under anaesthetic," vet nurse Sadie Reece said.

"There was a large amount of dead tissue that needed to be removed."

A PDSA spokeswoman said: "After recovering from the procedure, Chi was able to go home, complete with a 'buster' collar to protect her injuries."

She added that Chi was "healing well" and "expected to make a full recovery".