Kitten rescued from behind Prius bumper after driver hears purring

It all started when a customer pulled his Toyota Prius into Doug Brauner's Sacramento auto shop Wednesday morning. The man's complaint was a little unusual: for two days, the car had been purring... literally.

Brauner listened closely and heard the same thing -- a "cat-like noise" coming from under the hood.

When mechanics put the car on a lift and flashed a light underneath, they immediately spotted the 5-week-old kitten, trapped and frightened behind the car's bumper. It took a team effort to extract the little guy quickly.

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"I have seen this before, but the cat is always dead. They never survive having the car driven. They get shredded by drive belts," said Brauner.

The fact that this little kitten happened to climb under a Prius may have saved its life.

"The Prius has an unusually large bumper, or fascia, that provides a space for nesting. No other car has this."

A 5-week-old kitten was pulled from behind the bumper of a Toyota Prius. A 5-week-old kitten was pulled from behind the bumper of a Toyota Prius. Photo: Doug Brauner / Car Czar Auto Repair Photo: Doug Brauner / Car Czar Auto Repair Image 1 of / 69 Caption Close Kitten rescued from behind Prius bumper after driver hears purring 1 / 69 Back to Gallery

"I have to say I'm not a cat person," the Prius driver can be heard saying on video as mechanics worked to get the kitten free.

Luckily, the Brauner family are "cat people." They took the kitten to a veterinarian to get checked out and vaccinated, before adopting him into the family.

They named the cat, of course, Prius.

Read Alix Martichoux's latest stories and send her news tips at amartichoux@sfchronicle.com.

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