A cat that was run down by a car and written off for dead apparently clawed its way out of the grave and made its way home to be fed.

Bart, a pet found on the street in a pool of blood more than a week ago, was pronounced dead by vets in Tampa, Florida.

But five days later he was outside owner Ellis Hutson's house again expecting dinner - albeit with a gruesome wound which makes him look the part for a member of the living dead.

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Survivor: Bart, pictured, was pronounced dead, but clawed his way out of the grave and made it to his home in Tampa, Florida

Fighter: Rescuers say Bart probably came to underground and quickly got out - then hid for days before heading home

Hutson told local news station Fox13 that Bart suffered head trauma, a broken jaw and a ruined eye - but was very much alive.

Though he still needs surgery before it can be certain he'll pull through, Bart's brush with death saw him escape a muddy grave.

It is unclear how he escaped, but Hutson is convinced that the battered feline who made his way to his neighbor's garden - then on home in the hope of a meal - is his revived pet.

Bart's eye will never work again - even if the surgery goes right - but his survival instincts are clearly on top form.

Rescuers at the Tampa Bay Humane Society, where he is being treated, believed he may have come to underground, escaped and then hid for a few days before gathering the courage to head home.