A black Mercedes pulled to the side of Route 3 eastbound in Secaucus on June 25 and was mysteriously overheating.
Police responded and found that a cat trapped inside the fan belt casing was causing the car to overheat. The 3-year-old female tabby was still alive.
But nobody knows how the cat got there or how long it was in the car.
The driver of the Mercedes did not leave a name or address before having the car towed off by a private towing company, and the cat was delivered to Secaucus Animal Hospital, where they are trying to find the owner.
The staff has tentatively named the feline “Freeway.” She is in good shape, but hospital officials are trying to return her to her owner.
“She is a nice cat and I’m sure we can get her adopted,” said Dr. John Hatch. “But I’m sure the owner is probably worried about her.”
Ed McClure, animal control officer for Secaucus, called Dr. John Hatch of the Secaucus Animal Hospital to help in the roadside rescue because he was uncertain as to the nature of the animal’s injuries.
Gave her a shot in car
Dr. Hatch and Lacy Spiegel, a technician from the hospital, arrived on the scene to find that the car was stuck inside the fan belt casing.
“She was crying a little and moving around, so we knew she was still alive,” Dr. Hatch said. “We have a long pole with a syringe on the end, so we were able to give her a sedative before we got her out.”
The idea was to keep the cat calm so that she wouldn’t bolt away in a panic and get hit by a car.
“We gave her a shot then waited a few minutes,” Dr. Hatch said. “Ed was able to pry open the plastic casing so we could reach down and pull her out. We put her straight into a carrier.”
The cat was in shock. She had lost about a third of her ear, and had blood on her left hind leg and her abdomen. When they got her back to the hospital in the center of Secaucus, Hatch found that the cat did not suffer from extensive bleeding – which was fortunate. They gave her intravenous fluid and did a more extensive evaluation.
“She had some pretty nasty wounds,” Dr. Hatch said.
“We’re hoping someone remembers the car or the cat.” Dr. John Hatch.
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But being a cat, she apparently had used only one of nine lives. During the night, when she started to feel better, she stripped off the bandages and removed her own IV.
“She’s feeling better,” Dr. Hatch said. “She purrs and she’s happy. She’s doing great.”
During the examination, Dr. Hatch said they noticed stitches that indicate the cat was likely neutered, suggesting it had an owner. The cat was apparently in good shape prior to the ordeal in the car, also suggesting that she had an owner.
“I don’t think she was abandoned,” Dr. Hatch said. “She might have been an inside-outside cat that jumped up into the car somewhere. She appears to have been spayed. We looked for a microchip, but she didn’t have one. We just don’t know where she came from.”
Although Dr. Hatch tried to get information on the driver to find out how far the man had driven, no information was available.
“The police did not need to make a report,” Dr. Hatch said. “Since he waited for his own tow service and did not use the town service, we have no record of where he went.”
Dr. Hatch can only speculate on how far the car traveled before the cat caused it to overheat.
“I don’t know how long she could survive in that situation,” he said. “She knocked the fan out.”
The cat might have jumped into the engine block somewhere in route, Dr. Hatch suggested, such as in a parking lot of a store where the car might have stopped.
“We’re hoping someone remembers the car or the cat,” he said. “We would love to return the cat to its owner. If we can’t, I’m sure we’ll be able to adopt her.”
Anyone with possible information is encouraged to call the Secaucus Animal Hospital at 201-867-4795.