Latest news with #KellyCooper
BBC News
15-05-2025
- BBC News
Deal cat doing 'much better' after rescue from under floorboards
A cat that survived being accidentally trapped under floorboards for three weeks in Deal is doing "much better now".Leia was missing for three weeks before neighbours heard her meowing under their recently laid owners suspect the cat got stuck during the neighbours' home renovations and survived by drinking beer from a can found beside Cooper told BBC Radio Kent on Thursday that her father Ben Smith, who owns the cat, claimed Leia was "resentful and cross with him" after the escapade but had recently started curling up on his knee once again. Ms Cooper said she could "almost see [Leia] putting on weight each day" as she recovered after being rescued."She was euphoric when she came in the house, playing and eating and drinking as you can imagine, and then spent a day or two really tired," Ms Cooper added. Ms Cooper and her 83-year-old father had been in contact with the "lovely and supportive" neighbours throughout their hunt for Leia, and they got in touch to say they thought they could hear cat noises, as first reported by Kent cutting a hole in the new flooring, they found Leia looking back at is thought the cat crawled under the floor unnoticed during renovation work at the house."You can imagine what followed - we were beside ourselves," Ms Cooper also found an open can of beer in the hole, and believe the cat survived on this or another unknown source of water."It's a bit of a mystery," Ms Cooper said, "but perhaps she did drink that beer. She certainly seemed pretty dozy when I picked her up."Ms Cooper leafleted the area and hired a 'pet detective' to try to find the said the neighbours probably could not hear Leia until then as "there's been so much noise going on" from the works.
Daily Mail
12-05-2025
- Daily Mail
Missing cat trapped under floorboards for three weeks survived by drinking French lager and eating bugs
A missing cat which was trapped under the floorboards of a house for three weeks is believed to have survived by drinking French lager and eating bugs. Ben Smith, 83, believed his inquisitive pet cat Leia vanished after sneaking under a neighbour's open floor during renovation work without anyone realising in Deal, Kent. After the 11-year-old cat vanished, the family put up posters in a desperate bid to find the missing moggy. They even paid £1,000 for a pet detective to help trace the cat. But when neighbours heard Leia's cries they cut a hole in the floorboards - and the cat was immediately found, next to an open can of French lager, having survived for 23 days. Mr Smith's daughter Kelly Cooper said: 'A half-drunk tin of beer was found and we wondered if she'd had a few sips from that. 'She could have also eaten small mammals, like mice, or insects, and quite possibly drank condensation from piping. 'We will never know how she survived all that time. But she had lost a third of her weight when she was rescued.' It is thought her cries may have been drowned out by building noise and the radio at the property in Deal, Kent. Once the work had finished, the neighbours heard meows from underfoot and cut a square meter opening before retrieving the exotic shorthair breed. Mr Smith, 83, said: 'I'm euphoric, I'm so pleased to have her back.'
