Kittens hitch a ride in car’s engine from Joburg to Sun City

It was no ordinary trip to Sun City for Parkhurst resident Sue Craft and her family when it suddenly took a bit of a catty turn.

It all started when Craft heard a meowing sound from her husband’s car on January 6. He brushed off her claims, prompting Craft to think she was going crazy, because she could hear meows, she told Rosebank Killarney Gazette.

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Parkhurst resident Sue Craft is grateful that all four kittens are well.

Craft has a domestic feral cat colony in her Parkhurst garden, and assumed the meowing may be one of the cats nearby. With children and grandchildren in tow, the group left the leafy suburb of Parkhurst for the heat and waves of Sun City on January 7. Throughout the trip, the sounds of tiny meows haunted Craft.

“When we arrived at the resort I called over my grandchildren, at this point I really thought I had lost my mind but luckily they heard it too.”

Her daughter jumped into action, stopping an irrigation staff member, Gladwin Nkumane, for help. He could not get far enough under the vehicle to check the undercarriage for a stow-away cat.

Nkumane contacted his manager, Bennet Mohube, who called the resort’s indoor plants and fauna manager, Marinell Munro.

“The guests brought the car here, but Jabulani Khumalo (our workshop supervisor) couldn’t see anything by the engine space, so he decided to jack it up and look underneath,” explained Munro.

What happened next surprised everyone when not one noisy cat but four tiny kittens were discovered and had miraculously survived the 162km journey.

Jabulani (Jabu)

Bennet (Bennie)

Rasta (Rasta Bear)

Lucy (Juicy Lucy)

“We took them to our animal shelter where myself; Dorin Moyo, our administrator; Lizzy Laka, our cleaner; and Manono Diko, one of my fauna staff, cleaned their eyes out, put eye drops in, gave them some water and kitty milk to drink.”

The four beautiful kittens, who were about four weeks old at the time, are fully recovered and, according to Munro, are getting fat and rather cute. They have been named Jabulani, Bennet, Rasta, and Lucy, after some of the staff who rescued them.

“I guess the little ones decided that they also needed a holiday in Sun City and jumped in the car… It just goes to show you how amazing and ‘strong’ nature is for these little ones to have survived the journey all the way from Parkhurst to here,” added Munro.

Craft could not believe that these little souls survived such a long trip, but is delighted that they are in safe and loving hands. “I have contacted the Animal Anti-Cruelty League to help me sterilise the colony. I am pretty sure I know who the mother and father cats are.”

All four kittens were put up for adoption, and the two little girls already have soon-to-be new homes.

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