Danger Alert

The Washington Post publishes a feature called Animal Watch in its Sunday Metro section. Today's Animal Watch headline read, That Isn't Your Engine Purring. The cute play on words failed to highlight the tragedy that was fortunately avoided.

The blurb detailed how an unsuspecting driver heard a kitten (meowing) from under her car's hood. She drove to a veterinarian's office where an animal control officer came and safely retrieved a 4-month-old kitten. That was one LUCKY kitten.

Many times kittens and cats will seek warmth under the hood of a car. What happens is the kitty crawls up the front tire and beds down in the warm engine of a parked car. An unsuspicious driver comes out and starts the car. Sometimes the cat takes a warm ride, like the kitten in the article. Oftentimes, however a tragic scene is played out -- the driver starts the car and YEOW!!!!! the cat is mangled or killed by the fan belt. Best way to avoid the deadly CAT-in-ENGINE situation is to keep your cat safe and warm indoors!

**** Tell drivers to bang on the hood or honk the horn before starting the ignition. The loud noise should be a warning to napping kitties to find another spot.