After a whole day of travel, a cat and her four newborn kittens were miraculously saved from the engine compartment under the hood of a car. When the kittens were saved, they were just a day old. They were discovered by Aniket Bhondve, a resident of Chembur, and rescued by RAWW volunteers.An animal rescuer expressed that the kittens were most likely a day old at the time of being rescued, on Monday. As reported by Alex Fernandes, a cat, and her four newborns had a remarkable escape after being rescued from the cars hood. They were found in the engine cavity.Series of events Aniket Bhondve who is a Chembur resident was driving to his office and at the time of finding a parking spot he recalls to have heard mewing sounds. Upon hearing the faint sounds he assumed that stray cats must be out of about on the streets. During riding back home in the evening time he heard intermit mewing and purring sounds, which were more clear this time. Bhondve conveyed I looked inside the car, but could not find any cat... When I opened the bonnet, I found a cat inside with four kittens (screengrab above).Earlier this week, Rajesh Mahadik rescued the cat and kittens. Mahadik is a volunteer with the Resqink Association for Wildlife Welfare (RAWW), which is an animal welfare NGO. Upon seeing the cat and 4 kittens being removed from the cars engine cavity Bhondve was surprised. Just a day earlier he had driven from Panvel to Chembur. Thankfully they were not hurt and survived the incident. Reflecting on Rescue Resucer Rajesh Mahadik shared “We tried to bring the cat and her babies out, but the mother was aggressive.” Another rescuer Siddhant Dhanawade, also lent a hand as he is experienced in handling domestic felines. He wore gloves and first attempted to remove the mother cat. He stated “Naturally, she tried to bite and claw at me, but she calmed down later and I could get her out. Also, the mother must have been hungry as she was holed up inside all day.” The cat jumped out and left the scene to probably go find food. The kittens were removed by the rescuers who kept them safe under a blanket under the mother cat returned. She first returned and took two kittens along with her, and later returned to take the remaining two as well. RAWW President Pawan Sharma explained “One possibility is that she found this to be a safe place to litter. Also, when temperature drops, animals tend to slip into vehicles for warmth, especially in urban landscapes.”
