"Miracle cat" survives two months trapped in a window seat

The odds were stacked against Times staff writer Kim Murphy's cat, Bess, when she disappeared from Murphy's Bainbridge Island, Wash., home in September.  Bess' human family feared she had escaped and been eaten by one of the coyotes that live nearby, but she turned out to be a lot closer than they expected (and in pretty dire straits).

More than two months after Bess' disappearance, she turned up in an unexpected place: a window seat in the home.  With no food or water, Bess had shriveled to a mere 4.7 pounds when she was found, and she'd lost her sight because of malnutrition.

Murphy's brother, a veterinarian, told her that "most cats will not survive a two-week period without food and water.  Some won't even survive two days."  So how did Bess make it?  That's a medical mystery. 

Bess has gained nearly two pounds since she was found and "seems to have recovered part of her eyesight," Murphy says.  Read the full story here.

--Lindsay Barnett

Photo: Kim Murphy/Los Angeles Times

Comments

[KOTT]

Jeez... Please learn how to take care of you cats. I hope to never read a story again about cats 'sailing off a balcony' , getting hit by a bus, and suffering for two months w/o food and water in a window seat. Perhaps you were trying to write in a breezy, amusing style but I was left with the perception of obliviousness on your part.

[gbtbag]

It defies comprehension why the Times would run this awful story on Christmas Day in Column One.

Does Kim Murphy truly believe this is something we want to hear about? Even more, does the Times think this is heartwarming? It's sickening.

[Felix the Cat]

I am having a hard time that the writer thinks this story either funny or endearing. Is she deaf? Why did it take a friend to hear the cat meow? After 9 weeks, that was the first time it vocalized? This person should be cited for animal abuse!

[bdann]

God help this poor cat and any pets this family adopts or "buys" in the future. Sickening.

[wendylr]

I read this story with absolute horror. Some people shouldn't have pets or maybe should have smaller houses where you would hear your cat meowing & howling for rescue. This cat must have brain damage as well as damage to most other organs. We are not amused.

[cynthia jeffrey]

Ms. Murphy, It's not bad luck (except on the part of the poor cats who were chosen by you) but rather negligence that has led to the demise of your pets. Domestic animals require as much care and attendance as our children do and when they don't receive that level of care they either are killed or seriously debilitated. Shame on you for mentioning the cost of $3000.00 for the treatment of Bess---no price should be put on the care for this, the fifth, or is it the sixth, cat who has depended on you for its care and instead has gotten this laissez-faire attitude toward pet care. I believe that the letters of support for your situation come from people who have never been involved in pet rescue. Those of us who devote our spare hours to pet rescue, have seen and heard every form of denial of personal responsibility for pets that one can imagine, and your story (probably intended to be cute and catchy to the general population) is very familiar. I hope you'll examine your conscience, and your soul, before adopting another pet victim. Please keep in mind that a pet requires as much attention, care and commitment as any dependent being.