Missy, presumed dead, dubbed the 'kamikaze kitten'

Published on Thursday 25 September 2008 10:10

SHE has earned the nickname the "kamikaze kitten".

Ten-week-old Missy was presumed dead after leaping 20ft off a road bridge but she has turned up alive – five days later.

Owner Nicola Hines, from Ladywell, Livingston, got the shock of her life walking across a flyover near her home when Missy suddenly jumped from her son Ryan's buggy.

Missy had apparently slipped unnoticed into the tray beneath the pushchair for a sleep, and woke up startled as they walked across the busy Cousland Road flyover.

Distraught retail worker Ms Hines, 20, and family and friends desperately looked for Missy in the undergrowth just off Cousland Road for five days, fearing the worst.

Just as all hope seemed lost, Ms Hines' friend Gemma Burns spotted Missy trying to claw her way up the bridge back home to safety.

She had suffered a broken leg but was otherwise unscathed.

"I've always wanted a kitten so when Missy went missing I was absolutely distraught. I went through all sorts of emotions," said Ms Hines.

"I was walking over the bridge to go to the health centre with my son when, all of a sudden, Missy jumped out of the buggy and off the bridge when I was walking over it.

"We searched everywhere for her and I thought at one point she might have been eaten by foxes, but I'm so glad she was found safe and sound.

"She is the most good natured cat I've ever seen and she's not shy when she wants some affection because she just comes up and rubs my nose when she wants clapped."

Florence Ashcroft and volunteers from Petsearch West Lothian in Polbeth joined in the search for Missy after she disappeared, and she has helped nurse the cat back to health.

She said: "How a tiny and terrified kitten like Missy survived in the wild for five days I'll never know. I have nicknamed her the 'kamikaze kitten'. What the poor soul must have gone through on its own, especially with a broken leg and being so young, we'll never know, but it's a miracle she's still alive and I've seen hundreds of these cases.

"When she was found I took her to the vet we use and he operated and stuck a pin on her leg and gave her some antibiotics. I'm glad to say she's much better now and will be fine."

Ms Ashcroft runs the Petsearch West Lothian charity on a voluntary basis from her home in Polbeth and helped find another two missing pets last week.