Grateful Kitty

Next time you have trouble rounding up your li'l one to take to the vet, consider this poor girl. Somehow she got herself stuck in a storm drain on the side of a busy road in Bristol, RI!

Stuck on the side of the road, just inches from passing motorists, the cat survived an unknown amount of time with only its head poking through the 130-pound grate before it was spotted and rescued. Rescuers called to the scene Thursday couldn't believe what they saw when they arrived.

"When I pulled up ... I said 'Wow'," said Bristol Fire Department Battalion Chief Jim Viera.

After city workers tried everything they could, including a backhoe (!), they took the grate, cat still intact, to Sakonnet Animal Hospital, where vet William Condon saved the day:

Dr. Condon sedated the cat, lubricated its neck and head, shaved its neck, and commenced tugging and turning. After a bit of coaxing, he said, the cat finally slipped free.