Motorists urged to check engine before driving after Clare cat ends up 160km away in Kerry

Clare dog warden Frank Coote said cats look for heat during the bad weather and is appealing to drivers to look under the bonnet before turning on the engine

Kerry man, who was visiting friends in Clare, was surprised when his mother told him she noticed a cat climbing out from under his car after he arrived home from his trip away. File picture: Damien Storan

A Clare dog warden is urging motorists to check their engines before driving after a cat from the county ended up nearly 160km away in Kerry when it crawled under the bonnet looking for heat.

The driver, who was visiting friends, was surprised when his mother told him she noticed a cat climbing out from under his car after he arrived home from his trip away.

It later emerged the cat was actually from the area where he had stayed in Clare and got more than it bargained for when it sought shelter from the cold.

Local dog warden Frank Coote said cats look for heat during the bad weather and is appealing to drivers to look under the bonnet before turning on the engine.

“This cat travelled around 100 miles from here in Clare to Kerry and had to be bought to the vet and then into a rescue — 99% of them are microchipped but some are not," he said.

“Cats are clever, they rarely get hurt under a bonnet as they are fast and are usually gone when you open the car door.

“But some younger ones will get scared and instead of running will go further into the engine and won’t come out. I would say especially to cat owners, those who have several cats, just keep an eye out for them hiding in the engine, it’s when the engine is hot, they will go in, they will be gone when it's cold."

He said he knew of two incidents of cats travelling long distances recently because they were looking for heat in the bad weather.

“The driver's mother saw the cat coming out from under the car and with a bit of investigation they knew the cat was from Clare.

Mr Coote said there had also been some incidents where younger cats had become too afraid to come out of the engine even after they are discovered.

“I’ve received calls from mechanics who have nearly had to take the engine out to try and rescue a cat,” he said.

“We did have one or two cases of ones being killed and its awful."

He also praised the animal rescue centres in the country for “doing the work the Government should be doing”.

“These rescues are fantastic," he said. "They are the holding place for an animal until it’s reunited with their owner, we would be lost without them, we don’t give them enough credit or money.

“You could have up to 300 dogs in a pound that thankfully the rescues are taking. They don’t get enough praise for the work they do, especially now with all the dogs being dumped, they are brilliant.”