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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Carl Eve & Kelly-Ann Mills

Cat makes 325-mile trip across UK before being discovered on high window ledge

A cat who had made a remarkable 325-mile journey needed to be rescued from a window ledge by a helpful window cleaner.

The pet had made its way from Ipswich in Suffolk across country to find itself stuck at Plymouth University in Devon.

It had stowed away in a family car as they went to visit their student offspring at the university, and thanks to passersby was reunited the same day.

Jo Bobbie was alerted to the cat by some passersby and said she immediately "went into cat-mum mode" and set out helping the stricken puss.

The frightened cat had been spotted motionless on a ledge at one of the entrances of the Plymouth University Roland Levinsky building on Monday afternoon, and had reportedly been up there for more than three hours.

Firefighters, RSPCA and university workers were unable to help.

Jo, 30, told Plymouth Live said: "I alerted the Plymouth University Estate team but they couldn't do anything as they didn't have the right kind of ladder which would safely reach it.

"I called up the fire service, but while they said they'd get back to me, they also explained that it would need to have been trapped for 24 hours before they could prioritise it."

The window cleaners arrived to help (Plymouth Live/BPM MEDIA)
The cat was brought to safety (Plymouth Live/BPM MEDIA)

The solution came in the shape of Aaron Griffiths, owner of A.G's Reach and Wash Window Cleaning Services.

Aaron said: "I got this random phone call asking if I would mind coming into the city to rescue a cat. They said they'd pay me, but I didn't want to take money.

"I love pets - I've got two parrots, four dogs and a cat. So I said I'd be there in half an hour, go there, put up the ladder, rescued the cat and off I went.

"I must admit, it baffled me how it got there. The folks who turned up were lovely, bless them, saying I was like a hero, but like I said, I love pets. It was sat right on the end of the ledge and wouldn't move. People had tried using Dreamies [biscuits] but it wouldn't budge.

"I've had a lot of strange phone calls being a window cleaner, but that's definitely the strangest call I've ever had".

Jo Bobbie, who later posted the entire incident on on the Plymouth Pet Scanners Facebook page which helps reunite missing pets with their owners, said: "A lady took it to the vets and they said to her 'You're not going to believe it - it's from Ipswich'.

"It turns out the parents of a student had come down to visit their daughter and this cat must have stowed away in their car and then somehow got out.

"It's an indoor cat so the poor thing must have been absolutely terrified, which is why it was frozen to the ledge and wouldn't move.

"Thankfully, the owners collected it later the same day, so it all ended well."

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