Portly Cat Stuck in Storm Drain Rescued: 'Lay Off The Treats'

Police and officials from an animal hospital in Stafford County, Virginia, worked together to free a cat that was found stuck in a storm drain on Thursday.

According to a Facebook post published by the Stafford County Sheriff's Department, a sergeant responded to a call involving a cat that was "wedged" in a storm drain. The cat was later taken to a local animal hospital to wait for its owner.

"He was unable to free the feline and contacted Aquia-Garrisonville Animal Hospital for assistance," the caption said. "Veterinarians from the animal hospital responded and were up for the challenge."

The non-profit organization PAWS says that a stray or lost pet should be taken to a local animal shelter.

Someone who finds an animal is encouraged to file a found animal report, post signs and share information about the found animal online.

An animal that is brought to a shelter or a veterinarian can be scanned for a microchip.

"A microchip is about the size of a grain of rice and implanted under an animal's skin," PAWS said. "Information is encoded on the chip to identify the animal."

That microchip can provide information about the animal's owner.

In the photos that the sheriff's department shared, the upper half of the cat's body is seen poking out of the storm drain.

A second photo shows two people as they worked to remove the cat from the drain.

"The cat, now affectionately known as 'Storm,' was sedated and removed from the drain," the Facebook post said. "Storm is resting comfortably at our shelter, hoping his owner sees this post!"

Sergeant Anthony McCall told Newsweek in an email that the cat was not injured, but appeared distressed.

"The vets noted during the exam rapid and shallow breathing," he said. "This is an indication of distress."

A neighbor told officials that they saw the cat the prior evening after a storm went through the area.

McCall said responders sedated the cat because it was scared and tried to bite rescuers. Once the sedation kicked in, it took less than 15 minutes to free it from the storm drain.

"The cat was really stuck and took a lot of effort to be freed," he said.

Jaqueline Kennedy, a veterinarian at Aquia-Garrisonville Animal Hospital told Newsweek that they examined the cat for injuries and did not find any.

"We were surprised about that," Kennedy said. "That cat was stuck, we had to really manually pull it out."

Officials also scanned the cat for a microchip but did not find one.

No one has come forward to claim the cat. Kennedy said animals that are rescued remain in the animal shelter for at least 10 days for officials to monitor them and see their personalities.

Once that's established, they determine whether the animal can be adopted by a family.

Facebook users applauded the efforts of those who responded.

"As an animal lover, it always warms my heart that the officers are so compassionate towards animals and go the extra step to help the 4-legged members of our community," one person said.

"Great work saving this poor kitty," wrote another.

Some said that they hoped the cat was microchipped to ensure it can be returned to its owners.

"A simple chip can be the difference between his family being located or not," a Facebook user commented. "Some animals may move out of their home ranges."

Others took the incident as a way to joke about the unfortunate position the cat was in.

"Kitty needs to lay off [the] cat treats," one Facebook user wrote. "Thanks for helping Biggy Storm."

"Purrrr fect ending to this story," another commented. "Thank you OSCS and Aquia Hospital."

A man rescued a kitten he spotted in floodwater in California, while one viral video showed a man who was "ambushed" by a group of kittens after he stopped his car to save one of them.

Another cat was saved after it was left in the middle of a busy highway.

Update 8/12/2022, 4:35 p.m.: This article has been updated to include comment from the police department.

Update 8/25/2022, 5:00 p.m.: This article has been updated to include comment from the animal hospital.