Emmy Survives Being Locked in an Outdoor Storage Shed for Nine Weeks Without Either Food or Water

"Emmy survived a nightmare ordeal and lived to tell the tale and now needs a good home...If only she could speak and let us know how she got through it because she has an amazing story to tell."
-- Spokesperson for the Torbay Blue Cross Animal Center

A ten-year-old black and white cat named Emmy was freed earlier this month from a garden shed in Torquay, Devon where she had spent the preceding nine weeks without either food or water. Based upon the tongue marks on the windowpanes, RSPCA officials theorize that she survived on condensation.

Although she was almost skeletal and nearly dead when rescued, she is now on the road to a full recovery. Officials at the Torbay Blue Cross Animal Center in Watcombe, where she is currently being cared for, are concerned however because she has apparently lost either the ability or inclination to jump. (See photo above of her with an unnamed staffer of the shelter and the one below of her by herself.)

Her long and trying ordeal also has left her with some pretty severe psychological scars. For instance, she has, understandably, developed a fear of tight places and of being left alone.

Her inability to either jump or even to hop down off of objects is most likely attributable to atrophy in her bones and muscles caused by a lack of nourishment. She accordingly may need to be placed on a special diet and given vitamins for a while but her jumping ability should return.

Her mental scars may, however, stay with her for a while. To make matters worse, she is now homeless.

According to a rather convoluted account of events in London's Daily Mail, Emmy's unnamed owners gave her up because they were either too upset over what had happened to her in order to keep her or because they had just moved into a new house.

Although no criminal charges have been brought against them, their abandonment of her raises serious questions about her confinement.

According to the Daily Mail, Emmy followed the man of the house into the shed in late October and was accidentally locked inside. That explanation in and of itself sounds improbable but it nevertheless possibly could be true. (See photo below of shed.)

The couple's assertion that they spent weeks looking for the cat but never once thought of searching the shed is considerably less credible. Although it is difficult to believe that any cat owner would deliberately sentence any feline to the fate that befell Emmy, the couple's account of events leaves open that possibility.

Whenever individuals decide to relocate they have been known to do some pretty cruel things to cats and dogs. (See Cat Defender post of January 14, 2008 entitled "Freeway Miraculously Survives Being Tossed Out the Window of a Truck on Busy I-95 in South Florida.")

Despite all of that, Laura Valentine of Torbay Blue Cross has accepted the couple's version of events. "Her owner really had no idea where she was," she told the Daily Mail on January 3rd. (See "Cat Survives in Garden Shed for Two Months by Licking Condensation Off Windows.")

Valentine is now concentrating all her efforts on finding Emmy a new home. "She is an absolute darling," she told the Daily Mail. "She has a slight tilt to her head and doesn't like to jump. She's not too good with young children but a home with teenagers would be fine."

A spokesperson for Blue Cross added, "Emmy survived a nightmare ordeal and lived to tell the tale and now needs a good home. Whoever adopts her will have a loving cat who needs constant attention and care. If only she could speak and let us know how she got through it because she has an amazing story to tell."

All of that is certainly true enough and Emmy is unquestionably a remarkable cat that has suffered greatly. Nonetheless, it is a sure bet that her previous owners could tell quite a story themselves, that is, if anyone could ever ply the truth out of them.

Photos: Daily Mail (Emmy with Blue Cross official and shed) and BBC (Emmy).