A cat has been rescued after her owner got banged up in prison and forgot about her.
Poor Luna survived for over a month drinking water from a dripping tap.
The black and white puss only had dried pasta and other food which she’d scavenged from a cupboard to eat.
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The RSPCA was tipped off by a screw at a prison.
The owner on remand for five weeks in the jail told the guard he had left Luna at his home.
Now the moggy has been rehomed after being rescued and checked over by a vet.
She was found in the rubbish-strewn house in Middlesbrough.
It happened on 27 March while the owner was behind bars at Durham Prison.
RSPCA Inspector Garry Palmer went to the house, as reported by What’s The Jam.
A spokesperson for the animal charity said: “The floors were completely covered in piles of rubbish, clothes and household items and at first there was no sign of Luna.”
Insp Palmer said: “It was absolutely filthy inside with signs of human excrement on the floor.
“We found Luna curled up, stuck under a chair in a void with a crisp packet on her head.
“She’d survived by drinking from a tap which was dripping in the kitchen sink and possibly water from the toilet.
“It looked like she’d eaten packets of dried pasta and other food which she’d scavenged from a cupboard.
“When we got in and started looking around I really did think we were going to find her dead body, so it was incredible to find Luna alive after so many weeks.
“Surprisingly, despite the fact she’d been fending for herself for so long, her condition was okay and she soon put on weight once she started receiving the right care.
“If it hadn’t been for the prison warden passing the information on to us and the tap dripping in the kitchen she wouldn’t have got out of that house alive.
“So in that sense she was a very ‘lucky’ cat. I’m so pleased to see her happy and settled in a new home after what she went through.”
She was looked after at the Great Ayton Animal Centre.
Luna’s new owner – called Marian – said: “I’m just so happy to have adopted Luna so she can have the best life ever.
“She loves cuddling up next to me, although she normally doesn’t sit still for very long.
“She’s a strong willed character and knows exactly what she wants. I think that’s probably why she survived on her own for as long as she did, she really wanted to live.
“It upsets me when I think about her past and how long she’d been on her own in those terrible conditions but she’s safe now and being loved and spoiled rotten.”
Beverley Dunn, Cattery Assistant at Great Ayton, said: “Cats come into our care for a variety of reasons, but Luna’s story was particularly sad and upsetting for our team.
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