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Cat found hungry after 3 weeks in cargo hold

‘Pumpkin’ treated for starvation, dehydration, could return home in days

Image: Pumpkin
United Airlines plans to fly 12-year-old "Pumpkin" back home — on the lap of an employee.
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updated 3:52 p.m. ET Jan. 22, 2007

DENVER - A 12-year-old orange tabby cat named "Pumpkin" is said to be doing well, after going three weeks without food or water in the cargo hold of a passenger jet that flew from England to Germany.

After the United Airlines flight to Munich last month, Pumpkin was supposed to board a connecting flight to Washington, D.C. but never made it.

Andrea Barlow says she found the cat's carrier broken and empty when she tried to retrieve it in Munich on December 28th. United Airlines crews searched for the cat, who was nowhere to be found.

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On Wednesday United cargo workers found the tired, hungry animal at Denver International Airport. She was taken to a veterinary clinic for treatment of starvation and extreme dehydration.

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Image: A baby ring-tailed lemur cuddles with its mother in their enclosure at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo
  Animal Tracks
From a beautiful butterfly to a confused capuchin, find images of animals great and small.

more photos

Vets say Pumpkin could be well enough to return to Washington by this weekend.

United plans to fly the cat home — in the passenger cabin — on the lap of a United employee.

© 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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