Cat with jar on head survives sticky situation

updated 11:28 p.m. ET Dec. 1, 2007

BARTLETT, Tenn. - A feral cat survived for 19 days with a jar stuck on its head.

Tabitha Cain has fed the cat, which she calls Wild Oats, for several years. The family saw the cat several times with the peanut butter jar on its head and tried in vain to catch it. But after not seeing the cat for a week, the Cains feared the worst.

"I thought she was going to die with that jar on her head," said Tabitha Cain, 25.

They found the once chubby cat on Wednesday, too thin and weak to flee. They caught her with a fishing net and used some oil to get the jar off her head.

They gave her water and treated her wounds and on Friday she began to eat again.

"I've heard of cats having nine lives but I think this one has 19 because she survived 19 days," said Doretha Cain, Tabitha's mother.

Memphis veterinarian Gerald Blackburn said he has heard similar stories of pets getting trapped for days or even weeks at a time and surviving. Blackburn said the cat may have lived off of its excess fat.

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