Trapped cat rescued from disused St Annes house

Alex Bolton, 17, had been hired to clear out a house on Church Road, St Annes, which had stood empty since its previous tenants moved out before Christmas, last week.

He found cat faeces scattered around the house before finding the terrified ginger tom hiding in the loft.

He said: “As I was walking out of the loft out comes this little ginger cat, It ran off downstairs and I went to look for it.

“I ended up calling 13 different shelters that were full.”

Eventually, Alex got through to Homeward Bound, a local pet rescue group, who sent out a volunteer to capture and scan the young cat, though no microchip was found

The cat, which Alex called Ronald, is believed to have been trapped inside the house for several weeks.

Alex, from Preston, said: “It was quite skinny. You could see the features of its bones and it was extremely hungry. It obviously hadn’t been eating.

“The house had been boarded up a week before Christmas, and if it has been there since then, it’s quite a while .”

Homeward Bound is now trying to find out if ‘Ronald’, who is believed to be around one year old, has an owner to go home to. If not, he will be rehomed.

Homeward Bound volunteer Wendy Mulela said: “I would imagine he has been somebody’s pet, because he’s not feral. But it’s worrying if they are not neutered or chipped. We don’tknow if somebody has had him as a kitten and not wanted the expenses, and dumped him.”