Stowaway kitten takes 70km trip to Palmy

This 12-week old Whanganui kitten appears to have hitched a ride to Palmerston North in the engine bay of a car.

Is this road-tripping kitten yours?

The 12-week-old moggie is believed to have hopped in the car of a Palmerston North couple who were visiting Whanganui - and hitched a ride more than 70 kilometres back to the Manawatu city.

Manawatu SPCA manager Danny Auger said the couple saw the kitten emerge from the engine when they got back to Palmerston.

He said it could have started its journey in Palmerston North and made a round trip - "I guess there's no way of knowing, but I think it could well have come from Whanganui."

The couple handed the kitten in to the SPCA which is legally obliged to keep animals for seven days. However, this travelling feline - who took the trip on Christmas Eve - has been kept a lot longer though, despite the SPCA's efforts, it has still not been reunited with its owners. Mr Auger said because the kitten had not yet been claimed, it would go up for adoption either today or tomorrow.

The cat's capers were not a surprise to him.

"It's more common than we probably realise," he said.

"We do get calls about animals - generally cats - stuck in engine bays."

It was the warmth of car engines that attracted cats and they could safely manage long trips, he said.

"There's a lot of nooks and crannies in engine bays and they generally can get down quite well and hold on for dear life."