Cat thrown from moving car on Auckland bridge remains happy and affectionate, video shows

Despite being thrown form a car, Panmure the cat is friendly and affectionate. Photo / Facebook.

A brave and affectionate kitty who survived being thrown from a moving car as it crossed a bridge is recovering well, a new video shows.

The grey and brown tabby cat, who has been nicknamed Panmure, suffered a injury to his back leg as well as cuts to his nose and eye after he was seen being "ejected" from a light blue Suzuki Swift-type hatchback as it crossed the Pakuranga Bridge heading towards Panmure at 3.45pm last Tuesday.

A woman, who witnessed the event, picked him up off the road and rushed him to the Greenlane Veterinary Centre and Cattery.

Panmure remains in the clinic and is sporting a fancy yellow cast. This morning a video posted on Facebook showed him having a stretch and a roll around.

Panmure the cat is sporting a cool, yellow cast. Photo / Facebook

Despite his injuries, staff say Panmure is affectionate, which is probably an indication that he is someone's beloved pet - but his owners are yet to come forward.

Photos and video of the kitty show him being rather smoochy, enjoying scratches on the head, and curling up in a blanket.

Senior vet nurse Nicole Robertson told the Herald last week that the clinic had been overwhelmed by the public response to Panmure's plight - including offers to pay for surgery and to rehome him.

Her colleagues have offered to carry out surgery on their days off, if needed.

Robertson said the young woman who brought the cat into the clinic said she was driving behind the car when she saw Panmure "fly out the window".

"We don't know whether he actually got thrown out or whether he was hiding in the back seat and just happened to jump out as they went over the bridge.

"So it's not necessarily a case of animal abuse, we don't have that as confirmation. That part of the investigation has been handed over to the SPCA inspector but he does have quite a significant injury to his hock [knee]."

However, it was slightly suspicious because if the cat had jumped, it should have landed on its feet and not suffered such serious injuries.

"[The woman] said the cat got projected upwards, so to me that sounds like it has jumped off the window edge but generally when cats jump they land on their feet, they don't injure themselves ... they're pretty dexterous. But it's very difficult to say."