Owner shocked after his buried 'dead' cat returns from the grave

A cat turned up five days after being buried. Photo / Thinkstock

A US cat owner has been left baffled after he claimed his "dead" pet turned up five days after being buried.

Ellis Hutson told vets in Tampa Bay, Florida, that he had found his cat Bart lying in a pool of blood after he was hit by a car.

Hutson told the Humane Society of Tampa Bay that he had taken Bart away and buried him, and could not explain how the cat came to be spotted by neighbours five days later.

Vets say the most likely explanation is that the cat was only unconscious, came to in the ground and clawed his way out. The Humane Society said Bart had suffered severe head trauma, a broken jaw and lost sight in one eye, but was expected to survive.