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Kill Devil Hills (KDH) staff came to the rescue when a 17-year-old cat wedged himself inside a storm drain during a rare snow event on the Outer Banks. After being trapped for approximately 72 hours, Boris was freed from a tight pipe and returned to his family.

Boris is an indoor/outdoor cat who typically comes up onto the porch of his home daily to be let in, the owner shared with The Coastland Times. When he did not return on the evening of Tuesday, January 21, the family began to worry. “It started to snow, and the next morning we called for him, but we couldn’t find him anywhere.” It wasn’t until Friday morning that the owner’s daughter was out in their driveway getting ready to leave and heard faint meowing. “We thought he was in the pampas grass at first,” said the owner. “We followed his meowing and found out that he was down in the storm drain, which has a grate over it.”

After failed attempts by the family to remove the grate, the owner contacted the Town of KDH and asked if there was someone who could come assist. Bobby Overman and Rudy Baum with the KDH streets division were sent out immediately. Once they arrived on scene, they worked to remove the grate just outside of the family’s home. They thought Boris would jump right out, but quickly realized he must have been in a compromised position. They could only hear his cry for help; no one could see him.

Overman and Baum called in Kerry Simmons, also with the streets division, and asked him to bring tools. Once Simmons arrived, they worked to get a second grate removed across the street. Even though they were now closer to Boris, the pipe was too narrow for the men to reach him. “There’s a pipe in that ditch that opens up into a culvert pipe and runs down into a drain system. Then the drain turns into a six-inch that runs into a baby drain and that’s where the cat was stuck,” explained Simmons.

Everyone decided the next best thing to do was to call animal control. When Chris Allen – an officer with animal control – arrived, he was able to take a picture of Boris and see the position he was in. “We just kept calling him and cheering him on,” the owner explained. Little by little, Boris shifted and finally poked his head out. Allen was concerned about pulling him from the drain due to the size of the pipe, but worked with him in an attempt to roll the cat onto his back.

“All of a sudden, like magic he [Boris] popped up and his paws came out,” his owner said. “We knew he was mustering up as much energy as he could.” With that, Allen was able to get Boris into a better position to pull him out by the nape of his neck. The pipe just about fit the width of the cat.

“We were there for about an hour,” Simmons said. “I never saw something like this before. We did feel sorry for that cat … it didn’t stop meowing. Poor thing had to be freezing to death.”

“Those guys are heroes,” Boris’ owner shared. “Without their help, I don’t know what we would have done.”

The family is happy to report that Boris is doing well. He had frostbite on the tops of his paws and was weak and sore after the incident. After several baths a few-day-long cat nap, Boris received a clean bill of health from the vet. He will stay indoors with the family while he continues regain his strength.

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