Workers at Makro needed to call the RSPCA after finding something "extraordinary" in the recycling.
Staff at the wholesaler, on the Britonwood Trading Estate, in Kirkby, heard noises coming from a container filled with cardboard. When they went to check out where the noise was coming from, they found a cat and a kitten.
It's thought the cat had gone inside to give birth to her baby and then become trapped as it got continually filled with more and more cardboard. The RSPCA was called on May 30 and both the cat and her kitten were taken into the care of RSPCA’s Wirral and Chester branch.
RSPCA inspector Vicki Brooks said she believes the mother and son may have been stuck inside the unit in sweltering heat without food or water for several days. Vicki, along with staff from Makro, spent five hours painstakingly removing pieces of cardboard by hand in an attempt to reach the cats.
READ MORE: Connor Chapman blamed Elle Edwards murder on 'friend' and said he was at home watching YouTube
Vicki said: "It was the most extraordinary rescue I have taken part in, in 21 years with the RSPCA. I don’t know how the cats managed to survive. There was tons of cardboard packed tightly up to the ceiling of the container and no room for them to move.
"It was incredibly hot and there would have been limited air. Mum had obviously not eaten for at least a couple of days and all the while she was trying to feed and care for her newborn kitten. They could so easily have been crushed by falling cardboard or succumbed to the heat."
When RSPCA inspector Joanne Macdonald and trainee animal rescue officer Scarlett Sanderson arrived, there was no sign of the adult cat, who would have had sufficient space by then to get out of the container herself. Attempts are now being made to find the kitten's mum and get her health checked and neutered.
Joanne said: "Only one kitten was heard or seen inside the container so we’re fairly sure there weren't anymore. Mum had obviously snuck in when it wasn’t full in the hope of giving birth somewhere she thought was safe, warm and dry. But because the container is continuously being filled, her escape route became blocked.
"We’re incredibly grateful to Thomas Cheeseman and his colleagues at Makro for the incredible support they gave us from the start of the operation until the finish - their care and compassion was heartwarming - as well the container company, DS Smith, who sent a driver out of hours to move the compactor.
"It was a complex operation as we had to remove all the cardboard by hand as using any sort of machinery would have risked injuring the cats, plus little Biff was right at the other end of the container. We’re obviously concerned about his mum and we’ll be working with another charity to try and trap her. And of course this very unusual rescue highlights just how beneficial neutering is for the welfare of cats."
The kitten has now been named Biff and is doing well at the RSPCA’s Wirral and Chester branch rehoming centre in Cross Lane, Wallasey, where he has made two new feline friends - orphan kittens called Chip and Kipper who were brought to the centre after being found at separate locations.
The trio, who are all three to four weeks old, have been named after characters from the popular Oxford Reading Tree books, and are being hand-reared by Kay. If you would like to donate to Biff, Chip and Kipper’s ongoing care you can do so by visiting https://www.rspcawirral.com/donations
READ NEXT: Kids crying themselves to sleep after mum's discovery in kitchen
Scousers wowed as Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra enjoy family day out in Liverpool
