15 May 2008

A trio of kittens have been discovered living in tiny space in a US factory.

The felines were saved from a 300mm by 75mm hole behind an office wall, where it is thought that they had been living in complete darkness, the Bayside Bulletin reports.

Rescuers were forced to remove factory cladding from outside the building to bring the animals to safety.

The story began when workers at the factory in Capalaba has adopted a stray cat earlier in the year and named her Factory Cat who later became pregnant.

"We noticed that Factory Cat had got fat and then she got thin, so we wondered what was happening, but we couldn't find the kittens," Desley Horton who runs the neighbouring factory told the newspaper.

"We eventually removed cladding from outside the building and still couldn't find them.

"[We] used a stud finder to mark the office wall and made a 300mm hole. Torchlight revealed three kittens wedged in the framework - there was no way they could have got out without help."

The kittens were reunited with their mother and homes are now being found for them.