The cat appeared to be extremely dehydrated and was taken to a veterinary clinic in the neighboring town of Rieti. Rescuers opined that the cat drank rainwater to survive. “It’s really true that cats have nine lives,” one of the firefighters remarked to the Telegraph newspaper. Another feline was retrieved from the ruins by the volunteer group Oipa in the village of Illica.
Oipa set out in search of the cat, after a girl who lost her parents in the earthquake reported that their three cats could have been buried by the crumbling house.
Looking for the pets, Oipa members left food on the ruins and called for them. After a number of failed attempts to find the cats, they heard cat meows from under the ruins. Giorgiana the cat was rescued and handed over to the vets. The cat was dehydrated and weak, but alive, and is expected to make a full recovery. After the August 24 earthquake affected several Italian regions including Lazio, Umbria, Abruzzo and Marche, dozens of cats and dogs escaped. In the village of San Lorenzo, Romeo the golden retriever was found alive after spending nine days under the ruins of a collapsed building. Pietro and Giorgiana, however, have broken his record.
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