Family sacrifices car to save kitten

VERO BEACH, Fl. (CBS12) — A kitten's curiosity almost cost him one of his nine lives when he managed to crawl inside a Vero Beach family's car.

On Monday, Denise Wilford-Neal adopted the cat and moments later the kitten crawled up inside the dash console, crying and would not come out.

They tried to lure the kitten with food and water - but in extreme heat and after 20 hours, Denise Wilford-Neal said she was at a loss as to what to do.

The car parked in their driveway along 27th Avenue became a magnet for animal lovers and mechanics in the following hours.

"I was worried about the heat of the day," Denise said, “So, I put a post on Facebook does anyone have suggestions and then it went crazy . People were calling and coming by with tools and mechanics came."

Mechanic Travis Inman, and from Spada Total Auto helped take apart the dash of the car. But the kitten was lodged into a small part they could not reach.

"They disassembled my dash piece by piece, looking and still looking taking pieces apart,” Wilford-Neal said, “But they said there was one way to get to Monte. They could use a saw to cut out the dash, but it would destroy my Monte Carlo.”

Mechanics were stunned when Denise Wilford-Neal said to do it. Minutes later, the kitten was cut free. But the car now can’t be repaired with cut wires and a cut out console.

Wilford-Neal named the kitten Monte, like her car.

Even with no money, no other car, and no way to replace her $600 Monte Carlo, she says she'd do it again to save Monte's life.

"Yes because it's a baby... see it’s just a baby," she said, letting Monte lick her hand.

Monte, a free kitten the family adopted, Wilford-Neal says is worth the price tag of the car.

Or Denise allowed us to post her cell phone number for contact information if you'd like to help with expenses for the kitten or the car.