A “miracle” cat missing for five weeks was found still alive beneath a neighbour’s floorboards. <br /><br />Russian blue Arthur's overjoyed owners believe he narrowly survived by eating spiders, bugs and mites, and licking condensation from pipes. <br /><br />Arthur lost half his bodyweight while trapped, and he was only discovered when the neighbours heard distressed mewing and pulled up the floorboards.<br /><br />His owner Jo Rymill knocked on doors, stuck flyers to lamp posts, and posted on social media - never expecting she would find her missing pet just three doors down. <br /><br />After five weeks of searching, the owner of a nearby holiday let posted a voice message on the neighbourhood WhatsApp chat saying the tenants in her property heard a mewing beneath the floor.<br /><br />She had recently renovated the home.<br /><br />Within 12 minutes nearby residents in Ramsgate, Kent, descended on the property and ripped up the floorboards to rescue frail and dehydrated Arthur.<br /><br />Interior designer Ms Rymill was queuing for popcorn at the cinema with her husband Ian when the news came through. <br /><br />She said their four-year-old kitty used up more than one of his nine lives after disappearing from their house on June 8. <br /><br />The dirt-covered moggy was rushed to an emergency vet in Herne Bay and spent 24 hours on a drip, while the 55-year-old feared he wouldn’t make it through the night.<br /><br />Grateful Arthur has now returned to live with Ms Rymill as well as his feline sister Florence,.<br /><br />Ms Rymill said: “We got straight out of the cinema, jumped in the car and raced home.<br /><br />“They started sending pictures and on the way home I was saying ‘OMG! It's him! It's him!'<br /><br />“I thought after five weeks there's no way he would have survived that because, logically, how could he? The first thing I did was burst into tears.<br /><br />“I came out and all the neighbours were standing there holding him and it was the most amazing feeling. I still can't believe he’s with us.”<br /><br />Describing Arthur's hospital stint, she said: “At the start, we were really worried his kidneys would have gone.<br /><br />“The first round of blood tests on Friday night wasn’t very good, but the next day they settled out.<br /><br />“He didn't smell very good because he had been trapped so he just smelt like a ball of ammonia.<br /><br />“When they are healthy their hair is just like silk, but his is still full of dust and he's not really well enough to properly clean himself yet.<br /><br />“The back half of him had deteriorated muscle-wise, so he has lost pretty much all the strength in his back legs.<br /><br />“When you stroke him you can feel all his tiny little ribs and his spine.<br /><br />“It's more than a miracle – nobody can believe he survived for five weeks.<br /><br />“I would say he has used up more than one of his nine lives.<br /><br />“I certainly don't think he would have lasted much longer if they hadn’t found him.<br /><br />“This is the best street to live in. It’s quite short and everyone knows each other. Almost everyone has a pet.<br /><br />"Renovations were ongoing in the house Arthur disappeared in and decorators has removed the panels around the time he got lost.
