Hero saves stray cat with wooly hat

By Adam Dutton

This is the adorable moment a Royal Navy engineer used his woolly hat to save a dying kitten that had been dumped on a cliff where Poldark was filmed.

Billy Kelland, 21, was hiking with three pals on the Cornish coast path above Porthcurno beach when he spotted a tiny bundle of fur under a bramble bush.

He stopped to investigate and realized it was a starving kitten no more than 10-12 weeks old.

The dark tortoiseshell kitten was struggling to walk and appeared to be suffering from potentially fatal cat flu.

The video shows Billy, an air engineer with the Royal Navy stationed at RNAS Culdrose, tucking the kitten - he nicknamed Bramble - inside his woolly hat.

Billy let Bramble climb into his rucksack and he carried her with the rucksack open on his chest as they hiked the six miles back along the coastal path to Sennen Cove where they had started their walk.

He then took Bramble to the Cats Protection Cat Centre in nearby Carnon Downs.

When they arrived, Bramble was grubby from being outside, and there was evidence she’d had fleas, which can cause anemia in kittens.

Most worryingly, Bramble was sneezing, had watery red eyes, was struggling to breathe and her meow was raspy, all signs of highly infectious cat flu.

After making a remarkable recovery, Bramble was adopted by Billy’s mum Katie Spencer, 51.

She said: “We lost our wonderful cat Freddie last year and my husband and I were heartbroken when he passed.

“I always knew I’d want another cat, but I didn’t think I was ready yet. Then along came Bramble - how could we possibly say no, especially when she chose Billy?

“Billy visits Bramble often and I think she does know he's her special friend.

“She likes watching football with him and chasing the players on his iPad.

“I was concerned about our dog, Cookie, who is getting old.

“I wasn’t sure he would keep up with a young kitten.

“But as it turns out Bramble has given him a new spark; he was grieving for Freddie but now he’s got a fresh enthusiasm for life.

“Bramble is an absolute sweetheart and loving life.

“Our front room currently looks like a kitten play gym, but when bedtime comes, I carry her up to her room, tuck her in, and we don’t hear a peep until morning.

“She’s tidy and clean, eats her breakfast and supper right next to Cookie, and has her own little stash of kibble upstairs.”

The animal charity believes it is probable that Bramble and her mother had been abandoned on the cliff, which featured in the BBC TV series Poldark.

Rehoming and Welfare Assistant at Cat Protection, Gemma Reid, says: “We cannot know how Bramble ended up fending for herself, but with a 71 percent increase in cat abandonments over the past three years at our centers nationwide, there is a strong chance that Bramble or her mother had been left alone on the cliff.

“Thankfully Bramble was a determined little kitten and she found Billy whose kindness and quick thinking saved her.

“It’s likely she would have died a painful death if she’d remained out in the elements with her cat flu untreated.

“It’s never acceptable to abandon a pet and we would urge anyone who is struggling to contact us, other welfare organizations or a local vet for help.”