Cat survives 19 hours in freezer
A pet cat has stunned an animal expert by surviving 19 hours in his owners' freezer.
Sarah Crombie, 27, discovered Krillen lying stiff and semi-conscious on a bag of dog food when she went to get a loaf of bread. said the Te Kuiti mother-of-two.
Her partner Sid Sisson had shut the top-loading freezer the night before, not realising Krillen was inside.
On discovering the 1-year-old Sarah feared the worst, as the freezer is kept on its coldest setting, about -18C.
Fortunately, Sid, 28, knew it was essential to raise the body temperature of hypothermia sufferers slowly. So he put the cat under his shirt and got into bed with him.
The dairy farmer kept Krillen under blankets and against his bare chest for three hours until he thawed out. said
Sarah.
Dr Nick Cave, senior lecturer at Massey University's Veterinary Teaching Hospital, said Krillen's survival was impressive and probably down to Sid warming him up slowly.
He knew of another cat that had survived in a freezer for more than 24 hours and days later developed signs of frostbite on its ear and toes. It also developed signs of kidney damage.
Although Krillen was frostbite-free a week later, Cave suggested Sarah and Sid take their pet to be checked for internal damage.
There has been little research into cats' ability to survive extreme cold, but dogs are a different story. Before the days of animal rights activists, scientists put huskies into freezers to see how they would cope.
In a 1959 study six out of seven dogs maintained their body temperature for up to 27 hours at -50C, and for another five hours at -79C.
But a 1952 study found that at -5C, a cat's metabolic rate rose by almost a third.
"So putting a cat in the freezer means it would presumably have to use up an enormous amount of energy to maintain its body temperature," said Cave.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/n...
By netchicken:
posted on 20-10-2009
Sarah Crombie, 27, discovered Krillen lying stiff and semi-conscious on a bag of dog food when she went to get a loaf of bread.
... Quote:
Her partner Sid Sisson had shut the top-loading freezer the night before, not realising Krillen was inside.
On discovering the 1-year-old Sarah feared the worst, as the freezer is kept on its coldest setting, about -18C.
... Quote:
Fortunately, Sid, 28, knew it was essential to raise the body temperature of hypothermia sufferers slowly. So he put the cat under his shirt and got into bed with him.
The dairy farmer kept Krillen under blankets and against his bare chest for three hours until he thawed out.
... Quote:
Dr Nick Cave, senior lecturer at Massey University's Veterinary Teaching Hospital, said Krillen's survival was impressive and probably down to Sid warming him up slowly.
He knew of another cat that had survived in a freezer for more than 24 hours and days later developed signs of frostbite on its ear and toes. It also developed signs of kidney damage.
Although Krillen was frostbite-free a week later, Cave suggested Sarah and Sid take their pet to be checked for internal damage.
There has been little research into cats' ability to survive extreme cold, but dogs are a different story. Before the days of animal rights activists, scientists put huskies into freezers to see how they would cope.
In a 1959 study six out of seven dogs maintained their body temperature for up to 27 hours at -50C, and for another five hours at -79C.
But a 1952 study found that at -5C, a cat's metabolic rate rose by almost a third.
"So putting a cat in the freezer means it would presumably have to use up an enormous amount of energy to maintain its body temperature," said Cave.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/n...