If you are a cat owner, then you’re likely familiar with how cats like to hide in small spaces. Whether crawling under a blanket, inside of a bag, or under a sofa, cats enjoy the feeling of safety and security that small spaces provide. Sometimes, cats crawl in very unusual small spaces, such as the engine bay of a car. This was the case recently, when a family, while driving their Nissan Rogue SUV, discovered a cute little kitten trapped inside the car engine. The scary encounter for the kitten resulted in a happy ending, though. After its rescue, the family adopted the kitten.

Family finds a kitten in a car engine while driving over the Christmas weekend

Over the recent Christmas weekend, a family drove their Nissan Rogue SUV through Pennsylvania. While driving, the family heard a strange sound from the car engine, as reported by Fox News. After a closer look, they discovered a kitten trapped in the car engine. Miraculously, it was still alive and unharmed. 

Bear Creek Township Vol Fire/Rescue safely rescues the kitten from the car engine

However, the family still faced the challenge of rescuing the kitten from the engine bay of their Nissan Rogue. They called for help, and the Bear Creek Township Vol Fire/Rescue came to the rescue. After a laborious one-and-a-half-hour process of taking out parts from the Nissan Rogue, the Bear Creek Township Vol Fire/Rescue safely removed the kitten from the engine bay.

“Job well done to The Bear Creek Fire Department this morning on a unique call for a kitten stuck in a vehicle’s engine compartment. A family, traveling from WB, stopped near Meadow Run Landscaping on Rt.115 when they heard the kitten crying. Finding the kitten and removal took approximately 1.5 hours. Thank you to the family for allowing the BCFD to disassemble many parts of their new Nissan SUV to rescue the stowaway. The family kept the kitten to add to their pet family.”

– Bear Creek Township Vol Fire/Rescue

The family adopted the kitten, which now safely resides in their home. They stated that the kitten “had been bathed and is in good spirits.”

Why do cats hide in car engines?

A few years ago, a pregnant feral cat roamed outside of my house. Soon after, the feral cat gave birth, as it lost its sizable pregnant girth. However, the kittens were nowhere to be found, and I feared that they died. I searched all over the land around my house, but I could not find the kittens. 

However, a couple of days later, I heard a meowing sound emanating from under the steps to my house. Three fluffy little kittens found a new home. Until I could find people to adopt the kittens, I kept them inside of my garage. Eventually, my sister adopted one of the kittens, and a family friend adopted another. I kept one of the kittens for myself. 

The kittens stayed in my garage from September to late November. By November, the weather can get cold in my home state of Wisconsin. For this reason, the kittens frequently crawled up inside of the engine bay of an SUV in my garage. The engine bay is a warmer place for cats to relax. Also, as I mentioned earlier, cats like the small space of a car engine, for it provides a sense of safety and security.

How to keep a cat out of a car engine

If you’d like to prevent a cat or other animals from crawling in a car engine, there are precautions that you can take. For one, you can verbally discourage a cat from going into a car engine when you catch it in the act. As cats are fiercely independent animals, verbal discouragement may not be effective, though. You can also lightly tap the car horn. However, out of concern for the health of the cats’ ears, I never used this strategy and would not recommend it.

A better alternative is to use mint. Since most cats don’t like the smell of mint, you can use it as a deterrent to keep them out of a car engine. To do this, dab some cotton balls with mint oil, place the cotton balls in a can, and put them in the engine bay. That should be enough to keep cats out of the engine. If you don’t have mint oil, you can also use mothballs. Additionally, as an extra precaution, you can knock a couple of times on the hood of your car before driving.