Mya, the two-year-old Burmese cat, last spotted headed to Taradale from Meeanee on the roof of a family member's ute. Video / Supplied
A Hawke's Bay cat that went missing after hitching a ride on top of a family ute has been found, proving the old adage that cats always land on their feet.
Two-year-old Mya was last seen leaving owner Bridget Brannigan's home in Meeanee, about 7km south of Napier, atop a ute, driven by Brannigan's oblivious daughter last Monday.
A worried Brannigan had had no idea where Mya had disappeared to or why she had not returned home that night until she reviewed the family's security cameras.
She said the Burmese was no stranger to cars, often climbing into them, but never on.
Two-year-old Burmese cat Mya has been reunited with her family after going missing atop a family member's ute. Photo / Supplied
"When we saw her whizzing past there, we thought she must have gone further afield."
Having reviewed a neighbour's security camera footage, she now thinks Mya might have jumped off the top of the ute - while it was travelling at 100 kilometres per hour - a few hundred metres down the road on Willowbank Ave before running off.
Mya was spotted in recent days by a neighbour in an orchard a few hundred metres from the Brannigans' place.
The neighbour went out and sat in the orchard for quite some time with some smoked fish until Mya got brave enough to come closer to her, Brannigan said.
"I just couldn't believe it [when they called me on Monday night to tell me they had found her]."
Mya, who has likely used at least one of her nine lives, had escaped mostly unscathed.
"She's been purring and carrying on.
"She wasn't very hungry though she's pretty skinny and was very thirsty.
"[There's] something going on with her rear leg but otherwise she dying to get out of lockdown."
Bridget Brannigan and daughter Michaela Brannigan, with 2-year-old Burmese Mya, back home in Meeanee. Photo / Paul Taylor
Brannigan took her to the vet on Tuesday morning but said they would need to go again to get x-rays to confirm whether Mya would need surgery on her right leg.
"She got quite a workout at the vet. They seem to think there's a bit of her hip that's dislocated."
She said it's not the first time Mya had injured herself, with the feline needing a similar operation on her other leg after being kicked by a horse.
Her daughter Michaela said she felt terrible when she heard she'd driven off with Mya and was very relieved when she was found.
"Coming to Mum's house is like having a hernia. You have to look out for the dogs, check for the cats, and the lawnmower.
