Kitten hitches a ride

Chris Jorgensen with the kitten who travelled under the bonnet of her car. Photo / Doug Sherring

A "miracle" kitten has survived a 20km journey under the bonnet of a car.

Chris Jorgensen discovered the frightened feline after driving from a meeting at an Auckland pub to the city's airport on Monday evening.

Throughout the drive she heard a squeaking sound and, because it was raining, assumed it was her windscreen wipers scraping against the glass.

When the sounds continued after she arrived at Air New Zealand's Koru parking lot, she lifted the bonnet to find the "teensy" kitten looking back at her with wild, wide eyes.

"It was a miracle," she said. "I was totally amazed it was okay."

The animal lover was flying to Wellington for work and gave the kitten to Air New Zealand staff to look after until her husband could collect it the following day.

She has contacted the SPCA who told her they had been to the pub to collect a litter of strays but one had disappeared.

The lucky creature, estimated to be 5 weeks old, is now settling into the Jorgensens' Waikato lifestyle property with two other cats, two dogs, a horse and sheep. They originally named her Hitch, but were considering changing that to Koru.