In a post shared on TikTok on Tuesday by user dr.emzieees, the orange cat can be seen peeking out of the wall as two builders break it open to free him after he got stuck inside during the repair works.
This is not uncommon for cats. In fact, Newsweek has previously reported on several cases of cats stuck in walls or other parts of the house.
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In March 2022, firefighters were called to save an 8-week-old kitten stuck inside his owner’s bathroom wall; in October, a cat owner revealed her contractor inadvertently sealed her cat behind the drywall of her newly renovated bathroom; and then again, in November, a cat got stuck inside a stove vent.
According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Pet Health Insurance, cats often get themselves into small spaces where they feel secure, and this behavior can be traced back to their wildcat ancestors, who used to find hidden spots to sleep—away from predators.
Further down in the comments, the user explained that Winston had been safely put away when the contractors came to work on the bathroom, but he still managed to escape and hide behind the wall, where he was stuck for about six hours.
The viral clip comes with a caption that says: “Shoutout to Winston’s mom for hearing his cries from inside the wall. in her words ‘thank goodness the concrete hadn’t hardened.”
The video quickly attracted animal lovers from all over the platform, receiving over 4.3 million views and 516,800 likes so far.
One user, Janalbeadz42o, commented: “It’s amazing how many people have also had to destroy a wall to get their cat out. I too have done this. Still have no idea how the cat got stuck.”
And tbg173 said: “It’s weirdly common, our apartment was being Reno’d before we moved in, come to find out a stray had been trapped under the staircase (cats ok now!).”
Another user, Leslie Ann Morales, wrote: “do y’all not put your cats in a separate place when workers come to ya known do work?” And lucia.cecile said: “My bunny straight up went inside my wall once and fell asleep.”
BigD said: “Omg Winston what are you [doing] here.” And Gild the Lilly wrote: “Omg I have a cat named Winston and he once got stuck in the wall by the bathtub, too!!!!”
Newsweek reached out to dr.emzieees for comment. We could not verify the details of the case.
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