The adventurous cat jumped ship from her owners’ stunning yacht while it was docked at James Watt Dock marina and crossed the road for a nosey around Morton’s ground.
She has been travelling all over Europe with Swiss couple Michal Biedermann, 26, and Peter Portman, 47, before arriving in Greenock back in October.
The curious tourist, named Maunzli — which means ‘talks a lot’ in Swiss German — used up at least one of her nine lives by crossing the A8 dual carriageway, but soon got herself into strife when she became trapped inside the stadium.
Ton commercial manager Susan Burns discovered the missing moggie whilst preparing for the club’s crucial league clash against Peterhead on Saturday.
Susan said: “I’ve been setting up for the game and I could hear this cat crying inside the stand. The chief executive and groundsman came out and we found it stuck between two false walls at the back end of the stadium.
“The crying became more and more apparent and it was heartbeaking, she was scratching at the walls.” Drastic measures had to be taken to free Maunzli. Susan said: “The groundsman had to take down part of a wall in a stand toilet.
“The animal was absolutely starving but she was reticient and wouldn’t come to me.
“She probably didn’t know what I was saying as we soon discovered she’s a Greek cat!” Susan contacted rescue charity Underheugh Ark, where she helps out, the SSPCA and also Abbey Vets and this led to Maunzli being reunited with her family — as owner Michal called the rescue charity to report the puss missing. Michal and her husband, who are volunteers with environmental charity OceanCare, were upset when their special shipmate went missing.
Michal, pictured with Maunzli, said: “She had been missing since last Tuesday and we thought she might have jumped on a boat and went for a cruise.
“We were really worried, we just couldn’t imagine what had happened to her. She loves to go ashore but she always comes back at night.” Fortunately, the far-travelled feline was microchipped, which helped ensure a happy ending.
Michal said: “We couldn’t believe it. We’re really pleased she’s back home as she’s a special cat to us. We lived in Greece for two years and got her there. Then we started to travel — we bought the boat in Holland, then went to Germany, Denmark, Sweden and last winter we were in Stockholm, Norway and then on to Scotland’s west coast and the Caledonian Canal. We stayed in Greenock for the winter. It’s great for us as there’s a lot of supermarkets and we can walk into town as we don’t have a car.
“It’s really good to be here.” Meanwhile, back at Morton, Maunzli’s visit is being viewed as a good luck omen for the crunch match tomorrow.
Susan laughed: “She probably heard about the big game on Saturday and that Morton’s mascot is a cat and wanted to meet him.
“She’s a lovely wee thing. I would like to think it’s a good omen — it’s karma perhaps to help us out.” Neil McIntosh of Abbey Vets treated Maunzli and agreed to keep her overnight until her owners were traced.
He joked: “This just shows the excitement about Morton’s game on Saturday — the travelling support is coming from all over Europe!
“It’s good news that the wee cat’s ok and this shows the benefits of micro-chipping.”
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