Cat named 'Stig of the Dump' after surviving 50-mile bin lorry trip from London to MK

A lucky black cat who survived a 50-mile journey in a bin lorry has been named 'Stig of the Dump' by his rescuers.

It is thought that Stig somehow hitched a ride on the lorry in London and ended up at a landfill site in Milton Keynes.

The young cat was found by a bin worker, who summoned the RSPCA.

He has been named after the hero of a classic children's book called Stig of the Dump which is about a young boy who strikes up a friendship with a caveman living in a tip.

Stig the cat was injured during the journey and had to have his front leg amputated, but the charity said he is doing well despite that.

Sally Jessop, from the RSPCA, said Stig had been recovering with a foster family.

She said: "He's coming on lovely. He's a little bit traumatised still but he's getting there. He's hopefully going to be signed off by the end of this week by the vets and they're very pleased with how his leg's healed.

"He's hopping around, he plays, he loves the fosterers' cats. He can get up and down stairs and jump on the bed.

"He doesn't even know he's lost his leg. He sometimes goes to put it down and he falls over because he doesn't realise it's gone.

"He's such a young cat, only nine or ten months probably. He will come on leaps and bounds - he'll just get used to not having that leg."

Stig is not microchipped so the RSPCA said it was unlikely he would be able to be reunited with his original owners.

The RSPCA is urging everyone to ensure their cats are microchipped before a change of law makes it compulsory from June 10.

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