Cat crawls back from grave after being hit by car

TAMPA, Fla. – If cats have nine lives, Bart the black and white feline from Tampa, Florida, has certainly used up one.

The Tampa Bay Times reports that when 1 1/2-year-old Bart was hit by a car earlier this month, owner Ellis Hutson was so distraught he couldn’t stand the thought of burying the cat. So he asked neighbor Dusty Albritton to dig a shallow grave.

But five days later, on Jan. 21, a matted and injured Bart emerged, meowing for food.

Hutson got in touch with the Humane Society of Tampa Bay, which through the Save-A-Pet Medical Fund will help cover costs of surgery to remove an eye, wire his jaw shut and insert a feeding tube.

Bart should recover in about six weeks and he'll go home with Hutson.

This story was originally published January 28, 2015 at 7:35 AM with the headline "Cat crawls back from grave after being hit by car."