Nobody knows how a kitten ended up on this Manatee bridge. But then it jumped, officials say

A 7-week-old kitten is recovering after it apparently jumped off the Manatee Avenue Bridge on Monday.

According to West Manatee Fire Rescue officials, a report of a cat jumping from the bridge came in around 5 p.m.

A woman spotted the kitten running along the bridge and attempted to catch it, Battalion Chief Rich Jasinski said.

But then the frightened little cat jumped off.

She immediately called 911 and crews quickly responded, going out on a boat to search for the kitten in the water and under the bridge.

They soon spotted the kitten hanging on a drain pipe under the bridge and rescued it.

“When we went out, I didn’t have high hopes it was going to make it,” Jasinski said. “But the cat somehow found a little drain pipe to stand on and that’s why it survived.”

He also said he didn’t know how the cat got on the bridge, suspecting someone may have dumped it there.

“That’s a pretty odd place for a little kitten to be,” he said.

The kitten was taken to a veterinarian and given IV fluids and survived through the night. He is expected to make a full recovery.

The woman who reported the incident, Jasinski said, spent time working at a cat rescue and plans to adopt the kitten when it gets released from the hospital.

This story was originally published July 17, 2018 at 5:08 PM.