Missing moggy found with thermal imaging

The cat was found trapped under the floor boards

A cat who was missing for two days was eventually found sleeping under the floorboards using a thermal imaging camera.

Builders were undertaking work at a home in Swindon, when the cat's owners notified them they had not seen the cat, named Stanley, for "a couple of days".

Immediately setting out to look for Stanley, one of the builders drafted in his uncle to help locate the moggy, using technology usually used to find damp patches in walls.

Brendan O'Neill said it was the first time his tool had been used to find an animal, but joked that he "could branch out" after the successful discovery.

It is thought Stanley must have jumped through a hole cut by a plumber and made himself comfortable underneath the floor.

Unaware of the concern he had caused, the cat was "perfectly well" when he was recovered, if a little hungry, Mr O'Neill said.

Stanley was given a telling off once he was freed

Speaking to BBC Radio Wiltshire, Mr O'Neill said his nephew rang him "in a bit of a panic".

"He thought this cat had got lost in the building work somewhere," he said.

Not sure how he should go about locating him, he asked to borrow the thermal camera to check all the walls and floors.

Stanley was "perfectly well" following his ordeal

"[He wanted] to make sure the cat wasn't actually in the building work he was doing - I think he was worried he'd caused the cat's demise unfortunately," Mr O'Neill said.

"But after using the heat camera, he found him in the floor.

"A plumber had done some work in the house and the cat had climbed down the hole and gone to sleep."

Mr O'Neill added: "It was quite lucky because someone had placed a ladder over where the hole was, and that was what was stopping the cat from coming out."