Florida ‘zombie cat’ crawls back from grave 5 days after burial

A Florida feline is being dubbed “zombie cat” after it crawled out of its grave five days after being laid to rest.

The 18-month-old black and white cat named Bart was hit by a car earlier this month in Tampa, the Tampa Bay Times reported. Bart’s owner Ellis Hutson said he was so upset that he asked his neighbor, Dusty Albritton, to bury the cat in a shallow grave.

“I couldn’t stand to bury the cat,” Mr. Hutson, 52, told the Times.

Five days after its burial, on Jan. 21, Bart reportedly emerged from the grave meowing for food.

“It was unbelievable,” Mr. Huston said. “I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

Mr. Albritton, 42, said the cat’s return “blew me away.”

“All I knew was this cat was dead and ’Pet Sematary’ is real,” the neighbor told the Times.

Using the Save-A-Pet Medical Fund, the Humane Society of Tampa Bay agreed to help Mr. Hutson cover costs of surgery to remove an eye, wire Bart’s jaw shut and insert a feeding tube, The Times reported.

The cat should recover in about six weeks.

“He’s purring, even with all these injuries,” said Humane Society executive director Sherry Silk. “I can’t even imagine how awful he must have felt. He’s just a really wonderful, patient, loving cat.”