A cat that survived for almost four weeks trapped inside a sealed shipping container, traveling from China to Oakdale, is in need of a name — and a home.

The calico cat, which weighs less than 6 pounds, was found Wednesday by an employee at a distribution center in Oakdale and then trapped overnight by Companion Animal Control employees.

“She is very emaciated, she is very dehydrated, but she is responding well,” said Brit Harmon, the owner of Companion Animal Control in Oakdale. “She has a good appetite, and she is warming up to handling.”

The cat likely survived by licking condensation that had formed on the walls of the shipping container and “maybe catching a rodent or two,” Harmon said. “Either that or she was overweight before she went on her venture and she had a reserve to survive.”

The cat is believed to have spent at least three weeks at sea before arriving in New York. She then sat in a train yard for another four days before making her way to Oakdale, she said.

Harmon does not believe the cat would have survived another two days in the shipping container.

Recovery, then adoption

When the shipping container was opened in Oakdale, the cat came walking out, and employees tried to catch her, Harmon said. When their attempts didn’t work, they called Companion Animal Control.

“She was startled, and that’s when it was clear that she was just hiding under the pallets in the container, and we couldn’t reach her,” Harmon said. “We used a live trap to safely contain her. She had tuna fish in there and some canned food, so it was really nice and smelly.”

The cat is currently recovering at Northwoods Humane Society in Wyoming, Minn., which is taking care of Companion Animal Control residents until the organization’s new facility opens in August in Oakdale, Harmon said.

“She should weigh twice what she weighs now, but she’s eating well,” she said. “We expect her to make a full recovery.”

Harmon said the cat will be vaccinated and spayed once she is healthy enough to undergo surgery. “They can’t be sedated if they are not in good condition,” she said. “If she continues on the path that she’s on, we think that she’ll be able to go up for adoption in two weeks.”

Needs a name

Next up is choosing a name for the cat.

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A post shared on Companion Animal Control’s Facebook page asking for name ideas has generated hundreds of suggestions, including “China,” “Stowaway,” “Lucky” and “Journey.”

“‘Cat’ in Chinese is ‘mao’ 猫, and the rough equivalent of ‘kitty kitty’ is ‘maomao,’ so you can’t go wrong with that,” wrote one commenter.

“‘Pearl,’ another person suggested. “Pearl S. Buck wrote fascinating novels about life in China.”

“’Tariff,’” wrote another. “(Too soon?)”

Volunteers at Northwoods will have the final say, Harmon said. She said Friday that she is partial to “Stowaway.”

“I’ve never heard of a cat named ‘Stowaway,’” she said. “I like that one. We’ve had many calls to help cats, but never one from China. This was a first.”