9 lives-plus! Cat found in pipe 3 weeks after Kansas house exploded

TOPEKA, Kansas -- Tuesday was a happy day for a Topeka family whose cat was found after being missing for nearly three weeks after their house exploded.

Ashley Nadeau posted on her Facebook page Tuesday a picture of her cat, Kunimitsu, who went missing after her house at 1331 S.W. High exploded July 19.

“It’s a miracle,” Nadeau wrote in her post of the cat.

She said the cat had been missing since the explosion and was found in a pipe when a bulldozer went to the site Tuesday.

Nadeau told The Topeka Capital-Journal on Tuesday evening that the cat was staying overnight at Stone House Animal Hospital for observation, and a veterinarian will complete blood work on her liver because she went so long without food.

She said Kunimitsu’s ears and fur are singed, but “she seems all in one piece.”

“I’ve been having dreams every night that I found her,” Nadeau said.

An explosion occurred about 10:25 p.m. on July 19. When firefighters arrived, they found the home "pretty much destroyed," said Topeka Fire Marshal Michael Martin.

Martin said two cats were missing after the explosion.

The name of Nadeau’s other cat is Mr. Tibbs.

Neither Nadeau nor her 9-month-old daughter Rosalie were at home during the explosion. They left the house earlier in the evening because of a gas odor and downed power line.

The damage occurred after a storm with high winds hit Topeka earlier that day. Fire officials determined the explosion was accidental and associated with the storm.

The explosion also destroyed two other houses. The Hunters, at 1335 S.W. High, and the Saylers, at 1327 S.W. High, also lost their homes.