FELIXSTOWE: Curiosity nearly did kill this cat - after a two-week cruise left him close to death by the time he arrived in Suffolk.

Richard Cornwell

FELIXSTOWE: Curiosity nearly did kill this cat - after a two-week cruise left him close to death by the time he arrived in Suffolk.

Pharaoh arrived in Suffolk after a long sea voyage from Port Said in Egypt in a container on the MV Maersk Batam.

But while he was weak and scrawny by the time he was found at a freight company in Ipswich, he was still able to give his finders a real fright.

John Biscoe from GMA Freight explained: “We opened this container that had just arrived from Egypt to ensure that it was all in order and I was with the forklift operator and became aware there was something in there.

“It was a container with wire coils, and I said there was a cat in there. The other chap wondered if it was lion or something but then this little thing jumped out and started rubbing around my legs.”

Mr Biscoe called the RSPCA who told him to contact Suffolk's trading standards department.

Two officers came out to collect Pharaoh and he is now being looked after a quarantine cattery near Colchester.

“He was very scrawny and we gave him a bowl of water and one of my colleagues gave him his sandwich - he ate the meat very quickly,” said Mr Biscoe.

“He must have been someone's pet in Egypt - he was very happy to see us,” he added

Pharaoh was given his name at the cattery that will be his home for the next five and a half months because of rabies quarantine regulations.

A county council trading standards spokeswoman said it had been “touch and go” for the cat when it was found two weeks ago.

“He was not in a very good state and at first it was thought he might not survive,” she said.

“He has been taken to a quarantine centre at Colchester, checked for rabies and other problems, fed and been looked after and now looks much better.

“Pharaoh will have to stay in quarantine and then it will be re-homed here.

“He must have heard how good life is in England when it decided to become a stowaway!”

The Cats Protection League has agreed to sponsor the animal during its quarantine period and find it a home afterwards.