The State - News from June 6, 1989

A cat that sneaked into a shipment of animal food and was shipped to Hawaii gave birth to a litter of kittens en route, a Purina Mills official said. When handlers opened a crate of Purina chow in Hawaii, Sylvester the cat and two surviving kittens emerged relatively unscathed, although the mother cat was dehydrated from nine days aboard ship, said Dick Rossow, customer service manager at Purina’s plant in Turlock. During the trip, Sylvester, who had been a mascot at the Turlock plant, clawed open a sack of Purina Cat Chow for food, Rossow said. The cat and kittens were flown back to the mainland courtesy of Continental Airlines and were met at San Francisco International Airport by a limousine and a banner reading “Welcome Home, Sylvester and Family.”