TINY black kittens that were wedged alongside boiling water pipes behind a shed in Truro have been rescued.

Bill and Barb were sheltering in the shed when they were startled and fled down a pipe containing heating pipes for the main property.

The five-week-old pair were due to be collected with their mother as part of Cats Protection Cornwall’s Trap-Neuter-Return scheme to neuter all the cats in a semi-feral colony living in the garden.

Jasmine Nevitte, receptionist at the charity’s base in Carnon Downs, was collecting the kittens from the shed in the presence of the property owner.

“Unbeknown to either of us, there was a pipe in the back corner of the shed behind some boxes, with the water heating pipes running through them,” she said. “The two kittens shot down the pipe and got stuck, tangled in cables. I managed to get Barb, but Bill had gone in head-first and got totally stuck behind and under the boiling hot water pipes.”

With no way for Bill to get himself out and no way to cool the pipes swiftly, it was a race against time to get the kitten out before he suffered serious burns or died.

“I could just about reach his back legs but the pipes were so hot, I couldn't keep my arm down the outer pipe for very long,” said Jasmine. “As time went on, we got increasingly worried that the kitten was going to die from the temperature of the pipes resting on his tiny body and neck.”

Finally, Jasmine donned some insulated but flexible work gloves and a soft-shell jacket which protected her enough to pull the hot pipes back, up and away from the kitten.

“I managed to keep my arm down the pipe long enough to get a grip on Bill’s back-end and release his head from under the pipe,” she explained. “I could then untangle his legs from the cables and pull him up.

“We took both kittens straight to the vets. Amazingly, Barb didn’t have any significant burns. Unfortunately, Bill’s little bottom was more badly burnt than we initially thought, and he will need close monitoring, daily bathing, antibiotics and pain relief.”

While understandably shaken from their ordeal, both kittens are doing well, adjusting to life with indoor comforts and getting used to humans. They are receiving round-the-clock care and gentle socialisation so that they can be rehomed when they are old enough.

While adult cats in feral colonies have had little or no human interaction during their formative earliest weeks, and are therefore extremely fearful of humans, kittens under six weeks of age have not yet fully developed their fear response and can learn to trust humans, enjoy home comforts and live a domesticated life rather than one in the wild.

The kittens’ details will be posted on Cornwall Cat Centre’s website when they are fully recovered and old enough to go to new homes. To keep an eye out for them and to find out about other cats needing homes visit www.cats.org.uk/cornwall.