Cat Freed After Being Stuck In Wall

PHILADELPHIA - Sprout the Cat is back with her family after being trapped inside the walls of their South Philly apartment.

Slideshow: Images Of Sprout The Cat

The feline was found Wednesday evening, hiding in the dropped ceiling space in the basement.

Nearly three weeks ago, Sprout had managed to climb through a utility hole in the wall of her home and became stuck there. The cat's calls for help could be heard from behind the walls.

Her owners, Carmine Venziale and Darcy Borden, had been trying to spring her ever since.

"She was on top of the dropped ceiling in the Rita's [Water Ice] and I was in there alone and I think she was comfortable enough to come out so I called to her, climbed up the ladder and she came crawling out of a ventialltion duct on top of that, right to me," said Venziale.

"Very excited," said Borden. "I heard, it sounded like there was a whole crowd of elephants running up the stairs and Carmine came bursting through the door, holding Sprout and we were just both really excited."

The feline's partner-in-crime, Bean, was the one who popped the covering off the utility hole so the two cats could explore inside the walls of their apartment.

"I think there's gotta be something in there that she's living on," said Venziale."It's been 19 days and I don't know what she's doing but she sounded pretty strong throughout this whole process."

"I came in and Bean had managed to pull [the cover] off again and then I heard Sprout crying through," recalled Borden.

Bean made it back out, Sprout did not. At first, they thought the cat escaped out on the street but the intermittent meowing let them know she was still alive.

Sardines left as food and calling out names had not worked to get the feline out.

The landlord even pitched in over the last few weeks to find the cat somewhere in the ceiling space, sacrificing newly-installed sheet rock in hopes of catching the wayward kitty. But still the elusive Sprout remained in the rafters.

Shortly after our broadcast Tuesday night, the Philadelphia Fire Department showed up to offer some help. The fire chief said they don't normally come out to calls like this but they saw the story on Fox 29 News at 10 and they wanted to help.

Firefighters poked around and were able to see signs of life, but they still couldn't pinpoint exactly where Sprout was.

"We were able to get an idea of the exact area around where she's been hanging out and some areas that we didn't even know she had gotten to," Borden said. "So our next step is just to put food in all of those sections now with the help of the tall ladder. That way she can eat something."

See more of Sprout when she appears on "Good Day Philadelphia" Thursday morning.