Duluth cat’s monthslong sewer sojourn comes to an end

DULUTH — A Duluth family’s cat had a dramatic rescue from a sewer Tuesday after being missing two months.

Clifton Nesseth’s cat, Drifter, went missing July 18, the same day construction workers sealed a sewer hole on their street, Nesseth said.

“He’s an avid outdoorsman,” Nesseth said. “He usually comes back by dinner time, so that’s when we knew something was wrong.”

There were no signs of Drifter until about 6 p.m. Tuesday when Nesseth’s stepdaughter, April Dressel, 12, came rushing into the family’s home.

“She said two neighborhood kids heard meowing below the sidewalk,” Nesseth said.

Sure enough, there was meowing coming from a storm drain right outside the family’s home. Nesseth cut a hole in the fabric covering the drain and noticed a tabby cat’s paw.

“We didn’t know it was Drifter until we saw his paw,” Nesseth said.

Nesseth, with the help of his wife, Ashley Comstock, pulled Drifter out of the sewer. “We still can’t believe it,” he said.

Nesseth presumes Drifter, who is about 4 years old, survived on mice and sewer water. The cat was 15 pounds before going missing and weighed 6.5 pounds when he was found.

Nevertheless, the family’s vet says Drifter will be OK, though he’s certainly happy to see food again.

“He’s a foodie, if a cat ever was,” Nesseth said with a laugh. “We’re trying to give him fluids and he wants to eat the syringe.”

The family adopted Drifter after finding him during a vacation in Rice Lake, Wis. Nesseth said the cat was given his name based on his independent personality.

Leo Pomerenke is a University of Minnesota student on assignment with the Star Tribune.