WHEN Mervat Ciuti arrived in England from Egypt to visit her sister she thought she had brought enough with her for a few weeks' stay.
But she also brought something entirely unexpected in her suitcase – her seven-year-old Persian cat.
Bisou survived a journey in the hold of a flight from Cairo to Heathrow and was only discovered once Mervat, 42, was in a cab on the M1 en route to her sister Monica's home in Radcliffe-on-Trent.
Monica, 40, said: "They stopped the cab and the taxi driver offered to look as she was so upset. He said 'don't look' as he opened the bag for her.
"But Bisou was alive. My sister just had her in her lap in the taxi the rest of the way to Nottingham.
"We just couldn't believe it. Our family had looked everywhere and they realised she must have got into the suitcase. It was so unexpected."
After Mervat took her cat to the vet for a check-up following her ordeal on December 28, Bisou was put into quarantine at Calagran Kennels Chesterfield, where she is still waiting for the all-clear to be shipped safely back to Egypt in the summer.
Mike Binks, owner of the centre, described the cat's adventure as a "miracle".
He said: "She's a healthy, happy, laid-back Persian who likes sitting outside in the sunshine.
"I've never heard anything quite like it before. Apparently she was fine and when the bag was opened was like 'well this is comfortable, if a bit different'."
He added: "I spent 21 years working for British Airways before I did this and in holds you get the same air as you get upstairs but it's not circulated or heated.
"But if you think about it she would have been well insulated with all the other bags around her and she's very furry with a massive coat.
"In my experience cats and dogs have got into holds and its just luck whether or not they survive."
Monica said the cat was in a suitcase with a zip. She has since been to visit Bisou at her temporary home in Chesterfield.
She added: "She's got to wait until May or June until Bisou can be allowed back into the country.
"She wanted to take her back but she's got to be in quarantine for six months. She's such a beautiful, big cat. My sister is looking forward to having her back.
"We didn't know what to do. It was after midnight that she arrived in Nottingham.
"When she got into the flat in Mapperley where my sister was staying she was scared because it was a strange place and hid under the bed."
Notts County Council's Trading Standards department arranged for Bisou to be kept in quarantine after they were contacted by the vet which Mervat had taken her to. Animal importation issues fall under the remit of trading standards.
Trading Standards manager Mark Hughes said: "It is a very unusual situation as we have dealt with cats coming into the UK in cargo containers – but never a suitcase! It was New Year's Eve when we got the call; we just didn't believe it. I'm amazed it survived."
It is illegal to bring a pet into the UK without the right travel documents, which from Egypt include proof of rabies vaccinations, which Monica said Bisou had had done.
Trading Standards said they took no further action in Bisou's case as they were satisfied she had been brought in by mistake.
