UK – After her owner died, a cat named Nibbles had to fight alone for weeks. Her chances of survival were slim – but now, she finally has a second chance!

Animal welfare activists from the Stray Cat Rescue Team West Midlands in the British town of Albrighton were alerted to the fate of a small cat by a concerned woman. She told the rescuers that Nibbles' owner had died about a month ago.

Although his body had been removed from the house roughly two weeks earlier, no one seemed to know what had happened to his cat.

"There was something worrying her terribly…She knew he had a cat. Nobody seemed to know what had happened to her," the group said on Facebook.

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When asked, the local police confirmed to the rescuers that they had not seen any animal on the property during their investigation.

Consequently, the rescue team decided to look for Nibbles themselves and sent staff to the house.

Fortunately, the back door was unlocked, allowing the volunteers to simply walk in. "Nothing could have prepared us for what we walked into," they said, adding, "The smell was absolutely horrific. The conditions were heartbreaking."

When the team set out on the rescue mission, they expected to find a cat that had already died on site – the circumstances were, after all, far from ideal.

Then the surprise: Nibbles was alive!

The animal rescuers explained, "This poor little girl had been trapped inside that property, completely alone, with no open windows, no way of escaping and nobody coming to care for her."

How the cat survived the ordeal was equally remarkable: Nibbles had subsisted on a large bag of dry food that was still in the house. According to the helpers, she probably got water from the toilet.

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But it got even more heartbreaking: The rescuers could see how much her owner had loved the kitten. Toys were scattered throughout the house, and there were also scratching posts and an automatic litter box.

Three days after her rescue, Nibbles began to recover from the shock. She is now starting to trust the volunteers, and they are helping the little cat process what happened and slowly settle down again.