{"id":201581,"date":"2026-04-18T05:28:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T05:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/201581\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T05:28:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T05:28:09","slug":"lirr-cat-struck-cat-recovering-after-struck-by-train-stuck-on-tracks-for-over-a-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/201581\/","title":{"rendered":"LIRR Cat struck: Cat recovering after struck by train, stuck on tracks for over a week"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao MvWXB TjIXL aGjvy ebVHC \">LONG ISLAND  (WABC) &#8212; Medical experts say the cat known as &#8220;Garfield,&#8221; rescued from the Long Island Railroad tracks, was actually trapped for at least a week.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Garfield is recovering at Cat Kitten Solution and had a long operation on Thursday night.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">It took a coordinated effort between the MTA, the Long Island Railroad, cat rescue experts, and doctors to save the Orange Tabby, who was <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/abc7ny.com\/post\/cat-struck-train-rescued-lirr-tracks-suffolk-county-long-island\/18880024\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">struck by a train and then stuck<\/a> between the 3rd rails.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">It happened on the Babylon line near Lindenhurst on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Expert doctors now believe Garfield could have been struck well before Sunday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;Everything was necrotic and infected. So it has to be at least a week. Minimum,&#8221; Dr. Thomas Infernuso, with Animal Surgical Center, said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The cat&#8217;s surgeon said it took 4 hours to repair Garfield&#8217;s injuries.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The injuries included two broken hind legs, one shattered front leg, and a fracture on his nasal bone so severe that it nearly penetrated the wall between his sinus and brain.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;What is quite impressive is how resilient this animal is. Three hours later, he started eating. I think he was basically starving,&#8221; Infernuso said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;The overnight doctor&#8217;s like, this cat is a miracle,&#8221; Infernuso said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Those who rescued him were shocked by Garfield&#8217;s resilience and his demeanour.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;No sign of aggression, no biting, no hissing, and no clawing at anyone. Happy to be alive, basically,&#8221; John DeBacker with Long Island Cat Kitten Solution said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Just like the character for which he&#8217;s named, this Garfield loves food.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">After extensive rehab, rescuers plan to find him a forever home where he&#8217;ll hopefully live out his 8 other lives with no drama.<\/p>\n<p>Submit a tip or story idea to Eyewitness News<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Have a breaking news tip or an idea for a story we should cover? Send it to Eyewitness News using the form below.    If attaching a video or photo, <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/abc7ny.com\/image-video-solicitation-and-rights-terms-of-use\/5101040\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">terms of use apply.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Copyright \u00a9 2026 WABC-TV. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LONG ISLAND (WABC) &#8212; Medical experts say the cat known as &#8220;Garfield,&#8221; rescued from the Long Island Railroad&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":201582,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[79937,9,11,10,49,51,50],"class_list":{"0":"post-201581","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-79937","9":"tag-new-york","10":"tag-new-york-headlines","11":"tag-new-york-news","12":"tag-new-york-state","13":"tag-new-york-state-headlines","14":"tag-new-york-state-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201581"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201581\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/201582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}