(Fox8)

"Remarkable. I've never seen it, and I don't expect to see it again."

That's how veterinarian Linda Randall described a cat who survived a nearly 200-mile, three-hour trip under the hood of a car last Sunday.

According to WJW, Wayne Polk, 41, left Xenia, Ohio, bound for Cleveland. Three hours later, he stopped at a rest area and smelled something under his hood, the report said. He opened the hood and saw a cat, burned but alive. The cat was not his.

An Ohio state trooper saw Polk, came to his aid, and called Medina County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals , the report said. The SPCA named the cat, a male, Eclipse, after the model of Polk's car.

Randall said cats often nestle inside recently shut-off car engines for warmth - and often don't get out before the car is used again.

"Most get chewed up - missing legs, deep cuts and wounds," Randall said. "The fact he was able to hang on, while in pain from his burns - I just think it's incredible!"

Eclipse was scheduled for surgery Thursday afternoon to remove dead tissue from his wounds, Randall said. He may need skin grafting, but he will recover nicely, Randall said.

Randall said Eclipse appeared not to be living on the street.

"He's in good weight - those reserves are one of the reasons he was able to survive," she said. A Dayton, Ohio, TV station - which covers Xenia - was doing a story to see if a viewer recognized him, she said. Meantime, the SPCA would look for a home for him, she said.

Nonetheless, he could be stray, she said, because many cats in rural areas can find food at dairy farms and elsewhere.

"He's very, very friendly - not feral," Randall said.

"I see thousands of cats," Randall went on. "This one has a very special personality. Affectionate, playful, despite his wounds. He's present, right there in the moment - he looks at you. All the things you'd think a traumatized cat wouldn't do, he does. He draws you in."