Rescued stowaway kitten finds new home

Ni Hao, the stowaway kitten from Shanghai at the Los Angeles County Animal Care Control Carson Shelter in Gardena, Calif. / AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes

(CBS/AP) LOS ANGELES - A stowaway kitten who survived a three-week ocean voyage from China to California trapped in a storage container without food or water has found a new home.

Los Angeles County animal control officials say the cat, which has been named Ni Hao, or "hello" in Chinese, will leave the animal hospital he's called home since turning up in the U.S. last month to start life next week with a family in the LA suburb of Redondo Beach.

The family has not been further identified, but officials say it was chosen from more than 80 serious candidates who applied to adopt the stowaway.

A picture of Ni Hao shortly after he was discovered in a shipping container, July 11, 2012.

/ AP/Dept. of Animal Care and Control

The now 5-month-old kitten was found July 11. CBS Los Angeles reported last month the orange-and-white feline was discovered in a freight container that arrived at a business in Compton, Calif.

He couldn't walk, see, or make any sounds. He was rushed to a care center where veterinarians say he has thrived.

The only lingering sign of trauma is a limp, which animal control official Aaron Reyes describes as "his own strut."

[blueblueiis]

What a lucky kitten. He came to a better life in America. Thank you to the compassionate people who found him and saved him.

[fredm6900]

We should blame Obama ... and Mitt Romney for that!

[Ulgnud]

I am astonished the kitten survived. Thanks to all who participated in helping the little one. I hope Ni Hao lives a long and happy life.

[tomanyt]

Awesome.

[th9876]

What a sweet kitty - am so glad he made it alive and the people who found him were compasionate and caring. Thank you for saving him.