Workers discovered the creature, pinned down by furniture, as they were preparing to demolish the vacated building.

The animal was barely breathing and severely dehydrated. It weighed less than 2kg, half the weight of a healthy cat its size, and was comatose with a failing liver when found.

It had apparently kept itself alive by eating another cat - a head, tail, bones and bits of fur were found next to the survivor.

Thousands did not survive the devastating quake

A TV reporter rescued the cat from being thrown in the rubbish by the workers, and took it to a veterinary hospital in Taichung where it was placed in an incubator and fed via a syringe.

"It's already doing a lot better today, but we'll still consider it to be in critical condition through the week," veterinarian Chen Tao-chieh said.

It is not clear who owned the destroyed house, and no one has come forward to claim the cat.

Thousands killed

The September quake, which measured between 7.3 and 7.6 on the Richter scale, killed about 2,400 people and left thousands homeless.

Rescue workers found two brothers alive after five-and-a-half days in their collapsed Taipei apartment building. Two dogs were rescued by workers in Puli 18 days after the quake.

The survival time for people trapped under collapsed buildings varies greatly according to the time of year, terrain and any physical injuries.

One theory says those who are not rescued within 48 hours have a 10% chance of survival.