Cat Trapped for 41 Days After Quake Dies : Pets: Veterinarian is unable to revive Tiffany, who captured worldwide attention after she was found in a locked closet.

Tiffany, the cat whose will to survive captured hearts as far as Europe, died early Friday, her body racked by the effects of malnutrition and dehydration.

The 10-year-old Persian mix was found Sunday, her body withered after spending 41 days in a storage closet where she had accidentally been locked in after fleeing the Jan. 17 earthquake. She had no food and only rainwater to drink.

The fact that she had survived the ordeal--something her veterinarians called unusual if not miraculous--had made her an international symbol of hope. Calls from newspapers in London and Germany poured into the Animal Clinic of Santa Clarita, where she was being treated. CBS News was at the clinic preparing a live report when the cat went into cardiac and respiratory arrest early Friday morning.

Tiffany’s veterinarian, Sandy Sanford, spent 20 minutes trying to save her with cardiopulmonary resuscitation, oxygen and drug therapy. But the cat, who had lost about 60% of her body weight, did not respond.

“In the back of my mind, I knew this was a potential complication,” Sanford said. “But I was hoping, since she’d gone this long, I was hoping she would make it.”

Tiffany’s owner, Laurie Booth, on her way to meet CBS, arrived at the veterinary clinic minutes after Sanford stopped trying to revive the cat at 4:21 a.m.

Booth wondered how the cat could have been so close--in a neighbor’s storage closet--and not have been found.

“She was right there all the time, probably praying I would open the door, and I was praying I would find her,” Booth said.

But Booth was still thankful that she had found Tiffany alive.

“She didn’t die alone in a cold place. She knew she was loved,” Booth said. “She definitely was a little fighter.”