Bet the One Ear got his head caught in the fan on start up -
I actually had one do that, and survive. Horrendous racket on start up.
I banned my cat(s) from the garage after I found one of mine, wet from rain, curled up on the convertible top on my Z11. The other one had jumped from the workbench to the rear deck on the LS5 and missed, scratching the paint to the point where it took a good bit to buff it out. No more cats in the garage -
Regards,
Steve