On July 10, a customer at the Hardees in Frankfort, Kentucky was stopped as he was going through the drive-thru. The fast food worker noticed that there was a strange meowing sound coming through the speaker.
It was then the man realized he had a stowaway: there was a kitten trapped underneath his car.
Luckily, the restaurant’s manager was able to find a nearby Midas, and asked the mechanics if they would be willing to extract the cat from the vehicle.
They agreed, and found a kitten who had really gotten herself stuck good.
“She tried to crawl through a hole in the rear subframe and got lodged after realizing she couldn’t retreat backwards,” D. Scott Bourne, owner and managing director of the Midas of Frankfort, told The Dodo.
The only way to safely extract the kitten was to dismantle the bottom of the car. The owner agreed, and the mechanics began the long process.
The kitten had been stuck for hours, and was described as tired and frightened.
“She was very docile as she was very tired and dehydrated,” Bourne said. “It was 90-plus degrees outside, and hard telling how hot it was under the vehicle.”
If the kitten was worn-out, so were the mechanics, who went through an hour-long process carefully dismantling the auto parts. But luckily, they were able to get the cat out safe and sound.
“After an hour of rear subframe removal, a Lexington Fireman, my lead tech and myself with some soap, sweat, and prayers, were able to extract the kitten from the clutches of a rear subframe on a 2000 Honda Accord,” Bourne wrote in a Facebook post.
The car owner was apparently patient throughout the whole ordeal, and even offered to pay the Midas team, although they declined.
They were happy to help what they called a “Miracle kitten.” The cat had improbably survived a long car trip between three cities, and likely wouldn’t have made it if they hadn’t gotten her out when they did.
“By all rights, this kitten shouldn’t have survived but through God’s grace and the efforts of four people, she will live to see another day,” the Facebook post reads.
The 9-week-old kitten—who they named Marigold—was brought to the vet the next morning, and despite a few scrapes was in otherwise great health.
According to The Dodo, Marigold was adopted by friends of the mechanics, and is now settling into her new home. No one knows where she came from originally, and the kitten was not microchipped.
It really is a miracle, one made possible by a group of strangers stepping up and doing their part to help.
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