Michigan Firefighters Help Rescue Curious Kitten Stuck in Car Muffler

First responders sprung into action on Wednesday when an orange kitten was brought to the Detroit-area fire department with its head complete stuck inside a muffler

A kitten stuck in a car muffler got a lucky break when a group of firefighters stepped in to help the little feline.

On Wednesday, July 17, the Howell Area Fire Department, located in Michigan, shared a video on its Facebook page showing the moment its firefighters were brought an orange kitten whose head had gotten stuck in a muffler.

“On occasion the emergency call comes to the station… This afternoon our crew was brought a kitten with its head stuck in a muffler!” the department wrote in the post’s caption, according to Storyful.

The department’s video footage shows the fire crew carefully cutting pieces away from the muffler’s opening to create more wiggle room for the cat. Petting the kitten to keep it calm, the crew slowly and gently pulls the tiny cat out of the muffler.

In the clip, after several tense moments of coaxing the cat out of the muffler, the Howell Area firefighters breathe a sigh of relief as the kitten’s head pops out of the hole.

The feline emerges from the muffler with its ears and neck covered with grease and oil.

Once the cat is free, one of the firefighters in the clip says, “There you go, buddy!”

The department also released a photo of the kitten after the rescue. In the shot, the cat sits safely in a cage. The kitten went home after the ordeal was over.

“The kitten was left with needing a good home remedy for those hard-to-clean ring around the collar stains before heading home,” the department wrote in its Facebook post’s caption. “The muffler just needs a little straightening and clamp. Both are in good condition, spoken for, and headed back to the barn.”

The Michigan agency added, “Our crew, as always, was happy to be of assistance.”

This isn’t the only unique animal rescue from this summer. In July, a family in Texas sprang into action after finding a baby bird alone outdoors.

According to a July 14 Facebook post from the Wild West Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Amarillo, Texas, the organization received a call that day “about a possible orphaned barn owl” that had been found “on the ground without any parents nearby” by the family while they were swimming and barbequing.

“Rehabber Christy managed the call and inquired if they had already placed it in a box,” the center wrote, “to which they responded, ‘We wrapped him in a warm tortilla.'”

“Concerned about the baby feeling cold, the mother asked for a tortilla to be warmed up on the grill to provide heat for it,” Wild West Wildlife wrote on social media, adding that rescuers later determined the bird was a female Mississippi kite.

According to the center, while unconventional, the family’s tortilla method kept the baby bird warm and safe until a rescuer arrived.

In a July 16 Facebook update, the center shared that its staffers would be caring for the bird for about two months — and that they had named the hatchling Taquito.