Tiny Kitten Found in a Car Wheel Well Lands in a Sandy Springs Home
A quick stop for cupcakes turned into an unexpected cat rescue for Nicole Motahari and her husband, Brandon Lou, in Sandy Springs. By the end of the trip, the couple had not only helped free a kitten from their car, they had given him a home.
Motahari and Lou had headed to the Abernathy Publix to pick up birthday cupcakes for her students at North Springs High School. They were traveling from their condominium complex, Stonington, which Motahari said is about a mile from the store, on the way to the school.
After they left, a woman came up to them honking and told them there was a cat hanging under their car. In rush-hour traffic, the couple stopped in the middle of the road and tried to search the vehicle, but they could not find the animal at first. They continued carefully toward the school until they heard faint mewing coming from the front right side of the car.
The sound led them to a tiny kitten tucked into the wheel well. Getting him out was not simple. Motahari said it took three Sandy Springs firefighters and two police officers to free the very small stowaway, who was determined not to be rescued easily.
She and Lou believe the kitten climbed into the car at their condo complex and somehow held on through the drive to Publix and part of the way to school. What started as a routine morning errand had turned into a full rescue effort centered on a kitten small enough to hide where no one expected.
A new name and a new home
Once the kitten was out, Motahari and Lou took him straight to a veterinarian. There they learned just how tiny he was. The kitten was about six weeks old and weighed 1.2 pounds.
After that, Motahari said, sending him back out on his own was not really an option. The couple kept him and began feeding him whenever he wants to eat until he reaches 2 pounds. The little passenger now has a name, Friday Shadow.
Motahari has described him as the couple's little Halloween miracle. His timing felt especially fitting to them because she said she and Lou were married on Halloween. A tiny black kitten arriving when he did made him, in her view, an unexpected anniversary present.
Friday Shadow may be small, but he has already shown plenty of skill when it comes to disappearing. Motahari said there is really no safe space with a cat that size. In one moment at home, he vanished beneath a bathroom cabinet. When they could not find him, they opened a drawer and discovered that he was there.
She said Friday appears unaffected by the experience of being trapped and rescued. Much of his time now is spent cuddling and asking for the couple's full attention.
For Motahari, the biggest credit belongs to the Sandy Springs firefighters and police officers who helped save him. She said they went out of their way to protect a tiny life, and because of that effort, Friday Shadow is now safe, spoiled and settling into his new home.
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