An abandoned kitten has found his new home after a Temecula mother, with a car full of kids, pulled over on the Cajon Pass to rescue him from the freeway median, according to messages and video she shared with KTLA on Saturday.
Through her Instagram account @mrsmccaffrey, Ryann McCaffrey told KTLA that traffic was moving slowly on July 28 when she spotted the kitten on the center divider. She said she stopped, got out and tried to coax the animal to safety.
After the first attempt failed, she used slices of her child’s Lunchables ham “to show I wasn’t a threat.” The kitten was open-mouth panting and “felt so hot,” she said, adding temperatures were close to 100 degrees.
The footage shows McCaffrey approaching the cat as he perches on a wall in between the lanes. The animal hisses; McCaffrey grabs him from the ledge and quickly shakes one hand as if in pain while holding the kitten with the other, consistent with a bite or scratch. And yet, she carried on with the rescue, carrying the young cat to safety.
McCaffrey said she and her family were en route to Bishop for their annual trip when they found the kitten. They brought the animal into their vehicle, stopped at a pet store for supplies and continued to Bishop, where a veterinarian sedated the kitten for an exam. The vet told the family the cat was about 9 weeks old, feral, had two types of worms and was covered in fleas, McCaffrey said.
The family ended their trip early and returned to Temecula, where they quarantined the kitten in their garage because of other household pets. McCaffrey said the cat is eating, drinking and using a litter box. To help him acclimate, she and her family sit nearby and talk or read aloud.
McCaffrey also addressed online comments about a moment in the video when her husband suggested putting the cat “in the back,” noting they drive a truck with a shell and that he has been supportive throughout.
“The biggest shout out to my husband Matt McCaffrey because he was so kind and supportive when I went on another one of my crazy adventures. We went to high school together and had kids young,” McCaffrey said. “He allowed me to be a stay at home mom and raise them. It is truly the biggest blessing”
McCaffrey also said the video’s attention has sparked conversations about the dangers of dumping pets and encouraged kindness online.
Since the kitty’s rescue, McCaffrey has shared a few more videos of their new family member, logging his progress. In a comment under her most recent video asking if the kitten has a name, McCaffrey said, “not yet, but I have been calling him bugs.”
Sam Bader contributed to this report.