Last week, firefighters in Dodge City, Kansas, responded to a surprising house call. A 4-year-old child had accidentally flushed their kitten down the toilet.
Kristin Schmitz called the fire department when she realized what had happened.
"All of a sudden we hear this meow meow meow, and I said it sounds like it's coming from under the floor," she told WIBW.
Local firefighters were "thrown off" by the call but rushed to the house within 15 minutes, the Chief of Fire and EMS told BuzzFeed News.
Once they arrived, Boyd and three other firefighters realized the task was trickier than they had anticipated. The tiny kitten had traveled through the pipes and was wedged inside.
The firefighters dismantled the toilet and began pulling apart the bathroom tile.
But after two and a half hours, and calling in two plumbers, one of the firefighters reached deep down and was able to pull the kitten out. The family cried and thanked the guys for going "way above and beyond."
Boyd said everyone on the scene was overjoyed to rescue the kitten, but there was a moment of uncertainty over whether the kitten was going to make it.
"The kitten wasn’t in great shape, so our moment of joy was guarded," he said.
Boyd told BuzzFeed News the orange tabby is now in stable condition.
Schmitz later thanked the fire department again on its Facebook page, and said the family have decided to name the kitten Miracle.