Cat Man Chris Rescues Tiny Tortie From Busy Highway As Traffic Flies By!

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A 5-week-old tiny Tortie kitten was found laying flat on her stomach in the middle of a busy road in Tampa, Florida on Monday. Luckily the horrible position for this kitten to be in was also the most fortunate for her in these circumstances. With traffic on Sheldon Rd flying by at a minimum of the posted 45 mph speed limit, one woman was caring enough to stop for the little kitten. Fate intervened and the car behind the woman just happened to be a Big Cat Rescue staff member; our friend, Jen Leon!

Photo: Cole and Marmalade ~ Safe and sound after her ordeal

Jen was terrified when she saw the little kitten, who she thought had been hit by a car, laying flat on the road.

But then, the kitten jumped up and ran up into the wheel well of the woman’s car! Victor, also from Big Cat Rescue, and Chris Poole, a.k.a. “Cat Man Chris” and Cole and Marmalade‘s dad, were quick to rush to the scene.

Big Cat Rescue is just down the road from this site. And with the CaM family living in the area too, we are all very familiar with this busy roadway. Not to mention the horrible drivers (sorry Tampa, but it’s the truth).

The woman’s car housing the kitten stow-away was now parked in a turn lane. But the trio had to be very careful that they were not putting themselves in danger while dodging the cars. They were also concerned that the frightened kitten would bolt back out into traffic.

Photo: Cole and Marmalade ~ Chris and Victor locate the little kitten in the wheel well of the car

You can hear Jen warn Chris that “If he runs out, I’m going to drop your camera Chris, and grab him. So FYI!”

Victor held a light on the poor kitten cowering up in the wheel well. Chris, who was fully gloved, slid himself under the rear of the car to get in position. Jen did her best to direct the traffic around the team. All while trying keep everyone–human and feline–out of harm’s way.

You can see from the video the traffic barely slows down at all for the group.

Photo: Cole and Marmalade ~ Victor helps illuminate Chris’s efforts

Fortunately, Chris was able to reach the tiny tortie girl quickly and safely pull her from the precarious position.

They did a quick check to confirm she was not visually injured in any way. Then, safely tucked in the carrier, everyone moved to a safer place off the busy highway.

They searched for signs of a mother cat or other kittens but weren’t able to find anything. Chris went back later that night to continue looking after traffic died down. He will continue to do so for the next few days. But so far, there are no signs of her family in the area.

Photo: JessiCAT; Cole and Marmalade ~ She’s definitely not showing any feral traits!

For now, Chris brought the little girl back to the CaM household to foster. We set up the outdoor “kitten halfway house” until she could be checked out by a vet. With Marm being FIV+, our first priority is to ensure he is not exposed to any diseases or viruses that could affect his compromised immune system.

Due to her misadventures dodging traffic and an adorable little zig-zag pattern of coloring on her nose, Jess named her “Zig Zag”.

Or “Ziggy” since it seems we always default to a nickname right away!

Photo: Cole and Marmalade – Zig Zag pattern on her nose gave her, her name. Let’s get those little sad eyes happy now!

She was very scared and with what she went through, it’s not surprising in the least. So we are being very patient with her. There is little to indicate that she is a feral as you can pick her up with no fuss and she happily accepts being pet. 

However, upon closer inspection it looks like although little Zig Zag has no wounds from her ordeal, she does have ringworm. We began treating her for that right away and with the help of the amazing local foster team, should have her fixed up in no time.

Photo: JessiCAT; Cole and Marmalade ~ Ringworm spot on her front leg. She also has it on her neck and the tip of her tail

Fortunately we did make the right decision to keep her isolated.

We couldn’t put Cole, Marmalade and the Pointer Sister fosters in the house at risk. Luckily we didn’t because ringworm is very contagious. Lots of washing up after we visit with her is a MUST! She is slow to eat but Jess was able to get her to nibble some baby food off of her finger. At least she does have an appetite, she just needs to realize she’s safe now so she can begin to heal, physically and emotionally.

Thankfully, tiny tortie Zig Zag has no sign of dehydration and no fleas. We aren’t sure if she was dumped on the road as it seems unlikely in the middle of rush hour…in full daylight…with lots of traffic nearby, someone would chance this. She may have also climbed up into someone’s vehicle and then fallen out of the car when they were driving. So it’s possible she originated from an entirely different area.

Photo: JessiCAT; Cole and Marmalade ~ Little Ziggy’s purrfect profile

Wherever her life began and her journey took her, fate smiled upon this little girl this day.

Rescuers were in the right place at the right time to help tiny tortie Zig Zag. We couldn’t have helped save her without the dedication of the cat lovers at Big Cat Rescue and the caring woman who stopped to help a lonely little kitten in the road.

We’ll be sure to keep everyone updated on Ziggy’s progress while we’re fostering this sweet little baby who is sure to grow up into one gorgeous tortie!

REMEMBER: SPAY/NEUTER, FOSTER, VOLUNTEER, TNR & AS ALWAYS, ADOPT, DON’T SHOP!

Related Video: 2 NEW KITTENS – Cole & Marmalade are Getting Sisters!!

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