One stormy day, Joseph Cinnante was inside his home when a faint, unfamiliar sound caught his attention. As a dog trainer and dad, Joseph is used to background noise — but this was something else.
“The cries were so faint, they almost didn’t seem real,” Cinnante told The Dodo. “At first, I thought they were birds.”
Despite the hail falling outside, Joseph and a friend decided to investigate. As they stepped into the storm and followed the sound, the truth became clearer.
“When I got closer, I realized — that’s a kitten crying,” he said.
Tucked under thick brush on a hillside, they found a tiny orange kitten, drenched and shivering. Confused, Joseph thought it might be one of his cat Keely’s new litter — but a closer look told a different story.
“This one was older, had stripes, and his eyes were open. I realized he wasn’t from Keely’s litter,” he said.
They brought the kitten inside to warm him up. But they weren’t done. Minutes later, they discovered two more kittens nearby, crying out from a hole in the ground. Then, after an hour of searching, they found a fourth kitten, all alone and struggling.
There was no sign of a mother cat — possibly one of the local barn cats — and the kittens were far too young to survive without one. That’s when Joseph turned to the most qualified foster mom he knew: Keely.
Keely had just given birth to three kittens of her own, and Joseph hoped she might accept the four rescues. At first, she hesitated.
“She was unsure and a little wary,” he said. “But after some time, she accepted them all. She treats them like her own.”
You can watch Keely’s sweet adoption moment here:
For Joseph, the timing felt meant to be. He had just launched a nonprofit to rescue and train shelter dogs facing euthanasia. Though kittens weren’t part of the original plan, their sudden arrival seemed like a sign.
“The same week we found them, we started our nonprofit. It felt like the universe telling us we were doing the right thing,” he said.
Thanks to Joseph’s quick action — and Keely’s open heart — all seven kittens are now thriving. The original trio and their adopted siblings are growing stronger every day, and the search is on for their forever homes.
“She’s been an incredible mom,” Joseph said. “All seven are lucky to have her — and I’m lucky to have them.”
To inquire about adopting a kitten, you can contact Joseph Cinnante on Instagram.
