When Maria Yagoda stepped outside one morning, she was shocked to find her car covered in handwritten notes. Each one carried the same urgent message: There’s a kitten trapped inside your car.
Without hesitation, Yagoda grabbed her phone and called the number on one of the notes.
“It was a very sweet neighbor I’d never met before,” Yagoda said in a TikTok video. “A whole group of neighbors — who didn’t even know each other — had heard a kitten crying from my car and worked together to try to help.”
The impromptu rescue team quickly reunited at Yagoda’s car. They recruited a nearby construction worker to help jack up the vehicle, hoping to find the frightened kitten. When their search came up short, they called in the experts — Greenpoint Cats, a local rescue group known for tricky animal saves.
A volunteer named Becky arrived with a clever idea: she played recordings of meowing kittens to try to lure the trapped cat out.
“The little kitty inside the car started meowing back,” Yagoda said.
Becky had even brought a friendly rescue kitten named Lydia to help coax the car kitten out. Unfortunately, Lydia was far more interested in lounging and looking adorable than doing any actual rescuing.
“She didn’t really understand the assignment,” Yagoda joked.
Undeterred, the group tried again — this time with another neighbor’s very vocal cat in a carrier. Finally, they heard a shuffle, and the tiny kitten emerged … only to dash straight under another car.
The rescuers quickly formed a makeshift barrier around the vehicle and set up humane traps. Hours later, around 11 p.m., their patience paid off — the kitten was safely captured.
They named him Pothole.
As fate would have it, Pothole soon reunited with his would-be rescuer Lydia. The two kittens bonded instantly, becoming inseparable — and before long, they were adopted together.
Now, Pothole and Lydia are thriving in their new home, surrounded by warmth, toys, and endless love. What began as a neighborhood rescue turned into the start of a perfect friendship — and two very lucky cats’ new life.
