Man Miraculously Saves Feral Kitten After Wife Spots It Being Quickly Carried Away by Flood

Skip and Nancy Campbell of Sacramento, California are not new to rescuing and helping feral cats that frequent their neighborhood. They even ended up adopting some of them. Their house backs up to Chicken Ranch Slough and it has a stream.

On October 24th, they never knew that they will meet their next furry addition to their already growing family.

That was a rainy day. In fact, 5.4 inches of rain fell, the highest recorded rainfall since 1880. The creek in their backyard turned into a wide river. And when the Campbells went through their back gate to walk through the park, Nancy could not believe what she was seeing in the water – spotted a tiny head bobbing in and out.

They knew right away that they need to do something to help the poor kitten. Thankfully her husband, Skip, knew the lay of the land. Their home had been in his family since 1966, so he was very familiar with the area.

In an interview with KCRA-TV, Skip shared, “I kinda know the terrain. It’s not safe to go out in the water like that, but for me, I knew right where it was flat, and so it wasn’t as much of a risk.”

Thankfully, he was able to safely wade out into the water to catch the kitten as it was swept away. This incident was all caught on video. In the clip that Nancy recorded, she could be heard shouting, “There’s a cat! It’s drowning!”

At first, it appeared to be a duck but she soon realized it was a kitten. Its head is barely visible in the footage as it disappears underwater several times while Skip was trying to get downstream far enough so he can catch it as it goes by. Skip managed to catch the kitten, held it up away from the water that could have taken its life.

Nancy shared videos of the rescue on her Facebook, and Skip even commented on it.

He wrote: “Free Cat: Ok swimmer. Private message for details. Available today, or tomorrow if you prefer a dry cat.”

When the video went viral online, some people were quick to judge how Skip held the kitten. He later explained that his veterinarian showed him to use that scruffing hold when working with feral cats, especially those who do not want to be restrained. He knew that if he’d tried to cradle or secure the already terrified kitten, things would not have ended up well. It may have injured him, hurt itself or even struggled and eventually end up back in the water.

After rescuing the feral kitten, the Campbells took it into the house and warmed it up. They named the gray kitten with green eyes “Stormy.” They said that they planned to care for it, help tame it, and hopefully find a new home.

But it didn’t take long for them to find the cat’s new adoptive owners – themselves!

Skip shared, “Well, here’s an update: I think we are keeping Stormy. Shocker I know. She snuggled with my older daughter Michelle last night for a few hours and it was over.”

Stormy will be joining the Campbells and their animal crew – two goats, a dog, and another rescue cat.