Rescuers from Catsnip, Etc. in Elkhart, Indiana, responded quickly to a report about a mother cat who had given birth in a storm drain.

But as spectators were saving the cat family, one lonely kitten had another idea in mind: she wanted to embark on an unforgettable trip.

“Employees at a local factory found a stray cat that had been hanging around and had kittens,” Missy McNeal, a foster for Catsnip Etc., told The Dodo. “By the time we got there, the employees had caught the other kittens.”

However, one kitten panicked and jumped into a spout that went straight down 3 feet. Rescuers couldn’t see her but heard her cries.

“The kitten had been down the pipe and crying for almost 24 hours before we were called,” McNeal said. “We knew those 4-week-old babies still needed their mom.”

In order to locate the kitten, McNeal devised a strategy to gently pass a camera via a conduit embedded in the cement. The devoted team looked for eight hours without finding anything.

None of us wanted to leave the kitten alone overnight, but there was nothing we could do because it was completely dark. We hoped that some of the food we threw down the passageways would reach her.

When the team returned in the morning, they followed the sewer company’s recommendation — flush the pipes to draw the kitten into the open.

“With her lost in a maze of underground pipes, it’s all we could do,” McNeal said. “None of the pipes were big enough for anyone to crawl through and we needed a miracle.

Thankfully, the miracle occurred. The crew discovered a manhole 75 feet from where the kitten went, alongside the road but concealed by vegetation.

As soon as we heard her cries, we could see the water streaming, according to McNeal. And if we could locate someone little, they could follow her inside. Therefore, we made a [public] appeal.

Volunteer Ashley arrived on the scene to help.

She entered the drainpipe and moved cautiously forward, according to McNeal. She inserted herself so far into the pipe that she vanished into the shadows and was no longer visible to us.

Ashley eventually located the kitten, who had now been in the pipe for almost 30 minutes. But now, holding the terrified kitten, she had to crawl backwards out of the drain.

“The event took another 40 minutes,” McNeal said. “As soon as we could reach her, we grabbed her feet and pulled her the rest of the way out. The kitten was covered in mud, freezing cold and dehydrated.

After warming the kitten up and giving fluids and food through a syringe, they brought the kitten —now named Piper — to her mom and siblings.

“She ran right to her mom,” McNeal said.

Now, Mom and babies have all been placed in a foster home, where they’ll be well-cared for — away from drain pipes — until finding their forever homes.