Shelly Lisi was enjoying a quiet day when she heard her dogs barking outside. She didn’t think much of it at first, but when the barking went on and on, she felt concerned.Usually, it was just a deer or a rabbit passing through their property – a large stretch of rural land surrounded by fields and a horse farm. Her dogs would bark a bit, and the animals would scurry away, as she shared in an interview:
However, this time was different. Twenty minutes of nonstop barking? Something was definitely up. Shelly decided to step outside and see for herself.
As soon as she walked out, she saw her dogs gathered around something small in the grass. She moved closer and her heart skipped a beat when she saw it – a tiny, shivering kitten, no bigger than the palm of her hand.
He was standing next to the curious canines, looking scared but surprisingly bold for his size.
Shelly scooped up the trembling kitten. He was a bit scruffy and definitely skinny but otherwise seemed okay.
She tucked him into a cozy crate in the garage, giving him a safe space to rest and feel secure, as she explained:
“I was a little alarmed, and the kitten was quite frightened but feisty. As soon as I got out there, the dogs calmed down – they were more curious than anything. I was able to pick up the kitten and we got him into a crate in our garage so we could look him over.”
Shelly spent the next few hours trying to find where the kitten had come from. She asked her neighbors and checked her outdoor camera footage, hoping to spot a mother cat or hear the cries of other kittens.
But there was nothing. It was like this tiny creature had just appeared out of nowhere.
After a while, the kitten, now named Tabasco, relaxed and started showing his true personality. He went from scared and feisty to a playful little fluff ball who couldn’t get enough of Shelly’s dogs.
