This car was found with its head stuck in a pipe opening at the Lake Odessa Cattle Auction in Michigan. WXMI-TV video screenshot

WAYLAND, Mich., Jan. 28 (UPI) -- A sharp-eared man at a Michigan cattle action is being credited with saving the life of a kitten he managed to hear over the sounds of cows and auctioneers.

Kendall Tobias, a regular buyer and seller at the Lake Odessa Cattle Auction, said his ears detected an unusual sound over the cattle calls during the Jan. 19 sale.


"We couldn't believe it," Kendall told WXMI-TV. "I come out here, I look down, here's two eyeballs sticking through that drain."

Kendall and a group of volunteers discovered the feral cat had apparently crawled through 80 feet of pipe before getting her head wedged in the small opening of a drain cover. He said the cat's body was dangling below her.

The group removed the pipe and gently pushed the feline's head free.

"It laid there for a few minutes, like it was dead," Kendall said. "About 15 minutes later, we take another look at it; it was breathing."

The cat, now named Bubbles, was taken to Wayland's Thornapple Veterinary Clinic, where veterinarians said she may have been trapped in the pipe for several days.

"All in all, she's doing great," said Leslie Lettinga, a veterinary technician who treated Bubbles. "She lost probably five [lives] with this, I think, or maybe even seven, so she's got a couple left."

Lettinga praised Kendall and his fellow rescuers.

"You're not going to leave an animal in distress," Lettinga said. "It doesn't matter if it's somebody's kitty or not, you're going take care of that cat and not leave it in that tube to let it die there and suffer. I'm very glad they took time out of their day. They have a very busy schedule over there with all that cattle coming through but they took time to help this animal in distress."