The cat was taken to a veterinarian for treatment. (CBC) A family in Lower Sackville rescued a soaking cat that got swept into their back patio in Tuesday night's rainstorm.

Melissa MacDonald's son, Keenan, found the cat early Wednesday in a flooded doorstep at the back of their apartment.

"He could hear an animal howling. He looked behind the door and there was a cat he thought was dead," MacDonald told CBC News.

Keenan called out to his mother, who phoned the SPCA.

Lower Sackville, like much of Nova Scotia, was hit with heavy rain Tuesday night. At one point, water came up to the edge of the family's enclosed back deck.

Melissa MacDonald shows how high the water rose Tuesday night. (CBC)

MacDonald doesn't recognize the cat. She thinks it was on the back railing when a torrent of rain rushed in.

"I'm assuming that maybe it ended up getting washed down into the back doorstep," she said.

Animal Services picked up the cat and took it to a veterinarian for treatment.