“[It] … sounded like a strange bird,” Smith told The Dodo.

But as she kept listening, she realized the “bird” sounded a lot more like a cat. She followed the noise up her street all the way to a rubble pile, where she locked eyes with a kitten hiding in between concrete blocks.

“It was just relentlessly meowing,” Smith said. “I knew something was wrong.”

Using Churu sticks, Smith and her husband worked together to lure the first kitten out from the pile. Just as they grabbed the kitten, they saw another one run toward them and were able to secure that one as well.

Smith took the kittens home with her and got them set up in a comfy area with lots of food and water. But she worried that the babies might have siblings who were still out there.

Sure enough, when she returned to the rubble pile, she spotted two more kittens and was able to catch one of them. As soon as she picked up the third kitten, she noticed he was incredibly small. He had only three legs, but thankfully he didn’t seem to be in any pain.

Smith was relieved to have rescued him. At his tiny size, he wouldn’t have lasted long on his own.

“It felt like I was holding a leaf because he was so lightweight,” Smith said.

Unfortunately, Smith wasn’t able to capture the fourth kitten. She brought the tiny one home and resolved to continue searching for the baby.

In the meantime, with help from her TikTok commenters, Smith named the three kittens Rubble, Mr. Spicy and Biggie. The cats settled into a routine of eating, playing and grooming each other.

While Rubble and Biggie quickly warmed up to Smith, the aptly named Mr. Spicy was a bit more hesitant. But after just a few days, he let Smith pet him and even seemed to enjoy it.

Smith was still worried about the fourth kitten, though. She partnered with two local rescues, Luxe Paws LA and Boyle Heights Cats, to set a trap for her. Every day, they moved the trap’s location and changed the food inside, hoping to entice the kitten inside — but no luck.

As Smith was out searching for the fourth kitten, she discovered their mama. To her surprise, she recognized her. The mama was one of Smith’s neighborhood stray cats she regularly fed. Smith worked with the shelters to get her spayed and released back into the neighborhood.

Before long, it was time for the three kittens to go live with their foster family. It was a heartbreaking goodbye, but Smith felt relieved knowing they were going to a loving home. As happy as Smith was that the kittens were going to be taken care of, she couldn’t stop worrying about their missing sibling.

Then, one day, something miraculous happened. As Smith was casually scrolling through Instagram, she saw a familiar face:

“I just knew immediately that was the kitten,” Smith said. “I remember gasping out loud … It was an exact match.”

It turns out that the kitten had crawled into a car in her neighborhood and that one of her neighbors had brought her to a local shelter.

Smith couldn’t believe how perfectly everything had worked out. Thanks to her persistence, she could rest assured that each of the kittens was safe and sound.