“No one was looking for her” 💔
Aubree Johnson thought her shift in Indiana was ending like any other. She clocked out, walked into the dim, nearly empty parking lot, and headed toward her car — until something small and fuzzy caught her eye beneath the truck beside her.
“When I reached my car, I noticed this little fluffball under the truck, rubbing against the tire,” Johnson told The Dodo.
To her surprise, a tiny tabby kitten had appeared out of nowhere. She’d never seen a cat around the lot before, and with the winter temperatures dropping fast, she knew she couldn’t leave the kitten alone.
But the kitten wasn’t ready to trust her rescuer just yet.
“I got out, she came close to me and then darted under my car,” Johnson said.
Despite several attempts, the skittish baby kept slipping away. Still, Johnson refused to give up, prepared to wait as long as it took. Thankfully, the wait wasn’t long.
“For about 15 minutes, she kept inching toward me, then scurrying back under the vehicles,” Johnson explained. “Then she finally rubbed against my leg and let me pet her.”
The kitten — soon to be named Lottie — surprised Johnson with how suddenly affectionate she became. Without a crate, Johnson wasn’t sure how she’d safely get her home, until she remembered how cold the night was.
“It was freezing, so I opened my car door — and thankfully she hopped right in,” Johnson said.
She snapped a quick photo of Lottie sitting on the dashboard and posted it to local Facebook groups, hoping someone might be missing her. But after half an hour with no responses, Johnson’s worry turned into certainty.
“No one was looking for her,” she said.
So Lottie went home with Johnson, where she slept warmly for the first time in who knows how long. A vet visit the next day confirmed she was healthy — but she had no microchip.
Johnson realized this little kitten probably didn’t have a family at all. And that’s when she made her decision.
“I kept her!” she said.
One month later, Lottie has fully embraced her new life. The once-nervous kitten who feared toys and unfamiliar noises now spends her days exploring, cuddling, “making biscuits,” chatting endlessly and soaking up love.
She’s even bonded with Johnson’s young golden retriever, who patiently lets Lottie bat at his tail during playtime.
Johnson hadn’t planned on rescuing a kitten that night, but now she can’t imagine life without her.
“It fills my heart that she chose to trust me,” she said. “People tell me she’s lucky I found her, but honestly — I’m the lucky one.”