Four days after floodwaters separated them from their family, a cat and her kittens were rescued by a Best Friends disaster response team and reunited with their family – all in one morning.

The rescue of Rigby, the mama cat, and her calico kittens, Pudge and Sarge, marked the first pets to be freed from Iowa River floodwaters by the Best Friends team. The cats also were the first to be reunited during the team’s first day of water rescues.

The cats were stranded on the second floor of a farmhouse where they lived with the Canady family in the town of Oakville, located in Louisa County in southeastern Iowa. The Canadys were one of many families from Oakville who notified officials that they’d left their pets behind. Best Friends’ rapid response manager Rich Crook, in turn, was asked by the State of Iowa Emergency Operations Center to retrieve them and other residents’ animals.

The family had evacuated their home on Saturday, June 14. On Wednesday, the Best Friends swiftwater-trained team, made up of Crook, first responder Ethan Gurney, and volunteer Barb Davis, piloted a Hurricane Katrina-tested, 14-foot, flat-bottomed Jon boat to the town and safely pulled the cat and her kittens from the home. Then they motored back to their base area a mile downstream to a church parking lot. That’s where Rigby, Pudge and Sarge were reunited with their person, Scott Canady.

Scott told the team that initially residents were told by emergency management officials that the evacuation was just a precautionary measure and not mandatory. But as they were packing up and preparing to leave, an urgent message went out to the town telling residents they had just five minutes to flee the rising water spilling over into Oakville from the Iowa River.

Because there wasn’t time to take the cats, the family had no choice but to leave them behind, Canady says. Still, amid the chaos and confusion, the family was able to carry the cats upstairs to higher ground on the second floor of the home.

It was just in time, because the ground floor was soon waist-deep in floodwater.

Canady told the team he felt terrible about leaving their pets, but he says he had no idea the town would flood and their house would soon be under five feet of water. The family simply ran out of time.

The mama cat was frightened at first when the team arrived, Rich says, and they had difficulty catching her, but eventually they got her and the kittens and placed them in a large container inside the boat.

A CNN news crew taped the team’s arrival as they landed on dry ground at their base camp and lifted the cats out of the boat and back onto dry land. “My kids are going to love that,” says Canady about his three children, ages 10, 11 and 15, as CNN filmed the relieved father reuniting with his family’s pets.

Mama cat and her kittens, the rescue team reports, are now happily and safely with their family once again.

Written by Anna Gonce and Cathy Scott
Photos by Molly Wald

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July 1, 2008 : 4:30 PM ET
posted by: tnewman

I have read all the positive and negative comments on this story. I have thought about it from every angle, and yet I still come back to this point. The family was able to pick up the cats and carry them upstairs to a room. If the cats were already in arms, then how hard would it be to carry them to safety? As others have mentioned - a pillowcase or a towel will do the trick if the carrier is not handy.

I live in Kansas, where a tornado is a strong possibility. Talk about a very short warning period! As soon as those sirens go off, I am yelling for the kids to get to the basement and I am looking for the cats and bringing them down with me. My thoughts always go in that order - 1) children, 2) pets. It's easier now that the kids are old enough to respond for themselves. It was a nightmare of mine when they were small that I would not have time to get to the pets in a disaster because I had to help the kids to safety first.

There are times when you don't have a choice. If you awaken in a house on fire, you can't necessarily save your pets. But this does not seem to have been one of those times.

June 28, 2008 : 3:10 AM ET
posted by: SUNNEE

To all the excuse makers : You miss the point. These people had time to leave 'plenty of food and water'. time that could have been used to put 3 cats skittish or not into pillow cases and put into a vehicle or carry on foot. They were already together in one room. There were 3 or four people at the house. The levees hadn't broken yet and according to their own statement everybody was thinking it wouldn't get that bad. Why leave at all then? Why the panic.They shut the doors behind their animals leaving their fate up to a gamble while driving themselves to safer grounds. It's different if you are already swimming in water yourself and you can't hang onto your animal. Or you physically can't get to it. This is a whitewash story which has a lot of holes in it. I would almost guarantee that they took some items from their household along that were 'dear' to each family member. The cats weren't one of them obviously. To say they called BF later which shows they loved their pets is a joke.If you loved your pet you'll think of it FIRST or at least equal to a family member. Not as an after thought. When in a crisis most people reveal their true character . Even in a panic. There were images of many Californians leading their horses AND carrying their dogs at the same time thru immense walls of flames when they could have easily gotten into their cars and drove off leaving the horses behind. THAT was a crisis . These people showed character. I have a problem with people that whitewash their own short comings and/ or the short comings of others. That's why I write this. It gets really old. At least these people that own the cats have learned something from it and said they would act differently now. Probably because of all the backlash. Some of the ones that post here( and I include those on all pages ) to make excuses just say about themselves: 'I don't have what it takes to stand up and fight and it's OK if others are the same way. Makes me look not so bad'. Just be honest and don't hide behind some lame excuse. Many untrained dogs of all sizes put themselves in mortal danger to defend and save their owners. Where would you rate YOURSELF on the courage scale?

June 28, 2008 : 1:18 AM ET
posted by: edie110

All these people who are telling the Rigby family what they should have done have obviously never been in danger of a flood. We had a flash flood in 2004 that inundated the lower floor of our home. We were downstairs when the water came rushing in, and one of our cats was with us. It took me ten minutes of wading through water to catch my baby because he was in such a panic. We only had two carriers and three cats because we had never needed to move all three cats at the same time before. We saved nothing in our lower floor but our cat. We were prepared to leave our home with two cats in a carrier and one in a towel, but fortunately didn't have to do it. Unless you have been through this experience, please do not judge those who have. I lost all my furniture, and about 1000 books but my cat was alive. Had the water come in faster, I may have had to leave him to save myself.

June 26, 2008 : 4:38 PM ET
posted by: nitro68

I stopped by a booth at a Pet Expo and all it dealt with was preparing for a disaster. It's important to talk to a neighbor or relative that's home when you're not (ie) works a different shift or retired. Often, these evacuations take place between 8am and 6pm, when most people are at work. Then, when you're done with work, you discover that you aren't allowed into your house to get your animal family members. Make sure to contact a "buddy" to be fully prepared. It could be a flood, tornado, fires or even a contaminated spill that forces an evacuation.

June 26, 2008 : 4:32 PM ET
posted by: czimmer671

I certainly am very happy everyone is safe! That is good news. acanady07, your family, pets, and the rescuers who had to risk their own personal safety to secure the lives of the pets left behind.

5 minutes is a very short amount of time, it must have been pure panic! I can only imagine. My question remains, why were you and your family still there? How many days of heavy rain were there before the flood? What was your plan in the event of a flood like the one in 1993? Why did you wait to be told to leave? Was it not apparent that there was very high levels of rainfall? What is your responsibility to your animals in an emergency? My questions may sound harsh, and I apologize...but I believe my questions valid and reasonable.

We need to take responsibility for ourselves. While I am certainly glad the Best Friends Rapid Responses Team was able to save your pets. Rest assured, floods will happen again. Towns along the Mississippi are, and have been at risk for floods, it's a fact. I am sorry you had to learn the hard way, but it didn't have to be so awful.

I wonder how we can turn this into a positive? What about starting a flood disaster awareness program? If you all didn't know this was a possibility, or what to do, I am sure others didn't either. And while many may have learned a lot, I am sure there are some that would benefit. Maybe that's a silly idea, I don't know..