Woman Discovers 'Lost' Cat Meowing Behind Sealed Tiles After Builder's Blunder

A homeowner's search for her missing feline takes a surprising turn when she hears meows coming from an unexpected place.

Davy

• Published in Animal Stories
• March 19, 2024

In a tale that seems straight out of a mystery novel, a woman's quest to find her beloved cat took a bizarre twist when she stumbled upon the feline's hiding spot behind sealed tiles in her home. What initially began as a routine search for her pet turned into a baffling discovery, highlighting the unexpected consequences of a builder's mistake.

Ashlin Hadden, a resident of Noblesville, Indiana, was confronted with a heart-wrenching discovery when she returned home from a business trip to New York. After arranging for a contractor to renovate her bathroom in her absence, she never anticipated the ordeal that awaited her.

Upon her return, she heard faint meowing emanating from within the walls of her newly reconstructed bathroom. To her shock and dismay, she realized that her missing cat had been sealed inside the drywall during the renovation process.

This distressing revelation shed light on the unforeseen consequences of trusting a contractor with unrestricted access to her home.

"I'm a single mom, and I love my bath," she shared with TODAY. "So I just wanted a new bathtub, like a taller bathtub, so I could get in the bathtub and actually be under the water."

But instead of returning home to a blissful soak in the tub, Ashlin Hadden found herself in a startling situation, having to break through drywall to rescue her trapped cat.

"As I'm sitting here trying to figure out where my cat is, I can hear the cat crying from somewhere in here," Hadden explains in a TikTok video, which has garnered over 2.6 million views.

She noted that her typically quiet cat, Cookie, was unusually vocal upon her return. Moreover, while she could hear another cat named Stripes, she couldn't locate him visually.

"I'm like, 'Man, what's going on?' And, 'Did you guys run out of food?'" she recalled. "I'm upstairs, and I'm looking around and hear him meow, and I'm like, 'Oh my God. He's behind the wall.'"

She quickly sought assistance, borrowing a drywall-cutting tool from a neighbor. However, as she began cutting into the surface, she heard the cat cry, fearing she might be harming him. In a moment of desperation, she punched through the wall instead.

"I love our pets. They're like children to me," she expressed, relieved that her furry companion was unharmed after a swift visit to the vet.

"He's gotten lots of hugs and kisses and snuggles, and he's kind of a different cat," she observed. "He's been really, really sweet and loving — probably because he was scared. He's like, 'I saw the light, and you saved me.'"

Since the incident, she has opted to hire a cat-sitter whenever she goes off on business, ensuring her pets' safety and well-being in her absence.

Davy