While cleaning the parking lot of the Dresden McDonald’s early Wednesday morning, Ronald Tittle could hear the meow of a cat not too far away.

After some investigating, Tittle discovered the animal was stuck deep in a hole underneath the plaza sign.

“I couldn’t just leave it there,” said Tittle.

He went back inside the building to tell his boss about the discovery.

“He says ‘so are you an animal lover?,’” said Scheryl Stokes, General Manager. “I said ‘yes, I love animals.’”

Tittle proceeded to explain the situation to Stokes.

“I came out and looked, and sure enough there was a cat meowing,” said Stokes. “It was sad. Poor thing was crying.”

For the rest of the day, Tittle put any spare time he had into rescuing the cat.

He called the fire department first.

“They tried everything possible to get the cat out, but they couldn’t do anything about it,” said Tittle.

Then he called the Muskingum County Humane Society, and its president, Barry McElfresh, gave it a shot but to no avail.

Running out of ideas, Tittle tried the police department.

“They were awesome,” said Tittle. “They came out and stood out there in the heat and did everything they could possibly do, but their equipment also was worthless. They couldn’t do anything with it.”

That wasn’t enough for Tittle to give up hope.

“Customers were coming and going. Electricians, plumbers, heating and cooling people were here, and finally, somebody showed up from Federal Heating and Cooling,” said Tittle.

With a little ingenuity, they were able to come up with a solution nearly 10 hours after the rescue efforts began.

“They had PVC pipe and rope, and we just made a contraption to where it lassoed him, and we finally pulled him out,” said Tittle.

Throughout the day, Tittle said he had many people stop by to offer food and water and anything else the kitten might need.

“I made a lot of friends,” said Tittle. “I didn’t think the community could pull together like that, but they really did. It was really an awesome day.”

Tittle, who is not really a cat person, chose to adopt the kitten and is calling it “Nugget.”

“I mean, it’s just a fitting name from McDonald’s,” said Tittle. “Everybody thought it was cute, so I think it’s going to stick.”

When all the excitement died down, Tittle took his new kitten to the vet to check its health.

He believes Nugget had been stuck in the pipe since Sunday, surviving extreme heat and dehydration.

Through Tittle’s determination, Nugget is alive and was able to go home with him.

When they got home, Nugget formed a unique bond with Tittle’s Poodle, Mossy, and started nursing off the dog.

“It was an interesting night, it really was,” said Tittle.