This Abandoned Kitten Was Found On A Construction Site — Then She Was Promoted To Crew Member

Potential dog owners usually spend a great amount of time researching specific breeds and preparing their homes to welcome a canine companion, and the dog is then carefully selected from a shelter or a breeder. Cats, on the other hand, often seem to get handed out at random by the universe. Take, for example, a ginger kitten now named Komatsu — or Sue, for short.

In July 2026, River Reach Construction in northeastern Ohio shared an Instagram Reel of their operating supervisor, Chase Guello, rescuing Sue. The video started with plaintive meows coming from a Komatsu excavator. Guello peered inside the turret of the heavy-duty equipment to see a tiny ginger kitten trapped in a space too small for a human to venture into. Guello crawled underneath the excavator and unscrewed the skid plate, which fell on the ground — followed immediately by the startled-looking kitten. Guello took the kitty out of the heat and into the air-conditioned trailer to recuperate.

"Dude just won the cat distribution system jackpot with that entrance 😭," one person commented on the Reel, and another wrote, "Usually the Cat Distribution Service is less complicated but this way you know you got a good one." Guello later told Fox 8 News, "I think it's such a feel-good story that, you know, traditionally, like blue collar — we're rough around the edges, we don't have feelings. But we still care for such a little kitten."

Netizens appreciated how Komatsu, a name chosen by the public in an online poll — made her grand entrance, landing between the two halves of the skid plate. "Super hero landing if I ever seen one 🦸," one person noted, while another commented, "Super dramatic kitten reveal." One viewer observed cheekily, "That was the most Acme rescue mission 🤣."

In subsequent videos shared by the construction team's Instagram, Guello explained that Sue spent two weeks being fostered by One of A Kind Pet Rescue before going to live with one of the River Reach employees. The plan is for Sue to eventually become part of the crew as the resident shop cat, traveling back and forth between her home and the construction company every Friday. She even has her own uniform. One video showed Guello opening a care package from the Komatsu company containing company swag such as shirts and hats, along with "the world's smallest safety vest for a kitten" and "a little baby hard hat," complete with holes for Sue's ears to poke through. Though, as one person commented on the first Instagram Reel, the little orange cat "won't need a high vis vest. Came from factory with one."

Want to read more stories about ginger kittens? Check out this ginger kitten playing on the bed who acts like a "spicy little gremlin," and this ginger kitten who figures out how to drink from a straw. There's also this ginger kitten who looks like a little superhero in his harness.