It was a typical, hectic morning for Melina Marama Waite and her family. She left the house around 7:30, dropped two of her kids off at day care, and was on her way to drop her 9-year-old daughter off at school — when she suddenly realized they’d had a stowaway in the car the entire time.
“We stopped behind some cars at an intersection then all of a sudden a little cat climbed on the dashboard,” Waite told The Dodo. “It was a complete shock, I didn’t know what to do.”
Waite was incredibly bewildered to suddenly have a cat sitting right in front of her on the dashboard, and needless to say, the cat was just as confused.
Melina Marama Waite
“When the traffic moved I started moving and the cat slipped and panicked and tried to grab the rearview mirror and my daughter freaked out,” Waite said. “I tried to grab the cat then it fell and ran to the back of the car somewhere.”
After the initial shock wore off, Waite realized she had actually seen this cat wandering around outside her house before, and figured he had hopped into the car during the chaos of loading in all the kids. She and her daughter immediately drove home and tried to locate the scared cat inside the car, eventually finding him hiding under the backseat. When Waite tried to grab him, though, he jumped out of the car and quickly ran away.
Waite continued about her day, wondering if she’d see the little guy again and wishing she could have done more. But apparently, she and her family made quite the impression, because the very next day the cat made another appearance — this time, just a tad less dramatic.
Melina Marama Waite
“He came back for breakfast the next day and every day after that,” Waite said. “He let me get closer [to him] each day.”
Melina Marama Waite
It seemed the little cat was tired of life as a stray but just didn’t quite know how to say it — so Waite borrowed a humane trap from a local cat rescue, and it didn’t take long before the cat, now named Dash, was safe and sound inside her house.
Melina Marama Waite
Waite is now taking Dash to get neutered and checked out for any health issues, and while he’s there the vet can also scan him for a microchip just in case he has a family somewhere who’s missing him. After that, he’ll either stay with Waite’s family or go off to another forever home — but no matter what happens, Dash definitely picked the right car to hop into that day.