Dash the kitten had the best -- and worst -- day ever Monday.

The small, 6-week-old black and white kitty was adopted, the last of his litter to find a home.

About 20 minutes later, he was stuck in the steering column of a Cavalier.

It all began when Cristi Huffman of West Middlesex drove to a home on Orangeville Road in Hermitage to answer a "Free Kittens" ad in The Herald.

Ms. Huffman drove to a parking lot on East State Street in Hermitage to give the kitten to its new owner, Brandy Kelly of Struthers, Ohio.

"We stopped the car and the kitten jumped out of my hands and onto the floor," Ms. Huffman said. "And then he jumped up into the dash."

The kitten jumped into the steering column, to be precise, tangling himself in wires and moving back to where it was impossible to get him out. The opening in the dashboard was almost too small for a human hand, but just large enough for a tiny kitten away from his mother for the first time in his life. That was at about 2:30 p.m. After several minutes of pulling, coaxing and a liberal lathering with Vaseline, it was obvious the kitten wasn't going to be able to get out of the steering column on his own accord. So Ms. Huffman called Hermitage police.

"My arm was stuck inside the steering column for a while," Ms. Huffman said. "We couldn't get him out."

After removing the dash, patrolman Joel Ristvey spent several tense moments trying to maneuver the kitten to freedom. A small white paw could be seen poking out of the dashboard, tiny claws extended.

Finally, at about 3:40 p.m., the kitten was free -- a little slimy from Vaseline and shaking like a leaf, but none the worse for wear. He had been stuck in the steering column for a little more than an hour.