Tennessee firefighters rescue kitten stuck in ... a Pepsi vending machine?

Firefighters don't just rescue kittens from trees, car dashboards and burning homes. They also save them from vending machines.

A perfect (or is it purrfect?) rescue mission took place last week in Morristown, Tennessee after a Walmart employee found a small, gray feline lodged inside a Pepsi vending machine at the store.

According to a Facebook post from the City of Morristown, an employee was on her lunch break Wednesday when she heard screeching coming from the machine.

"I tried all through my lunch and my last break to get her. I tried recruiting co-workers to help me get her, and none of us could do it," the employee, Lindsey Russell told WVLT.

So she called the Morristown Fire Department.

Arriving firefighters unplugged the vending machine and removed the back cover, but still could not see the crying kitten, according to the post.

Eventually, firefighters found another opening where they could see the kitten and coaxed it out.

It was not immediately known how the tiny creature got inside the machine.

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"Now Lindsey has a new kitten," the post reads. "Fire crews joked about naming it Pepsi. Thank you to our Morristown Firefighters for going above and beyond to save this sweet little kitten!"

“This is Pepper, Pepsi, Pep, whatever you’d like to call her. She’s got a few nicknames now,” Russell told WVLT.

Natalie Neysa Alund covers trending news for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kitten stuck in vending machine saved by firefighters in Tennessee