CAT UP A TREE!

[margaret]

Everyone:

Have you seen this story?
Here is a suspenseful news story that was printed in the Chicago Sun-Times on Friday, March 16, 2001...

NO COAXING KITTY FROM WEEK'S STAY IN TREE
By Michael Higgins

ORILLIA, Ontario - A cat stuck more than 30 feet up a tree for a week is refusing all attempts to get him down.

The long-haired orange cat was spotted last Thursday by Audrey Penicud as she ate her lunch.

"I can see the poor thing right now," said Penicud from her home. "There he is perched on the branch with his bum against the trunk. He must be very hungry, very tired and very thirsty because there is no snow on the tree."

After she spotted the cat, Penicud tried to coax it down.

"I went over there and called him to come down, but he wouldn't come. Of course, he didn't know me."

A neighbor, who also did not know the cat, then tried to persuade it to leave the tree by placing food at the base. The cat refused to budge.

This week Penicud's son came to visit from Ottawa and tried a rescue.

"My son got the ladder from the garage and then went up after the cat. He got as far as the branch, but the cat just went further away from him. He shook the limb to see if he could get the cat to fall into the snowbank, but it didn't work," she said.

Word of the cat's plight spread from Penicud's road to neighboring streets.

"I was hoping someone would know what to do. Maybe his owner might come and get him down," she said. "Someone must have called the Humane Society, because a few days ago I saw their van parked by the tree and a couple of people looking up at the cat. But they just went away and didn't do anything."

Now Penicud is hoping the cat's dire straits might touch the hearts of Orillia's citizens.

"There are quite a few senior citizens in Orillia, and maybe someone will pay to get the cat out of the tree."

National Post
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I should point out that the newspaper article includes a photo of the cat in the tree. The cat looks just like SPENCER!! Spencer, what are you doing in Canada??? Just kidding...

Has anyone heard an update about whether the cat has been rescued or not? I thought one of the jobs of a city fire department was to use their hook & ladder trucks to rescue kitties from trees!

--Margaret

[margaret]

Oh! Using a fire hose sounds like a horrible solution, even if it was a last resort!

It's true, the kitty stuck in the tree might be feral. In the photo I don't see a collar/tags. The cat looks 'wild', but it may just be he has the windblown look and all of his fur is fluffed up!

Two people with thick gloves getting the cat sounds like the right approach. I would suggest raising them up in one of those 'cherry pickers' that electric companies use when they're repairing lines, although I don't know if those go up high enough.

[Fawn_cat]

Originally posted by SpencerTheLion:
...30 ft may be too high to safely rescue the poor kitty, although it does not seem that high. There may be concerns of the cat possibly being feral. This may be one of those bureaucratic 'we are not allowed to do that' nonsense

Maybe two could go up a ladder, the first with the gloves law enforcement uses to protect against guard dogs. The second could have a bag for the cat. As a last resort, a fire hose could blast the cat out. Unfortuately, when this was tried somewhere on the East cost, the kitty died of pneumonia. Most cats do not back out of trees very well with the exception of Maine Coons and Norwegian Forest Cats.

I wish they could bring him down safely and name him MIR