You made your kitty work the streets?! Was BuzzSaw your pimp name too? I don't think I would try to horn in on your territory if it was!
20 years ago I fell out of a tree trying to rescue a kitten and broke my back in 2 places. All I can tell you is what a very wise, and tough, E.R. nurse told me: "What's wrong with you, climbing a tree to get a cat!? Have you ever seen a cat skeleton in a tree! They will come down!"
With all due respect, nature does not need man interfering. If there are indeed tens of thousands of veterinarians and rescue people that know for sure that cat will stay up there, ask any one of them how to get it down! Yawner you're facing the potential of getting hurt badly!
That's sad to hear, I saw a couple awful dogs come into the humane society with a small collar either cutting into the skin as the puppy grew or one outright was growing new skin over the collar. I have not seen it that bad on a cat but I do know if a pet's collar gets caught up on something and it's too tight, they can injure their trachea. Idk, I've seen collars the last few years called "break away" collars for cats, the plastic piece opens if there is so much pressure pulled on the collar, hopefully it is one of those. And I have no doubt she's knocked up.
You are right to be concerned and I applaud you. "The cat will come down on its own" is not necessarily true. I helped a colleague years ago with this problem, after a week of trying she could not get the cat down. I was headed to her house with my ladder when the cat finally gave up and fell out of the tree, it was severely injured in the fall, rushed to the vet and ultimately euthanized. Sorry I can't be of much help on how to get the cat down, I like the water from a hose idea, esp since you are likely not in a cold climate right now, but definitely try before the cat becomes too weak.
Arriving at the decision that 7 days in the tree is too long, and no end in sight, and after having had three people google search phrases for a week similar to "will a cat come down from a tree eventually" and not having one single hit from any authority that says "yes, the cat will come down, the cat is not going to die"... and in fact, said that it can be fatal to the cat, I cut the tree as I said. Tied a tree-climbing rope to my truck and the tree to, hopefully, slow the fall and then carefully cut the tree only with a back cut. Got that back cut deep into the tree and then put a wedge in and hammering it in caused the tree to finally begin falling. Anticipated that it might barber chair and it did; it worked. When it made it to the ground, kitty scampered out and appears to be ok. Of course, we can't tell, she ran and hid but she is mobile. After a few days, I will trap her and get her spayed. With all due respect, from what I can tell until finding anything to the contrary, "Don't worry, have you ever seen a cat skeleton in a tree?" seems to be one of countless old sayings that, literally, may have no basis in reality. OTOH, you find sites like one I saw yesterday that says... "A cat will die in a tree if left for over a week—but waiting several days will cause them health detriments. The longer you wait, the more likely your cat could die even after they’re out of the tree." Cats (other than one species) have claws that allow only climbing up. They are not built like a squirrel, which can go head first down a tree because it has a thumb to hang on when facing head down the tree. The only way a cat can get down is to back down the tree and, apparently, x-percentage of domesticated cats never learn this. I do not know if non-domesticated felines such as cougars, bobcats, etc. have this problem but it sure would be an interesting dissertation for someone to do. Beats heck out of me, seems crazy. But domestic cats are peculiar animals; intelligent but domesticating them has created some very strange behaviors. I didn't have any desire to fool with this at all, especially since this cat is non-social. But I didn't want to see it die. Now, got a 40 ft cedar to dispose of. Might make a good, stout pole out of some of it. In pics attached of the still-standing see, you can see the cat in the top of the tree, looks like Brad's yellow cat posted in this thread. I think image 2 is the one showing the 20 to 30 degree tree lean. In that pic, behind the tree, you can see the world's largest chicken yard. The chickens have got it made, it's big. Like 60' x 100' or so big. The cat lives in there with the chickens.
Thank you for backing me up! I just made a similar comment in my follow-up post! Thank you! I kept trying to get that point across!
Glad it all worked out and kitty is safe. If she doesnt have a name might i suggest "Cedar" or "June"iper
Let’s hope your feral friend has learned its lesson, but as you stated, probably not. You certainly can’t cut down every tree on your property (unless you turned into a maniacal hoarder), nor those on the surrounding lots. All in all, glad the cat survived the ride down and is soon to be spayed. For sure, this story was nearly as difficult for some of the FHC membership as it was for the cat.
Perhaps the membership will find it interesting and apropos to this forum, lol, that I used my new Husqvarna 540iXP profession battery saw on this 'job.' I figured a loud chainsaw might scare the cat too much. Pic is attached that shows just SOME of the equipment I took on this job, lol. From bottom to top... - yellow string rope with green bag This is what I tied onto the orange tree-climbing rope. Threw the green beanbag over a limb in the tree, then hoisted the orange rope up and around the tree trunk. - extra battery for Husqvarna saw - empty can of tuna that I put out to tempt the kitty beforehand... didn't work - roll of wire I was going to use this to perhaps, tie onto some type of can to get some water up to the cat; didn't use it in the end. - wedge - Milwaukee battery sawzall I brought that in case I needed to buzz off some limbs; also had the chainsaw, obviously. - the Husky saw - fishing net If I or someone did climb the tree, might use that net to catch the cat; tree was too hard to climb. - welder's gloves To use to catch the cat. - Gransfors Bruks hatchet A bucket list purchase couple years ago, used to whack the wedge. - Orange tree rope Note the loop end; if you can zoom in, that woven loop is a work of art and cost a lot extra! - Round nose scissors In case we caught the cat, could use the round nose to cut the collar off and round nose would be safer. - Pruning saw You can strap this onto your belt; cuts small limbs incredibly fast. Manually!
I believe you must do what you feel is the proper and humane course of action. Cats can't climb down head first. Older cats have learned that, kittens don't know that. Just be careful, as I said, I broke my back in 2 places trying to rescue a kitten. By the way, that kitten lived with us for 13 years before he passed.
I hope no cat is ever stuck in a BL that has your name on it. And that’s all I’m gonna say about that.
