Cats In Trees

Since we dealt with this recently, I'm going to blog today on cats stuck in trees.
At our house we have indoor cats and indoor/outdoor cats. One of our cats went up a tree and got stuck. It was a mature tree and he made it nearly to the top. (prong of tree in picture)
We talked to our vet tech and her response was, 'No cat bones have ever been found in a tree. When he gets hungry enough, he'll come down.'
The first night, I felt bad but I wasn't worried. The second night I began to get concerned, especially after I went on the web and googled 'cats stuck in trees' and read a comment that said 'no cat bones are ever found in trees because the wind blows them away.'
The next day my husband tried to make a makeshift ramp for the cat to come down on but the cat was too high up. By this time, we were starting to get nervous. That night neither one of us got much sleep and by the next morning I was totally freaked out.
Luckily, while the weather had been cold, it hadn't been severe, but the upcoming weather predictions didn't look good.
When I started making phone calls this is what I discovered: unless you really get lucky, if your cat won't come down and is too high up for you to get him down yourself, the chances are you will have to pay a critter control to get him/her down.
I first called the fire department and was informed they didn't get cats out of trees.
I next called animal control who told me they couldn't help me because of liability issues. But they did put me in touch with critter control. And the man who came out was able to get my cat down. Its not cheap but in my mind, its worth every penny.
Most cats will in all likelihood come down on their own after a day or two. We went three days and I wouldn't have wanted to go any longer.
Hopefully, this won't happen to you, but if it does and your cat doesn't come down on its own you might want to consider 'critter control'. You can call your local rescue, shelter, vet or just look in the yellow pages.
One other thing to keep in mind: there may be issues in how they get them down. I was told he could either bring it down with a device they hook around their neck which would cut off the air supply and totally stress the cat or bring it down in his arms and take a chance of getting bit, which would mean -- at least in my state -- if the cat didn't have a rabies shot, the animal would be put down. Which brings up another point: always keep your rabies shots up to date, especially if your cat is indoor/outdoor.
Luckily, for me, he just scruffed my cat and came down the ladder one-handed with kitty dangling from his other hand. It was the least stressful method for my feline. The cat wasn't hurt nor was the rescuer.

So to reiterate:

Make sure your cat is up to date with his/her rabies shot.
If he/she is stuck in a tree and won't come down, you may want to try critter control.
And when you do, ask how they will get them down, and make sure you're comfortable with their method.

Once they are down:

Check the ruff of their neck. If its tight, without a lot of loose skin, kitty may be dehydrated. From there you will have to decide if your cat looks bad enough to take to the vet to get hydrated. If you decide, that the dehydration is not extreme and you can take care of it yourself, make sure kitty has plenty of water. If its wintertime, you will want lukewarm water not cold. I mixed my cat a gruel made up of canned cat food and water. I didn't give him a lot since he hadn't eaten in three days. I waited half an hour then gave him the gruel again and then in another half hour I gave him gruel again. By the evening I was feeding him regularly. If you are in doubt on what to do don't hesitate to call your vet.
Unfortunately, I'm not the only person who's ever had their four-legged friend stuck in a tree. Has your cat climbed a tree and couldn't get down? What did you do?
Thanks for dropping by. If you have an opportunity, please stop by tomorrow and see what Sherry has to say about meditation.