Help--cat stuck in rafters

[badcramps]

One of our cats is up in the rafters in our laundry room. She usually comes when called but didn't today and we found her there. Any advice for getting her down?

We have left tuna and treats around the pipes she'd need to jump on to in order to get down. We also tried to wedge some boards in the area to give her more area to jump to. We've had her a year and she's never gone up there before that we know of. She was a feral who we took in after she was hit by a car and broke her leg and pelvis and needed her tail amputated. One leg still didn't heal quite right, but she gets around mostly fine.

Will she eventually come down on her own since she managed to get up there? My wife is freaking out.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

My guess is that the cat will come down when it is darn good and ready too.

As long as their is access to cat getting out, it will eventually.

 

[Uncle Remus]

One of our cats is up in the rafters in our laundry room. She usually comes when called but didn't today and we found her there. Any advice for getting her down?

We have left tuna and treats around the pipes she'd need to jump on to in order to get down. We also tried to wedge some boards in the area to give her more area to jump to. We've had her a year and she's never gone up there before that we know of. She was a feral who we took in after she was hit by a car and broke her leg and pelvis and needed her tail amputated. One leg still didn't heal quite right, but she gets around mostly fine.

Will she eventually come down on her own since she managed to get up there? My wife is freaking out.

Move the food to a location on the floor. She'll find a way to it when she gets hungry.

 

[fimac]

if you have a ladder with wooden rails at the side she will climb down those. Rescued cat that was stuck up a tree over night that way. Or something else that the cat can climb down if it has claws.

 

[dakcp2001]

Sounds like she wants to be alone. Has she gone up there before? Was she sick before she went up there? Is it too hot up there? Unless she is stuck, I'd let her be. If she has been up there and missed several feedings and has not used the litter, I would worry that she needs rescuing.

 

[jdb in AZ]

A neighborhood cat spent several days in one of our trees, some thirty feet above the ground. It was there so long a neighbor commented to my DH that we had a dead cat in our tree. We figured it was scared of our dog. Anyway, DH decided it was time to do something so I took the dog inside where he couldn't further traumatized the cat, and DH got out the garden hose and aimed it at the cat, who apparently was still very much alive. Problem solved. The cat didn't appreciate the sudden shower, but it probably saved the critter's life by getting it down so it could eat. Never saw the cat again.

 

[beaucoup]

Is it possible she is pregnant & nesting? Looking for privacy & a quiet place.

 

[badcramps]

Thanks all! She is out thankfully--it was scary, as we realized that the pipes she had climbed up are connected to the hot water heater and get pretty hot when hot water is used. But time and tuna seemed to convince her eventually. (No water necessary and nope she's fixed, so not pregnant.)

*big sigh of relief and kicking ourselves for allowing the cats in the laundry room--no more*

 

[dakcp2001]

A neighborhood cat spent several days in one of our trees, some thirty feet above the ground. It was there so long a neighbor commented to my DH that we had a dead cat in our tree. We figured it was scared of our dog. Anyway, DH decided it was time to do something so I took the dog inside where he couldn't further traumatized the cat, and DH got out the garden hose and aimed it at the cat, who apparently was still very much alive. Problem solved. The cat didn't appreciate the sudden shower, but it probably saved the critter's life by getting it down so it could eat. Never saw the cat again.

You could have killed the cat and made him fall. That was a cruel thing to do.

 

[doxdogy]

You could have killed the cat and made him fall. That was a cruel thing to do.

Watched a fascinating documentary about cats years ago. The reason cats can survive high falls is that they spread out all there legs. Thereby creating a parachute effect, which creates drag. The drag slows down their speed.

 

[dakcp2001]

Watched a fascinating documentary about cats years ago. The reason cats can survive high falls is that they spread out all there legs. Thereby creating a parachute effect, which creates drag. The drag slows down their speed.

I doubt getting hosed out of a tree at 30 feet gives a cat much chance to get its bearings. It was probably terrified, and probably got hurt.

 

[minnie mum]

I remember reading an amusing article about something similar. A fire department had made a policy decision that it would no longer respond to calls to get cats out of trees. When asked why, the spokesman replied that they had never seen dead cats in the trees for as long as they could remember. If they want to come down, they will come down. The same way they got up. In. Their. Own. Good. Time.

 

[Uncle Remus]

Thanks all! She is out thankfully--it was scary, as we realized that the pipes she had climbed up are connected to the hot water heater and get pretty hot when hot water is used. But time and tuna seemed to convince her eventually. (No water necessary and nope she's fixed, so not pregnant.)

*big sigh of relief and kicking ourselves for allowing the cats in the laundry room--no more*

I know you're relieved, always irritates me when my cat gets on the roof and won't come down at night when she's supposed to come inside, I worry all night long and then find her asleep on the front porch the next morning.

Thanks for the update.

I remember reading an amusing article about something similar. A fire department had made a policy decision that it would no longer respond to calls to get cats out of trees. When asked why, the spokesman replied that they had never seen dead cats in the trees for as long as they could remember. If they want to come down, they will come down. The same way they got up. In. Their. Own. Good. Time.

 

[Maridw]

Glad to hear that your cat came down.

Three years ago we went to CA for Christmas to see my parents. We took my DD & GDD with us. We had friends come take care of our cats and our dog. The second day we were there, we got a call from our friend saying that one of the cats was up in the wall. My DH had taken the drywall off one wall in a bedroom to put in a window and do some remodeling. That was the outside wall and the hole led into the attic area. One of our cats that was still shy and nervous around other people, had gotten up into this area and they could not get her down.

My husband ended up flying home so that he could work on getting her out. He did get her out, but I was mad at that cat for quite a while.

 

[tvguy]

I remember reading an amusing article about something similar. A fire department had made a policy decision that it would no longer respond to calls to get cats out of trees. When asked why, the spokesman replied that they had never seen dead cats in the trees for as long as they could remember. If they want to come down, they will come down. The same way they got up. In. Their. Own. Good. Time.

That question came up recently here......a co-worker thought it was a horrible waste of resources. Fire department here does respond, and said that no, it isn't a waste of resources, it's great practice for some of the human rescues they do. All the staff on scene are already on the clock, and would be pulled if there were a bigger emergency. In this case, the real hero was a local tree service working in the area. They kind of showed up the fire department because their boom truck allowed them to get right up the tree and get the cat down in about 15 minutes. Fire department wasn't mad, they just warned that next time they needed to borrow a boom truck, they would be getting a call.