I have a cat in my heating vent!

I wasn't sure where to put this, so I hope it's okay in the lounge. I have stray kitty stuck in my heating vent. I heard him crying and moving around in there earlier today. I know it's not one of mine since I did a head count and all are here.

I put some tuna in an open vent and tried calling him, he cried back a few times, shuffled around and then I didn't hear him again for about an hur. Tried having one of my cats meow near the vent and that seemed to get him movin gagain, he "talked" to her and it almost sounded like he was going to come out the opening, but I never saw him.

I've tried leaving a little tuna on a folded newpaper in an open vent, and a whole can outside the vent hoping he'd catch the smell and come out for the rest. Well, my cats caught the smell allright and they were lined up outside the bedroom door, but so far Mr. Kitty hasn't taken the bait.

I've given up trying to call him out since he doesn't know me and I think it scares him. Tried mimicing a kitty meow, but I'm not gifted in that area.

Any suggestions on how to get him out? I can't call AC, they're useless and will tell me to get him out myself then bring him in. I've called for strays before and that's always the answer I get. They certainly won't make a house call just to tear apart my house in search of a stuck kitten.

It's hard to tell if he's stuck or just lost in there. I can hear him from one particular vent, and not the others, but it almost seems like he can't get to the opening though. Tried the other vents but I never hear him from those.

I'm really at a loss. If he doesn't get hungry enough to come out on his own the only other option I can think of is to have someone go under the house and tear apart my duct work untill they find him. While that isn't a good option money wise, I'll do it if it means I won't have a dead kitten in my heating vents one day.

Any thoughts? Suggestions? Voodoo rituals?

Can you tell where in the vent he is? he may be stuck and unable to get to the tuna
if you think he is able to move around then keep the door shut and give him time.

It's hard to tell. He seems to be closer to the vent in the den mostly, but that's an open room with no doors. So instead I put the tuna in the bedroom that's closest to the den and hoped he would go that route.

I can hear him moving sometimes, but only ever from the vent in the den. Sometimes he's close and other times not so close so he's certainly able to crawl around I just don't know how far and in which directions.

If you think he can get out, but is being shy, could you trap him using a humane trap? He may not come out because he's scared, and won't come out if you're around. Try to shut off the room & take the cover off the vent. Set up a humane trap (can often be rented from a shelter or AC) baiting it with tuna. Leave the room...heck, leave the house...for at least a half an hour. If he hears you in the house, he might get scared. Obviously keep the other kitties out of the room...they may go into the trap, and that helps nobody.

Good Luck!

Thanks for the reply, I've tried leaving the bedroom door closed for a good few hours, with the cover off the vent and tuna as bait and he hasn't taken it, so I'm not sure a trap would work if I can't get him to come near the opening in the first place.

I can try doing this while I leave the house tomorrow and see if that helps.

Sigh, I should be sleeping right now, but I'm too worried about this little one...

For right now, i think you have done what you can, maybe take some of the vents covers off, of coruse shut the doors to those rooms.

I would go lay down, make the house nice and peaceful that could bring him out

You should probably get someone to go under the house and check. If there's a hole in the duct work imagine what could crawl in there looking for warmth next time, rats, oppossums, skunks. Good luck with getting the kitty out!

Well, no kitty yet. I got the genious idea to use my digital camera to take pics of the inside of the vents, I couldn't see him anywhere though. Maybe the flash scared him and he ran the other way, but I took them from all the vents and it went way back, so I'm wondering if he's even still there...

I haven't heard any more crying or moving around this morning. And my cats haven't been piled over a vent listening for sounds either. I hope he managed to get himself out. meanwhile I got four hours sleep and was awake in the bed the rest of the night worrying about this kitty....and he's got the nerve to leave without letting me find him.

No , he's still there. I just heard him crying again. I'm going to leave the vents open, use the tuna bait and leave the house for a while. Wish me luck!

I really think you should call animal control or an heat and air conditioning specialist to come help you out with this.

Well, that's a shame that you don't think you can call your animal control! On Animal Planet, the animal cops always come out to help!!!!

I would definitely have someone check under the house.....poor little thing........thanks for trying to help it.

Sending prayers and hugs from Mississippi for the little kitty to come out, the poor little thing is probably just so scared.

I really don't know what to do now. He hasen't taken the bait at all, and I called up many heating companies and the lowest quote I got was $225 per hour. I don't have an extra $600-$800 laying around for this. (you know it'll take more than one hour)

I wish I did. I didn't think it would be so expensive, but I guess all the rates are higher because of the weather. They also said there's no guaruntee they could get the cat even if they took apart the heating ducts, since he's moving around and not stuck.

What else is there to do but wait? I'm open to any other suggestions. I've still got a room closed off and the vent open with tuna near it, I'll leave it like that for now

Still sending prayers and hugs from Mississippi that the little kitty will come out on his own.

know anyone in th plumbing business? they should be able to put a snake cam in. try calling vets possibley know someone. you have a crawl space? My outside cat used to live under my house-and it sounded like he was in vent but it was cause he would sleep under the area(the crawl space was very warm) he would stay there for days(id bring food to the opening) and when he was hungry you knew-cause when you flushed toliet he would cry out if he wanted food...lol hope its something similar but either way good luck

I do have a large crawl space but I cannot get into it. I've called so many heating companies but no plumbers yet, I'll give that a try. Unfortunetly i don't know any personally.

He's still there, and it really sounds like he's IN the vent but I guess I can't really be sure since I've never had this problem before. It sounds like he gets SO close to the opening and then runs the other way.

I've got three vents open for him, and I'm staking out one of them with a cat in my lap just in case he passes by, maybe he'll see my cat and want to investigate.

Meanwhile, I've got a crate all set up for him and it's just waiting for a kitty to take up residence. If he only knew how pampered he'd be if he'd just get his rump up out of those vents!

Sorry if you've tried this and I haven't read it, but have you tried putting the food in the vent to see if any gets eaten?

Yes, I had tuna in all three vents last night, and it's still there. I'm starting to wonder if this cat is a few fries short of a happy meal, if you know what I mean. He managed to get himself in there, but he can't even seem to find the smelly food, that's around every corner. Poor thing. Or maybe he just doesn't like tuna? I have left over turkey I might try later.

Do you guys think I should keep the heat off as much as possible? It seems really hot when I get up close to the vent, but it's also really cold when it's off....

Few fries short of a Happy Meal!

Yeah, none of my kits like tuna.......go figure!! I sure hope the little guy comes out soon........poor thing.