So, whose cat has gotten themselves stuck in a tree?

It's gone midnight and we spent the last half hour negotiating Oscar out of a tree. We pulled into the driveway and I got out of the car, hearing him from across a pretty big grass area. I thought he sounded a bit enthusiastic, but my bf was saying 'it's not Oscar'. I KNEW it was him, and I KNEW he was upset. So off I went, and there he was, stuck really high in a tree. It took my boyfriend to drive across the green to have his headlights 'light the way' and then he had to climb the tree like a monkey, ie, no branches to climb on, just wrapping his legs around and shoving himself up. Grabbed Oscar, who was a) humiliated at being rescued and b) pretty upset, and tried to shove him in his jumper while my bf tried to get himself down in one piece.
Really quite funny. He's such a gammy cat, I swear he's half cat, half rhino
But thank goodness for my hero boyfriend

What a great boyfriend. Brave and kind.

Yikes, how tall was the tree? I remember when Ichi ran up one and got stuck 10 feet up on the trunk. He froze with claws dug deep on the tree. I had to get a ladder and literally tear him off. He then clung to me digging his claws on my neck and chest.
Ichi still climbs up the same tree.

I know for a fact that in Austin, Texas the fire department will not come if your cat is stuck in the tree. I also know that there are no cat skeletons in the trees, either.

I'm glad that Oscar is okay and that you have a nice boyfriend.

Yes, this happened to me. It was last summer when I let Rocket go outdoors for the summer. The events leading up to it aren't really part of the story, but if you want to know why he was out, the reasons are in a series of posts I wrote called "The Little Gray Cat Journal" and you can search for that. I'll reproduce part of it here to tell Rocket's part of the story:

Rocket has gone missing. He stayed out last night and didnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t show up for breakfast this morning. Itâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s not like Rocket to miss a free meal. And my own appetite went missing as well as my motivation and concentration to get anything else done today. All the usual first steps have been taken. For now, itâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s my job to wait. A job Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ve never been able to do well. I spend too much time glancing out the window. Out of the corner of my eye I catch movement on the lawn and go to the window. But itâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s a squirrel, and no squirrel would be on the lawn if Rocket was here.

I understand sometimes cats will just be gone for a while and then come back. Rocket is a big boy; heâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s got his claws and he hunts well. Barring a run-in with a car, a trap, or a poisoned mouse, he should be all right. But if heâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s sick or injured, he probably went into hiding, and there are literally thousands and thousands of places he could hide just in the immediate vicinity. Finding him would be sheer luck. Yet, I must try, anyway. I know and understand all the risks. Yet, when I get hit with one of them, itâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s hard to accept.

......

This morning while walking the neighborhood I hear a familiar meow. Thereâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s my neighbor from two houses down out in the driveway standing on top of a rickety ladder below one of his trees. I quickly walk up the drive. “Do you have a cat up in the tree?†“Is it an orange tabby cat?†Thereâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s Rocket on a branch about 15 feet up, meowing his little heart out. I ask the neighbors to make themselves scarce because theyâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]re just scaring Rocket. I try to coax him down with soothing words and his treat ball. He looks like he wants to come down, but doesnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t know what to do. I move to the other side of the tree, to shake the treat ball over there, trying to get him turned around. He turns around, but is looking at another branch. I think he wants to jump. Not a good idea.

I get the neighborâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s permission to bring my extension ladder. Not an easy thing to do, as heâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s concerned about liability. I just want my cat. I go home, get the ladder, and return as rapidly as possible. Rocketâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s still there. Still meowing. I extend the ladder to the maximum safe length, carefully place it against the tree, and cautiously climb up. Itâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s just long enough. Now that Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]m sure of my footing, itâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s no longer time for caution, itâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s time for action, before Rocket decides to act first. I scruff him with the fullest and hardest possible scruff I can scruff, not too concerned about hurting him, and drag him off the branch, momentarily letting go of the ladder to unstick his hind feet, and then sling him over my left shoulder, where he attaches himself firmly to me. I donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t care. Let the blood run. I have my cat.

As we climb down the ladder he stops meowing and I can feel his claws retract as we touch the ground, then all the way home I can feel him relaxing. I transfer him to a frontal hold, and itâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s with great joy shared between us we enter the house. Rocket first gets a meal and then a litterbox. Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]m concerned about the moan he gives when he relieves himself. I hope itâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s a moan of relief and not of pain. Heâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s been up in that tree for possibly as long as a day and a night. (Later a call to the vet convinces me to just watch him for awhile.)

We sit on the stairs, Rocket cuddled tightly in my arms, sharing our happiness at being together again. He has his little arms around me, too. Then he starts falling asleep. Well, of course, heâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s been awake the entire time heâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s been up in the tree. So I transfer him to a soft, snuggy place where he proceeds to sleep for six hours straight.

-------------------

And fire departments do not rescue cats any more. What the above narrative doesn't tell is the negotiations I had to have with my neighbor in order to allow me to get Rocket out of his tree. He was concerned about his liability, should I fall and break my neck. He said he was going to call 911 and get the fire department to come out. He had his cell phone in his hand and his thumb on the buttons while we were talking. Sheesh, was a nervous type. Finally I convinced him that nobody was going to get my cat out of his tree except me, and that if he wanted his cat out of the tree, he's have to let me bring a ladder on his property and climb up his tree, and that if I hurt myself, I wasn't going to sue him. For crying out loud, it wasn't HIS fault Rocket was up there. And yet, rather than letting me get up there on a decent ladder he was trying to get Rocket down standing on top of a rickety old step ladder not half long enough for the job. Even the extension ladder I brought over was just barely long enough, and he wasn't that high up. You just don't realize how high up it is when a cat gets stuck up in a tree.

And I still wonder if he would eventually have come down on his own.

Originally Posted by coaster

Yes, this happened to me. It was last summer when I let Rocket go outdoors for the summer. The events leading up to it aren't really part of the story, but if you want to know why he was out, the reasons are in a series of posts I wrote called "The Little Gray Cat Journal" and you can search for that. I'll reproduce part of it here to tell Rocket's part of the story:...

And I still wonder if he would eventually have come down on his own.

Click to expand...

Oh it's a bleak state of affairs when the neighbour won't let you look out for your own animal because he's so terrified you'll SUE him for falling off your own ladder trying to rescue your own cat. I understand where he's coming from, but isn't it ridiculous?

Let the blood run - yes, they attach don't they. I got a nasty wound on my chest once because I had hold of Oscar and because he's so clumsy, he slipped out of my arms (it was ACTUALLY his fault ) and grabbed for dear life. Anyone would think I was 9ft 7 - he wouldn't have hurt himself had he fallen! But he hooked into my bare chest and hung there for a split second til I grabbed him again. Owch.
I have no doubt that he'd have eventually worked his way down the tree. But I couldn't leave him there when he was crying so loudly at gone midnight in a suburban area lol I'd have had the neighbours complaining.

Yayi - the tree is about 25 foot in total and he was up about 10 -15 foot. Now I just need to get the wretched moss stains out of my boyfriend's smart pants!

yes! about a week ago oreo tried to climb a tree for the first time!do i need to say anymore?

When I was a kid, my cat Tiger got stuck up a tree across the street. From what I remember, he was out all night, and when he didn't show up in the morning, my family went looking for him. We found him way high up in the tree across the street. It was too high up for us to be able to reach him with a ladder. I think my mother called the fire department and whoever and nobody would come to help. My father had to get to work and my sister and I had to go to school (obviously, we wanted to stay home, but my parents insisted that we go to school). I think my mother wasn't working at the time, so she was home to try and coax the cat down. I guess while we were at school, my cat finally was persuaded to make his way down. He was fine.

I'm not sure either one of mine would know what to do with a tree

Both my kitties are strictly indoor kitties. Just today I started taking Chynna outside on a leash. There are 2 trees out front, neither anywhere near where I take her.