My very young kitten is stuck in my air vents.

Someone please help us I'm begging, there is no way we can get her out. We saw her paw and that was the last thing. She wont show up and we've been trying to place food infront of the vent. Someone please tell us what to do! My mother doesn't want to call the fire dept. or the heating people...   is there any way to help her?

I think you're going to have to call the heating people. Tell your mom that paying them to pull a live kitten out of the ducts is better than paying them to pull a dead kitten out of the ducts .

How long has it been?

My mom is saying she doesn't want to because it will cost too much, but I'm trying to persuade her... It's been about 20 minutes and I haven't heard a peep from her at all... What I'm afraid is she fell down somewhere and is unconscious and probably hurt...

We also just got this cat today, and she isn't used to our other cat and she's already been afraid of alot of stuff. I'm scared she wont return because she doesn't want to see my cat which has been growling and hissing at her. Any way to like, flush her out of there? 

Oh, at 20 minutes I wouldn't worry too much. Of course turn off the heater. But unless you heard a loud thud I don't think she's unconscious. I'd give it a couple hours at least. They really like exploring the ducts. Once she's out make sure you secure the ducts so she can't get in again.

How old is she?

I think she's about maybe 3 or 4 months old (Human Time) she's a really small black cat and I just peeked in there and I saw her eyes but she disappeared again.

Tell your mom it will be much more costly to rip the walls apart and remove the rotting body if the kitten dies in the air duct. Your mom will not have a choice because the stench will drive you out of the house.

Oh if she's shy that might make things harder. Just put her food (pick something extra smelly, sardines maybe) close enough to the duct that she can smell it but also far enough away that she might not run back in, then close the door to the room (and put your other cat somewhere he can't scare her) and wait quietly. Have a piece of cardboard or something to put over the duct, and once she goes to the food slowly slide the cardboard over it so she can't go back in, then you can nab her.

Oh, good, when you said very young I thought maybe 4 or 5 weeks and that could be a problem. But if she's old enough to have good coordination, just be patient and she'll come out.

I told my mother all of this and she doesn't care. I've been sitting at the vent and I still haven't heard a noise. I tried putting food there but still, no movement no nothing. I'm really hoping she comes out, she saw me and wont peek out again... 

Also, the vent duct is taller than she can reach, and she cant jump out nor can i feel her when I reached down in there and felt all around. I'm starting to get really scared because I checked the vents downstairs, and no movement, but I did hear meowing early when I was in the basement. That's how I found out.

Hi I'm so sorry to hear your troubles and I no how you feel, I as once taking care of a hamster for me niece and it went in the vent behind the fire it came out but not till a day and a half had passed (fire brigade refused to come out to help a hamster) maybe try a cat toy kittens usually love them,beat to try a dangley one and you might get the focus off you and on to the toy please let me know what the outcome is and take care

are there other vent entrances? if so, remove the covers for those too in case she got herself lost.

try not to hover, if she's new, she's afraid.. and may be afraid of you hovering near the vents

Okay so I just there for some 10 minutes, and I still have heard no peep. I've been dangling toys, leaving the food IN the vent, and trying to see if she will pop up. Luckly, I heard no thud so you're right about him being okay, but I'm still not so sure. And yes, there is another opening and we checked, no sign of her... Hopefully she will eat the food and nap when we're sleeping, but I'm definitely having my mother call the Fire Dept. tomorrow asap.

This is a bit of a long shot, but if you are unable to persuade your mother to call the heating people or the fire department, you might try calling Animal Control.  Where did you get the kitten?  If you got her through a shelter, they might be willing to help you get her out.  

One thing to bear in mind is that any work on the ductwork is going to frighten her even more and drive her deeper into the system.  You might want to give her a few more hours to come out on her own.  In addition to the tuna, try shining a light down the vent.  I once had a parakeet get into the vent and we got her out by shining a flashlight into the ductwork and gradually moving it towards the opening.   If you have a laser pointer, you might even try using the red dot to draw her towards you.  

Try to be as quiet as you can while doing this.  In her mind, she might think she's found the ideal hiding place to protect her in this new, unknown environment.   Newly adopted cats are famous for finding hiding places that are nearly impossible to locate.

Please let us know how things go.   

We got her from petsmart, and she isn't the playful type of cat. She shunned all the times we wanted to play with her, and she just walked away and fell asleep. I'll try to lazer pointer in 1 hour, hopefully she uses it to guide her. Thank you guys for all the help!

I'm wondering if you feeling around the opening is part of the reason she's not coming out.  She may just need to chill for a few hours and then she'll be out when she's hungry or thirsty.  The more you mess with the opening though, it could be spooking her and making her feel that being there is safer than coming near you.

I knew a family who allowed their cat free access to the heating ducts, from kittenhood :/. And no harm ever came to him because of it. Not that I think that's a good idea---at all---but do try not to worry too much. She just wants a safe place to hide, she has to come out eventually.

okay thanks guys! i'm starting to feel she wont come out.

I just heard her inside of my garage, I tried opening and closing it so she will get out of that system. Hopefully she's rerouting back to the original vent she came in through. We placed lights so she could easily find her way back inside.

YES!!! I saw her poking her head out eating the food trap i layed, and I immidieatly grabbed her and pulled her up, now's she's safe and already had her bath. Thank you guys so much for your help!