Help i'm stuck - MEOW!

[otter]

Ugh!!! i'm one of those terrible cat owners that lets their cat outside and now i'm paying the price. As i'm distracted by the sounds of a dog scuffle (a roaming mutt picking on Molly), another dog rips through my yard and chases my poor cat up the HYDRO POLE!!! It's dark and starting to rain, I have no idea what to do. Anyone know any tricks in getting cats to climb downwards??

I called Hydro... they couldn't really help but at least reassured me that she's not in any real danger of being electrocuted or anything nasty like that

[krdahmer]

Some fire departments with come and help you with a ladder to get him down. If not maybe a neighbour has a ladder to get up there, it is not likely the cat will be able to back track back down the pole.... and may jump and injure himself. Best of luck and I hope you get him down soon (and maybe consider transitioning to an indoor life.... it takes time but can be done!)

[Frenchy]

Holy crap ! Did you try to entice him with food ? Like real yummy food ?

[otter]

Frenchy, that's what the hydro guy suggested, a nice can of tuna.... yup, we're trying that!

krdharmer - I'm totally in favour of having her be an indoor cat, she just has other ideas - she was about 6 when I got her, she'd been an outdoor cat her whole life and didn't take kindly to my suggestion that she stay indoors all the time. Definitely always in the back of my mind to convert her. Normally she would have been inside this time of day - the dog scuffle got me all flustered and I didn't pay attention

If she isn't down by morning i'm getting our local electrical co. (who have a boom truck) to get her down (huge expense or not!). They don't want to come tonight and, as cruel as it sounds and as unhappy as she'll be, I'm sure she will survive one night up there. I cannot risk my (or anyone else's) life to get her down in the dark - I'll do my best to keep her company through the night if she doesn't come down.:sad::sad::sad:

[Frenchy]

I'm so sorry :sad: too bad you can't get the firemen ... they are usually cute

[otter]

Hmmm, good point about the firemen... and they know where I live! It was pretty much one year ago when they were here last (when I tried to burn down the house) Can't do that to them though, they are all volunteers:sad:

Why don't mother cats teach their little once to climb DOWN as well as UP, wouldn't it just make sense??

I'm sooooooooooo frustrated just come down my little kitty :sad::sad:

[otter]

OK, please just opinions, I know it all sounds horrible.... do you think she'll be OK if she has to stay up the pole all night? Do I need to resort to drastic measures? Any idea from what kind of height she would be able to jump without injury?

[breeze]

otter how high is the pole?? and is she right on top?? near the lines??

[Frenchy]

otter , think of all the stray cats ... it's not going below zero tonight so he should be ok. What other choices do you have ? There's not much you can do :sad: unless you have a very good neighbor still up , who has a latter tall enough ...

[otter]

She's right on top.... probably about 25 feet up (i'm terrible at guessing height, it might be even higher). I was really worried cause she's right by the wires too but the Hydro guy said there is "probably" no concern with the wires cause they are coated, about a 5% chance that one of the cables could carry "some" currrent - not the full load though. She doesn't look or sound like she is being effected by the wires at all, just scared.

So far I have a ladder up about 8 feet, then a board, on a slight angle, up another 12 feet, leaving about 5 feet of straight pole for her to scale down or jump. No luck:sad:

[breeze]

I think all you can do is wait
unless you want to try a fishing net?? mike say just be carful evthat you don't touch "2" wires......I would not do it at night but you would have to climb some of the way.. and try and scoop her up..

o I wish my kids were there :sad: they rock climb it would be no problem for them

[hazelrunpack]

She should be okay with the wires--but you be careful with that ladder and the wood, otter!

[Frenchy]

I've heard cats can jump 4 storeys without getting hurt.

[otter]

I'm keeping both ladder and wood well away from the wires. I'm terrified of heights so that complicates things. I've been wracking my brain trying to think of anyone who tree climbs, I know a few foresters who have those pick things you can wear on your feet for climbing but everyone I can think of is too far away (or out Moose hunting )

Gonna be a long night i'm afraid....:sad:

Do you think cats know how high they can safely jump?? Am I putting her in danger by encouraging her to come down when she's reluctant?

[onster]

Just wanted to say good luck

I used to have a cat that we continuously had to save from trees, silly thing. I guess if it went up though, it should be able to come down??? We always rescued our one cat though..but maybe given enough time??

[growler~GateKeeper]

actually yeah their depth persception can get quite screwed up with long distances cuz they can't judge it acurately

She should be okay if she doesn't panic & stays in one spot silly Misery

Def call in Hydro or them cute firemen () first thing in the am - I think if it were me I'd be doing that now middle of the night or not

and we need pics to reassure us all she's okay after coming down

[krdahmer]

Is she down yet? Is she ok?

[Winston]

Any news?

Cindy

[hazelrunpack]

[otter]

Exciting news!!!! Misery is back on terra ferma (the ground) . At about 5am I finally retreated to bed, she was still on the pole, at about 9am I awoke to the sound of her little bell dinging on the food dish . I have no idea how she got down but, other than being hungry, she seems no worse for wear . She's staying inside now (and maybe forever, we'll have to see how she deals with that) and getting lots of loving Sorry it took so long to get the news to you, cuddling in bed with Misery and Molly took priority

I'm working on a picture for your verification.... back in a minute!

[otter]

Here's Misery....cuddling up in bed
not impressed with having her picture taken
and the offending POLE

[Frenchy]

I'm so glad Misery is back on the ground !!! and omg this pole is tall

Paddington and Monsieur le chat were both outside cats before Badger rescued them. I never let them out since they're here and they seem to accept it.

Give a big kiss to Misery from me.

[Janie123]

So glad Misery is back and safe!

[krdahmer]

OMG that pole is huge... I wouldda had a heart attack... bravo to you for keeping calm! And so glad she made it back down ok!!!

Oh and she is so pretty, thats the first female tuxedo I've seen.

Oh and as for transitioning them to indoors, I have done it about 4 times now with cats who were almost strictly outdoors (two were ferals too). They resist and whine a bit at first, but after a few months of spraying with a water bottle at the door they resign to being indoors and find interesting things to hunt indoors, like the flies I let in, or spiders, or toys, or me . Good luck. As long as they have cat trees to scratch, toys to play with, windows to look out and lots of loving, I really don't think they miss out on anything. Mine seem happy anyhow.

[t.pettet]

To keep her from doing a repeat performance, get yourself a 3 foot long role of screening and wrap it around the pole. I had to do this to some of the older trees down at the river because the beavers were gnawing every tree in sight and the small forest was looking very bald.

[Chicklet]

We had a black cat that use to love climbing the light poles here,
I never worried about them getting down, Seen them back down many times, Don't really understand why people think they can't back down,

We had telephone troubles all the time, never understood why, till my husband put it together, happened every time after the cat climbed that pole, The telephone repair man always kept going to that pole fixing something, We never told him about the Cat

[growler~GateKeeper]

YAY for Misery!!

So glad the purrty grrl made it down without injury

Duffy was converted to indoor only 2 years ago at 14 years old - if she can do it so can Misery

Originally Posted by krdahmer

Oh and she is so pretty, thats the first female tuxedo I've seen.

My cousin had a gorgeous female long hair tuxedo