A good Samaritan was faced with a seemingly impossible task after finding a cat stuck up in a tall tree in New York City. Threads user @_intelligentdesign posted about the situation online, explaining how the cat had become stuck in the tree.
According to him, he called around for help before tagging several different agencies and networks in his post, including the local news, the New York City Fire Department, and the ASPCA. “This terrified cat needs help. Neglecting to do so is to leave it to die,” he captioned the post, which featured a video of the scared cat as well as a pin for the exact location of the tree.
The post went on to explain that the cat had been stuck in the tree for more than a week, and the only thing it had to eat or drink was whatever @_intelligentdesign could manage to get up there. “The little food I’m able to throw up there is not sustainable,” he continued. “Someone, please help.”
He then asked people to share the post and tag the same groups that he did in the hopes that they would get involved. After sharing his plea, the post instantly went viral. People from all over began commenting with suggestions on other ways he could try to get the cat down, including one person who had an idea so out of the box that it was surprising that the Threads user even considered trying it.
The Cat Was Stuck in a Tall Tree
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According to the poster, the tree was too tall and too wide for him to reach the cat on his own, which is why he was asking for help. Some well-meaning people in the comments started throwing ideas out to him, including one that involved calling the mayor’s office directly to ask for help.
Since calling the fire department didn’t seem to work, another person suggested that the poster head down to his local fire house in person with a “pretty” woman by his side. “And while I hate suggesting this, if you’ve a pretty younger woman in your circle of family or friends, bring her with you and have her do most of the talking to them (in this instance the sexism helps),” they wrote.
Someone Suggested Calling an Arborist
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Another commenter made the unusual suggestion to call an arborist, connecting him with someone who she thought could help. Then, another commenter even showed up while the arborist was there, splitting the cost of the service with the poster.
Then, @_intelligentdesign documented the arborist’s progress, taking videos of him as he got set up and eventually climbed the tree.
The Cat Was Finally Rescued
Fortunately, the unusual story has a happy ending, and the cat was brought down from the tree and into @_intelligentdesign’s home. “I’m going to sleep well tonight,” he joked in the update, which featured a photo of the cat once it was safely back on the ground.
Later, he made yet another update when he got home, saying how happy he was once everything was taken care of.
It’s good that this man jumped into action to help. That’s because a post on the Rescue My Cat blog notes that while cats that climb up into trees can typically get themselves down, if they’ve been up there for more than a few days, it typically means they need some human help.
However, the post also explains that you shouldn’t call the fire department when this happens, because they don’t like to commit their limited time and resources to animal rescues when they may be needed elsewhere. Instead, the website suggests checking for a professional cat rescuer (there’s even a database to search) or contacting an arborist or other tree care company.