So I'm trying to get a cat down from a freeway support column

[freeplessinseattle]

and am very frustrated and concerned. I went to the fire station and convinced them to come out to take a look, and they did (telling me that they probably wouldn't use their ladder but would do what they can or advise me. now if it was a person, I guess it would be different). So they told me that he had to have gotten up there somehow and it looks like he walked across on a "lip" that runs under the freeway. I don't know if you can picture what I'm talking about but they're like these shelves about a foot wide that run a few inches beneath the freeway. I don't see how he could have gotten up there any other way but he might be too afraid to come back-I walked back and forth between the two pillars (maybe 1/2 block apart) and called him, holding up a can of food, and then set the can beside a lip at the shorter pillar, maybe he can smell a whift of the food-he had been quiet for awhile until I put the food there then started meowing again, so maybe he got a whiff? hopefully, then maybe he'll eventually follow the smell? I'm thinking tomorrow am I'll bring some hot food for him to get a good whiff of if he hasn't come across yet.

I'm just feeling really helpless and frustrated, I'm afraid of heights but am ready to rappel up there somehow to rescue him. The firefighters told me he'd come if I just stood at the other end and called him, but even though he is familiar with me he's a homeless cat that I feed and is still pretty sketchy about humans (I have been trying to fund him a home, but it is difficult, so just recently I had been trying to think of a way to literally bribe a potential owner with vet care coverage and a Petco gift card. now I really am going to try harder to find him a home. If I can get him down!).

So anyhow, besides just venting while feeling agitated and helpless I was wondering if anyone else has had a similar situation and has any reassurances or advice?

Thank you in advance!

[idgiehkt]

1. good luck

I bet he will come down if he can get down, when no one is around, if he is feral. A humane society or spca might be able to help you, if the fire dept can't.
:hug:

[freeplessinseattle]

3. Thank you for your kind words

it helps, gives me hope too.

I had tried the humane society and they gave me the number of a mr. "cat-in-a-tree-rescue" (that's what his voice mail says) really cool guy, and a needed service bc it's really iffy if the fire dept will assist. So he said he'd be glad to help, but he can only do it between 4 and before it gets dark, and the column the cat is on is pretty high up, a couple stories at least, and the ground around it isn't level, so I'm not sure if it would work, but it's worth a try and I told him I'd pay him for his time even if he can't get him down.

If anyone in King Co. would like his phone number pm me, he didn't say how much he charged, or if he does, but I'm sending him a nice donation because he provides such a valuable service.

[uppityperson]

2. call the bomb squad and tell them you see wires and a battery

sounds like you are doing what you can do. Putting out food on the shorter pillar sounds like a good idea.

[freeplessinseattle]

4. darn, why didn't I think of that?!

how perfect, under the freeway and all

Thank you, I hope he responds to the food. There are racoons in the area, too, though, so I'm worried they'll eat it first. and a racoon is probably what scared him up there.

[uppityperson]

6. Try an animal rescue group tomorrow, spca, shelter, something.Teenagers

I hope he does ok, hard to see a stranded kitty, even a feral one. Sounds like you are doing what you can do for now. Frustrating, cats can be. I had 1 of ours stuck up a tree, got hung up over a tiny branch and couldn't reach the tree or the next branch. Was just out of reach until the teenagers showed up and shinnied up after her. Do you know any teenagers? they are great for this sort of thing.

[Whoa_Nelly]

5. The Humane Society might help with a rescue.

The Humane Society and SPCA of Seattle/King County^, 13212 S.E. Eastgate Way, Bellevue 98005-4492

[freeplessinseattle]

8. yeah, called them before going to the fire dept

but they can't do anything.

[Ahpook]

7. Thanks for the concern

It troubles me that people do not care more for our little friends.

I just moved to TN. from the District(don't ask) and am astonished at how people care, or don't care for thier animals. I round up a dog or two every week. They are just walking the fucking streets. I put them in my backyard, get the tag number and have the vet call the stupid owner. It's incredible to me.

Normally the bastard "owner" comes by and picks up the dog, and i see it running the road again in a couple days.

What's wrong with these idiots?

[freeplessinseattle]

9. oh, that is so frustrating, I don't get some people

thank you for trying to help them though, maybe their "caretakers" will finally get a clue.

[marzipanni]

10. My cousin's cat was high in a tree on a steep hillside for a day and a night

No one believed that my idea would work, but my cousin was upset so they said, OK let's try it... We tied a long, light rope to the handle of a large, fairly deep, round basket and put a bowl of cat food in the basket, and tied a heavy "frog"(metal flower arranging thing) to the opposite end. Another cousin, a young man who could throw far and accurately, threw the frog up and over the branch (the tree had a tall, bare trunk) and it carried the slack length of rope back to the ground. We pulled the jury-rigged kitty elevator up to the cat and laughed when he didn't hesitate to step in. We lowered him to the ground, slowly and smoothly to try to keep him calm.
It sounds like your cat will go back along the "shelf" when he gets hungry enough. Is the other end fairly close to the ground?

[freeplessinseattle]

11. huh, I like that idea

my friends who rent the warehouse under the freeway are crafty artists and handymen, maybe they can help me rig up something. hmm....

the other end is close to teh ground, but the narrow shelf is high up in some places, and the longer he's there the more fatigued and off balance I'm afraid he'll be.

[SeattleGirl]

12. freepless, you're my hero!

Have you tried PAWS? I'm honestly not sure if they could help, but it couldn't hurt to try.

I was driving home the other night, and saw a little dog running back and forth across the road. The area he was running in was kind of dark, and so was the color of the dog. The little thing wouldn't come to me, but I did manage to get him to run up a little-used side road, away from the heavier traveled main road.

I lost him, then, but at least he was (for the moment, anyway) out of danger.

Good luck with the kittie rescue!

[freeplessinseattle]

13. Thank you, and good idea

I was thinking maybe I could call the wildlife rescue, they must deal with a range of situations, and maybe if I offer a nice donation;)

[SeattleGirl]

14. That's another good idea, wildlife rescue.

If it weren't 10:00 here, I'd call a friend of mine who is very active in animal rights. I will email her though, to see if she has any other suggestions.

[BikeWriter]

17. I've stopped on a freeway to pick up an injured kitty...

but I would not advise it for sane persons.

[BikeWriter]

15. Seriously? Not a good reason to risk a human life.

Real life sucks like hell sometimes, though I've done it before.

[freeplessinseattle]

18. well, if it was my cat I'm sure I'd take the risk but all the same

it will haunt me for the rest of my life to leave him to die a slow agonizing death, and hear his cries get weaker everyday. if it was a person there'd be a way

[darkstar]

16. updates????

Really hoping it works out. A friend to our critter-friends is certainly of friend of mine.
:hug:

[freeplessinseattle]

19. Thanks so much for your concern

I really can't do much until morning, when I'm going to call wildlife rescue and try to at least somehow get some food onto the actual lip, closer to the cat, maybe with a long stick or fishing pole? I can't sleep and just went out to buy some fish to entice him, I guess fish has the strongest smell, and catfish was the cheapest, so that's what I got, appropiately enough. I want to go down there right now but need a boost or stepladder to get over the fence again and need someone to help me carry a ladder up the uneven dirt hill so I can try to toss some food nearer to him. I wish there was some way I could at least drop some food down where he is, with a remote control toy plane, or if I knew someone who can throw well. god it is so frustrating he is right there and looks at me so pitifully, I just can't stand thinking of him suffering up there, I am determined to get him down somehow if I have to bribe construction workers to help out with some heavy equipment.

[Lady Freedom]

20. Call your local TV station

You would be surprised what the city will do if there is coverage!

[freeplessinseattle]

21. you know what, there is one just a couple blocks away!

I was thinking of that tonight, getting myself into a precarious position and having a friend go to alert the news station, or tell them I'm about to attempt a daring rescue they might want to capture on tape, and call an ambulance just in case.

I think it's tv news station, it's KIRO radio, and KIRO is also a tv channel. I don't know how helpful they'd be, they host the rightwing channel and I always gag when I see one of their vehicles with something about Rush Limbaugh and Truth in the same sentence.

[uppityperson]

22. Good morning. How is the cat doing?

[trof]

23. I've never seen a cat skeleton in a tree.

Eventually the hunger is stronger than the fear.