Tommy, a 10-month-old cat from Kempston, had a lucky escape after he became trapped for over 24 hours in a tree on St John’s Avenue in Kempston.
He had made his way up the 12.2m (40ft) tree and had already spent one night there when his worried owners called for help.
RSPCA animal rescue officer Jane Folly attended on 9 January and said: “Tommy had been trapped up there for over a day and it was very cold. He’d already spent one night there and he could not spend another night stuck.
“His worried owners had spotted him up the tree after they heard him crying and called for help as he was really high up.”
RSPCA officers enlisted Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Services who were able to use their aerial platform to reach the cat.
“He lept towards the firefighters,” said Jane. “Clearly he was desperate to come down from the tree.”
And despite his ordeal, in true cat style, Tommy went straight to bed as soon as he got home as if nothing had happened.
“This was a super rescue and we are so grateful to crews from Bedford and Kempston Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service for rescuing him and getting back home safe and sound,” said Jane.
“It’s another reminder of what we can achieve together for animal welfare.”
In a vast majority of cases, cats are very capable of getting themselves down from a tree, so unless there are special circumstances, the RSPCA advises owners to try and coax their pet down with strong-smelling food like fish and if that doesn’t work to give them a call back after 24 hours.
After that time an RSPCA officer will then visit to see if they can help.
RSPCA officers are trained to use ladders, which they carry for rescues like this, however, in situations where they still are unable to reach the animals, they may ask the fire service to help and they often use animal rescues as a vital training aid.
