Oh my, the predicaments cats can get into. Once, when Lily was about six or eight months old, she was playing with a sheet of newspaper, rolling around on it. Pretty soon, she managed to get herself rolled up into the paper fairly tightly with her paws inside. All that was sticking out were her tail and her head. She looked like a burrito. And she was actually stuck. She could not free herself. Sorry, I didn’t get a picture. I was laughing, but also eager to help her out of her dilemma. Poor little thing. What cat does that?
Cats are agile, creative, and curious. Despite common belief, they can get themselves into
serious trouble. Cats get stuck in trees. They can climb up a tree like nobody’s business. But climbing down can be a problem for a cat. The way their claws are designed, climbing down is awkward and can be frightening for the cat. So what do you do when a cat gets stuck in a tree? You can sometimes coax the kitty down by showing her where to step or jump to next. You can climb the tree and help her down. It is my understanding that local fire departments no longer go out on cat-in-the-tree calls. I’m told that if you see a cat stuck in a tree, you should call animal control.
Cats can get themselves into trouble, that’s for sure. Once, a friend of my daughter’s brought her small kitten to our house and lost him. We looked everywhere for that kitten and could not find him. When it was time for the child to go home, I told her the kitten would show up and when we found him, we’d return him. Do you know where I found the kitten? Sleeping on the lazy Susan where I stored our canned goods. I twirled it around to pick out a can of something to use in our supper and there was the sleeping kitten taking a ride on the merry-go-round.
Cats get into all sorts of dilemmas. They tantalize dogs and end up sometimes getting hurt. They fall, they get locked into places when snooping, they chew on and eat things that are harmful to them, they get hit by cars and bicycles. There was a kitten in Pennsylvania a while back who got stuck in a garbage disposal. The police came to his rescue using an array of tools to dismantle the disposal and a little coconut oil. Yes, it’s a good thing cats have 9 lives.
Then there are natural disasters. Many animals suffer any number of maladies when there’s a fire, flood, or serious storm. What’s the best course of action to take in these situations. Being prepared is always best. For example, I always have cat carriers for the number of cats I currently have in case we need to evacuate quickly for any reason.
Here’s a site that lists supplies you should have on hand for your cat in case of disaster. A disaster kit for cats. https://redrover.org/resource/disaster-supplies-for-cats/
Here’s another disasters preparedness plan for cats. https://consciouscat.net/2014/08/25/disaster-preparedness-cats/
