How Long Can a Cat Live in a Tree?

Last Thursday morning while out picking dandelions for the rabbit that I swore I wouldn't end up taking care of, I heard a mewing. I thought it was coming from the woodpile. Nope. It was coming from 40-feet up a not very accessible pine tree.

A stray cat with a loud opinion. "I want down!" it's been screaming. I'm about to start screaming, too.

This looks like a nice, friendly, sweet, cautious, stupid cat. She (I have no idea what gender this cat is but it appears to have possibly nursed at some point, hopefully not last week) talks to you and writhes around the tree limbs and trunk. She rubs her head on the branches while she talks to you and looks like somebody I would love to pet. If I had 40-foot arms. I've called a few neighbors and nobody knows whose cat she is.

Every day we try to coax her down. Every day she winds around the tree trunk way up high, sometimes going higher but never going lower. She sleeps in a squirrel's nest.

On Saturday Paul stood a 20-foot-ladder at the bottom of the tree, climbed it, and put up another long ladder. Surprisingly, he had enough sense not to climb beyond the top of the ladder on the ground. The cat will put her paws on the top rung, cry pitifully, and wind back around the tree.

We've rattled food. We've called sweetly. We have considered throwing things but haven't done so. The cat's been up there for over five days. It's been cold, rainy and windy. I'm glad to report that the cat's voice remains strong.

Yesterday I climbed partway up the lower ladder and put out an opened can of tuna. I thought that the smell would travel up the tree and lure the cat down. It didn't work.

I told Paul that I'd put the can there. So, it wasn't my fault, was it, when he climbed the ladder this morning for his daily conversation with this cat and the can of tuna cat food fell off the ladder, tuna-side down, and whomped him in the head. He had just had his shower, freshly washed hair and was dressed for work.

I told him that maybe he would be more successful with the cat since he was fragrant with tuna. He didn't find this funny but perhaps he will one day.

The cat was eager to come down. We must have coaxed and cooed for 30 minutes in the cold. Paul lifted the top ladder right to where the cat sat on a limb. The cat would touch the ladder with her paw, then make another trip around the tree trunk, crying.

I think we were all about to cry.

Then Paul got stuck, and realized that the tree limbs he had used to climb up higher than the bottom ladder were dead..... I thought I was going to have to call the fire department to rescue him, but he got down.

Paul had to take another shower to wash off the tuna. The laundry smells of tuna and I have a load of clothes going. The cat's still in the tree.

The tuna-splattered ladders are still in place. Maybe I'll have good news tomorrow.

Comments

[Chris]

Maybe if the cat won't come down, you can attach a can of tuna or cat food to the end of a long stick and push it up to the cat. At least it can eat until we can figure out a way to get it down.

I'm thinking you're going to have to figure out a gentle way to grab it that won't frighten it into jumping. That, or maybe you could elevate a bird cage big enough for it to climb into? Make sure you tie yourselves off to the tree to keep from falling off the ladder.

[Bear]

Offering food to the cat amuses me I must say.

As a five year old I got stuck up a tree and Mum had to come and rescue me because I was too scared to move. Thinking back now, I'm pretty sure a can of tuna wouldn't have enticed me down... I doubt even a roast dinner would've. It ended up taking ages, a couple of neighbours and a ladder to get me down.

But keep trying the tuna... unless the cat's a vegetarian, it might work.

[groovyoldlady]

Throw a gunny sack or net over it. That's what they do on animal planet.

:D

How fortunate that your man cares. If it was us, I'd be sleeping in the tree with the poor kitty and Mulletman would be yelling for me to get down and leave that stupid cat alone.

Hope he/she comes down soon!

[kathy]

i just lost a cat in queens,NY. the streets are load even though its an area with houses (not buildings). I know the cat is scared and hiding somewhere, but I cant stop thinking that it might be stuck on top of a tree of some neighbors house and isn't able to come down.

its the forth day that it's gone. i really hope he is not stuck and just being a stubborn kitty.

how long can a cat survive on top of a tree without food?

[kathy]

i just lost a cat in queens,NY. the streets are load even though its an area with houses (not buildings). I know the cat is scared and hiding somewhere, but I cant stop thinking that it might be stuck on top of a tree of some neighbors house and isn't able to come down.

its the forth day that it's gone. i really hope he is not stuck and just being a stubborn kitty.

how long can a cat survive on top of a tree without food?

[Anne]

Thanks for leaving your comment on LifePundit about your lost kitty. Have you checked the pound or put up “lost cat” flyers?

I’ve had a cat disappear for over six weeks and come back. I think he was scared of the activity around my house (he was a very shy indoor cat) and was only brave enough to come back at night. I had some friends spending the night and they were sleeping in my living room and saw him come to the door and let him in. So maybe your cat will come back when you least expect it.

One of those friends had a cat disappear for over a month. Turns out the cat had gone into an empty house that was for sale, and the door had slammed behind her. The cat lived on whatever bugs she could catch and drank water out of the toilet. When the real estate agent came to show some people the house, the cat came out. Skinny but okay. When the cat made her way back home to my friend’s house, they were in the yard and squealed with delight to see the cat. The real estate agent heard them and came over to explain where the cat had been.

If your cat can get water, it will be fine for a long, long time. Cats are survivors.

The cat in our tree was up there eight days. She wasn’t even skinny when we got her down.

I had a cat disappear once shortly after we moved here. I think the cat was disoriented and got lost. I put up flyers around the neighborhood and somebody called me. The cat was living in their garage and they were feeding it. I got that cat back very happily!

Your cat is obviously a pet and the people he/she comes across will feed him and take care of him, so perhaps your cat is enjoying a little vacation at a neighbor’s house.

I do hope that your cat comes back soon. It’s so upsetting to have them disappear. But you never know. If you ask cat owners, you’ll hear lots of stories about how cats disappeared for weeks and months and then came back. I hope yours is somewhere safe and that you find comfort in remembering that cats are survivors.

Good luck – and let me know when he/she comes back.

[Pete]

Why, you're funnier than David Sedaris. No, really. And darned cuter, too. Honestly, I found your site quite by accident (hunting for my lost cat, wouldn't you know, and found your cat-in-the-tree article). I couldn't stop laughing. Now I'm reading about stuff I don't even care about, simply because you're writing it. I tried to contact you to tell you, but I can't find your contact info. Then again, I'm not terribly bright at this kind of thing (nor am I a stalker - don't jump to that conclusion). Anyway, cheerio and all that, I think you're quite talented, I'd buy a book of yours any day. Think about it. David Sedaris, watch out. Yours truly, Pete.

[lisa]

I have the same problem. What ever happened to the poor cat. My cat has been up there going on 4 days it is cold and wet and I am trying everything with no luck.