To knock on a door at 7am on a Sunday

I’m still confused at why anyone thinks it would have been necessary to wake the neighbour. OP wanted to get a tree surgeon. Fine. Surely the best thing to do (after the obvious stuff like putting food out etc) would be to call a tree surgeon first. The tree surgeon is unlikely to say “OK, emergency, scramble, I’m on my way, I’ll be there in 30 seconds”. It’s more likely there’d be an answering machine saying call tomorrow, or maybe a number for an emergency Sunday service. They’d probably take your number and say they’d call you back. You’d wait for that, and then they’d probably arrive in the afternoon some time. Or maybe even late morning. By which time the neighbour would have had a nice lie-in. Literally no reason to involve them until a tree surgeon had been booked. If by some freak chance the neighbour refused to allow access, then you’d have to cancel the tree surgeon.

I fail to see any way in which a neighbour could help at 7am, when OP lives nearby herself, and presumably has access to tuna, cat food, or the cuppa that other posters deemed essential!

I'm sure someone else has already said this, but:

Nobody was going to chop the tree down, you numpty!

Sheesh! Some people are incredibly thick.

I don't hate cats and most (!) of the non important stuff is not dull.

My cat got stuck up a tree a few years ago and no, he didn’t come down by himself. That was despite leaving a ladder propped against the tree and food at the bottom. Tree surgeons were called the next day and they climbed up, stuffed him in a sack and brought him down. There’s a video on YouTube somewhere of his rescue. It can be difficult for them to come down due to how their claws work. They’re great for going up, not so much to get down.

I couldn’t cope with that sort of noise every time the postman or delivery driver comes by. It would drive me nuts

Goodness
92% of mumsnetters think it’s unreasonable
what has become of us !

The neighbour in my garden wanting to help their cat would be met with lots of woofs, growls and two dogs. That's what would wake me up. And probably the neighbours. (They don't bark if no-one comes on the property).

Surely it depends where the neighbours bedroom is. Mine is in the front so if someone was out there putting a ladder up a tree I'd know about it!

Knocking on my door for a distressed animal wouldn’t bother me. Day or night.

I’m a deep sleeper though so I’d probably not wake but I wouldn’t be bothered by a neighbour in my garden trying to help their cat.
Id hope others would be the same if I’d made the effort to try to get hold of them first

so happy your cat is now safe OP

I see! I stand corrected.

I know, I'm an absolute terror, what with not minding if a person who was worried about their cat knocked on my door and all. Sorry about that 😂

Gorgeous kitties

Some absolute knobs on here as per usual! It wouldn’t bother me if someone knocked on my door on a Sunday if their pet was in distress- I would be happy to help them if needed!

But then I’m not the typical mumsnetter who is terrified to open their door unless there’s been 2 week request, the moon is in the right phase, ect…. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Are you really???? On possibly their only day off work, you think it's fine to knock and get them out of bed. I'd hate to live near you!

I wouldn’t mind a knock on the door at 7 as my dog has me up around 5.30am seven dsys a week. My only issue for me would be I’d go into a panic first thinking it might be bad news (like that momentary panic you get if your phone unexpectedly rings at 2am).

Good happy ending with cat safe and reunited with sibling. But that tree wasn't challenging for a cat to climb down with those branches separated as they are.
I think the anxiety was all yours, OP. Your cat had everything under control as cats usually do.

A tin of Tuna or Pilchards at the bottom of the tree will get it down. If it got up there, it can get down. 🤷‍♀️

God there are some miserable arseholes on here. I wouldn’t mind if it was 2am if one of my neighbours’ pets (and therefore neighbour themselves) was distressed.

It’s one Sunday morning people, lighten up.

Glad he’s down and safe - lovely boy 😍

Oh bless him, it’s so upsetting when they get stuck. So glad he is down now. You must be so relieved!

I looked this up, for future reference, and apparently the correct protocol is actually to call a tree surgeon if you can't entice the cat down, just like the OP wanted to!

If the cat cannot make their way down because they're entangled in some way, you call the RSPCA to help, who then call the fire brigade only if they can't get the cat down themselves.

But you don't call the fire brigade for a cat in a tree. You call someone else, who then assesses if they're necessary.

@CatRescueNeeded How did you manage to get your cat down? Might be useful for other people to know in case they are in a similar position another time.

Erm, I imagine the OP was thinking of tree surgeons because they have the equipment and skills to get up the tree to help the cat down, not chop the tree down.

I remember a few years back a cat near where we lived at the time being stuck up a tree for a few days, its pitiful cries tugging at everyone's heart strings.

The fire brigade came out and the man went up and up and up until level with the cat, the crowd gathered below watching the drama unfold and the cat turned around and adeptly climbed back down quite easily and flicked his tail in disgust at the crowd and walked off!

The owner was mortified but the fire brigade reassured her that it was good for training and were pleased the cat had come down safely.

I assume she was thinking the tree surgeon had access equipment to get up to the cat rather than chop the tree down.

She was calling him for his equipment...
Not to chop the tree down!!! That would be unreasonable haha

For future reference, if you can’t entice the cat down (which worked fine in this situation) you should call the fire brigade, ideally on the non emergency number. If they are not fighting fires or other emergency work at that point they will come and rescue cats, it’s training to use their equipment and useful. They will obviously prioritise emergencies that don’t involve cats and if it’s around shift change you will need to wait.