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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Or are these women just ... argg??

301 replies

Rosieeo · 10/12/2011 23:09

My cat is up a very tall, thin tree behind our house and has been there for three days now. She's 14 and very timid.

We realised she was missing after 24 hours (she is often out overnight) and went looking for her. She wasn't hard to find but will not come down. We've tried food, water, pusspusspussing. She just sits there and mews. So I rang the RSPCA who said that cats up trees normally come down within five days and that they wouldn't call the firemen till then. I mentioned the cold and they said that they'd send someone to assess but not to worry. A woman came out and said to keep encouraging her but that she would come down and if she didn't they would arrange something. Not to try to get to her. Fair enough, I thought.

Fast forward 24 hours and a woman from around the corner and her two friends come to the door. Is that my cat and what's going on? So I explain. They wanted to know why we hadn't tried to get her down. I explained. They asked why I hadn't put ladders up to get her. I'm eight months pregnant, which I thought might speak for itself. So I started to get annoyed, told them to leave it and shut the door.

This morning I went out to the cat and she's 10 foot higher than she was before. Perched in the branches where she was the night before is a bowl, I presume of food.

Midday, the women come round again. All of them. Why haven't I got the cat out of the tree? I pointed out that they had actually forced her further up the tree. Well at least we tried, they said, why haven't I called 999? Because it's not an emergency and costs 500 quid. Wouldn't it be worth it? They ask. Hmm. I told them not to knock again and to leave it to us and the RSPCA. And at this rate the bloody firemen.

As they were leaving, one of them said (very loudly and deliberately) "I feel sorry for her baby if that's how she treats her cat."

Am I being unreasonable to feel somewhat aggrieved?

OP posts:
MigratingChestnutsOnAnOpenFire · 11/12/2011 12:05

sorry, that was to mantee not poppadom

SKIP1 · 11/12/2011 12:05

Ah, just read earlier post that the object of such spleen venting has escaped the cursed tree. I LOVE the above suggestion of soft landing and supersoaker!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ingenious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

lollopybear · 11/12/2011 12:13

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

BalloonSlayer · 11/12/2011 12:29

Grin at the happy ending.

People's bile towards the RSPCA on threads like this always puzzles me.

It is the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. That's its remit. It's not the Cats' Protection League, or the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals or the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds . . . can people not see that those organisations aim to respectively: protect cats, treat sick animals and protect birds. The RSPCA is there to prevent cruelty, to prosecute cruel and neglectful owners and stop them from keeping animals ever again, lobby for changes in law to stop animal cruelty and, sadly, put an end to the suffering of some of the animal victims of cruelty - and I understand how this upsets lots of people. (I met someone the other day who thought RSPCA stood for the Royal Society for the Protection and Care of Animals, and I wonder if this is a widespread misconception.)

If the cat was stuck up a tree because its owners had a savage dog at the bottom of the tree waiting to tear the cat apart if it came down, and the owners were stood there laughing at the prospect, then the RSPCA would be expected to act, because it is cruelty to animals.

But a cat stuck up a tree is a cat which may be distressed, but is not the victim of any cruelty.

If a large animal is injured on the road, it's very sad, but no one is being cruel, it's not the RSPCA's responsibility, it's the police's.

And I am not a fan of the RSPCA, have no strong feelings about them TBH, but more and more I get the impression that people have no idea what they are FOR, and think they should spend their time cuddling fluffy bunnies when that -and rescuing cats stuck up trees - is a million miles away from what they were set up to do.

MrsHankey · 11/12/2011 12:30

Was going to post this link earlier but didn't think appropriate to have fun while your cat was still missing.

Its the 'dog diary vs cat diary' may have seen it before, made me Grin

Glad your cats back safely, my lovely old cat (sadly deceased) used to drive me crazy with her antics, climbing on the roof, on high fences, on shed at approx 16yrs old, she was pretty fearless.

ManateeEquineOhara · 11/12/2011 12:32

Migratingchestnuts - I knew what you meant :)

Poppadum - Absolutely, you need to appeal to the local area for the most accurate shooter to come forward to help with humane-human-removal-from-tree.

MigratingChestnutsOnAnOpenFire · 11/12/2011 12:41

its certainly an insult i now intend to file and use again someday!

good post balloonslayer!

I am still in recovering from the image of lots of 'well-meaners' turning up after a huge facebook campaign, along with all the local press and various people with cherry pickers and water guns...that would have reassured the cat, no problem!!

WorraLiberty · 11/12/2011 12:50

Asking around on Facebook to see if any local tree surgeons/roofers have a set of tall ladders, is no different to asking the local radio/newspaper to help imo.

It's just much quicker

RumpledTitSkin · 11/12/2011 12:53

I think I love you Balloon slayer. The voic of reason.

RumpledTitSkin · 11/12/2011 12:53

Voice, obviously.

trixymalixy · 11/12/2011 13:03

Well said balloonslayer.

libelulle · 11/12/2011 13:05

Worra, only if you already have a fb account and lots of local fb friends! Which rosie didn't...

ShellyBoobs · 11/12/2011 13:05

OP, I wouldn't give a second thought to the nasty women's note about reporting you to the RSPCA.

You didn't throw the cat up the tree did you? How exactly have you been cruel to her?

Now I've seen that she's down and all is well, I'm laughing my norks off at some of the posts in this thread; some of those rescue suggestions are truly hilarious.

amicissima · 11/12/2011 13:09

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

SulkySullenDame · 11/12/2011 13:21

Brilliant news about your cat. Grin

diddl · 11/12/2011 13:28

Have only just read this & am really pleased that cat is home & being spoiled!

Re cat being cold-unless it was stuck-it would have come down!

smartyparts · 11/12/2011 14:21

My 13yr old ds did comment that he has never seen either a dead cat up a tree or a stiff cat with its toes up at the base of a tree!

MigratingChestnutsOnAnOpenFire · 11/12/2011 14:22

Rosieeo, I'm so impressed by how cool you remained in the face of some of these posts.

amen to that!!

HeidiKat · 11/12/2011 15:02

Glad your puss cat is home safe, its a horrible gut wrenching feeling when you can't find them.

ImperialBlether · 11/12/2011 16:29

Times like this when I wish I kept an MN spreadsheet - I'd love to know if the people who were so nasty at the OP are the same people who were so disgusted with the other OP who bought her husband a much wanted dog.

effingwotsits · 11/12/2011 16:39

Thank god kit kit is home safe.

I can't believe how many people were telling the op to get someone up a ladder when she had clearly stated that the tree was very narrow and that it would more than likely force her further up, which proved to be true Confused

claricestar · 11/12/2011 23:07

silly cat! I knew it would climb down. this thread has been a rather surreal one...especially all the talk of facebook groups.....I did chuckle somewhat at the post about the cat having a smart phone and logging onto facebook.

GreenIceAndChristmasHam · 11/12/2011 23:31

This whole thread is hilarious Grin

So the cat got stuck up a tree?and eventually came down eh?

And it didn't even need it's own Facebook page

Grin Grin

GoingForGoalWeight · 11/12/2011 23:47

YANBU - horrid women grrrr

Good luck Smile

nursenic · 11/12/2011 23:50

How many dead cats have we seen up trees?

tell them to cough up the 500 or to fuck off.

Some people. Poor you...