To knock on a door at 7am on a Sunday

[CatRescueNeeded]

Hi

My cat has been missing since yesterday evening and I’ve just found him up an incredibly tall tree up the road. I’ll contact an emergency tree surgeon asap. How early is it reasonable to knock on a neighbours door on a Sunday? AIBU to knock at 7am? They live a few doors up so I’ve never met them

give the fire brigade a call, they will come out for this kind of thing, if not busy obviously. I’d just call them now, poor cat.

Why would you want a picture of a stranger's cat stuck in a tree?
That's a v odd request

From my experience, the fire brigade, RSPCA etc will not come out. Your cat isn’t going to suffer by waiting a few more hours. A long ladder propped part way, and some
open food and encouragement might be enough.

I think I read somewhere that the fire service actually DOES do this so before you fork out any money, at least ring them and ask. Don't knock on your neighbours tll 9 though.

Strange that you find it strange.

a. People like pictures of cats, even stuck up trees
b. Seeing the actual tree might help people give more relevant suggestions

Personally, I wouldn’t mind being woken at 7am if an animal was involved, but I suspect most people wouldn’t agree. I would wait until at least 9.

Fire brigade would come out for this. Ask.
Also if they have young toddler aged children they're probably up already 🤣
cries into coffee

What danger do you think the cat is in? It's not going to fall, but if it did it wouldn't be hurt by a drop from that height. When falling from a height it's your overall mass that creates the impact, and cats are light.

The "heartbreaking noise" is you reacting as if this was a human child. It isn't. Cats can make noises that sound like a human in distress but they really aren't that distressed. Your cat is a bit grumpy, not terrified.

You don't need a 3 storey ladder, because you don't need to actually reach the cat. A normal domestic diy ladder such as one of your neighbours will have if you knock after 9 or 10am will be sufficient. Prop it up against the tree. Don't climb it, just lean it against thetree where the cat can see it, and leave it in peace for at least an hour because it won't want to try coming down while there's weird stuff happening and strange people about. After an hour, stand at the bottom of the ladder with an open can of tuna. The cat will probably then happily jump from its branch to the top of the ladder and then come down easily

Next step if that doesn't happen : as soon as an unknown human is about 6 foot up such a ladder the cat probavly see the advantages of using their shoulders as a springboard/bounce point.

RSPCA advice is not to do anything until the cat has been up there more than 24 hrs.

I have no idea if the fire service still comes out to rescue cats or not but I'd give them a call anyway and ask before you ask an emergency tree surgeon. Hope your kitty is down soon!

I thought this was something that happened in my grandparents’ generation (50s childhood) not nowadays. Fire service is for emergencies. I’m also awake because of my young toddler but neither of us is dressed etc. OP needs to tempt the cat with food.

Thought fire service dont turn out for cat rescues these days

Your poor cat but I’m glad you found him. The same thing happened to our cat (albeit a few years ago) and we called a non emergency number and the fire brigade came out. They were great and very happy to help. Topsy was rescued and brought down to rounds of applause by all the neighbours watching.

Good luck!

PS Edited to add if it involved an animal in distress I wouldn’t mind a neighbour knocking at any hour, although appreciate not everyone feels the same.

9am is the earliest you can reasonably knock.

But have you tried food?

You need to ring the RSPCA who will tell you if FB is needed. This happened to me - twice. The RSPCA will probably tell you to warm up some tuna in the microwave to make it nice and smelly to tempt the cat down and place it at the bottom of the tree. In my experience, the cat will need to be up there a while and refusing to come down for food before FB will come.

Also, you can’t just chop someone else’s tree down. You need to exhaust other options first - like the tuna.

Good luck!

I doubt any tree surgeon will be answering their phone at 7am on a Sunday, and a lot of them won't come out for cats so you may have to ring round a bit. My local wildlife rescue luckily has a regular now who will help, but many won't entertain rescuing cats. It's not a bad idea to try the local fire station first. They may use it as a training exercise if they're not busy. If they're not too far from you it may be worth stopping by to ask, rather than ringing 999.

I thought I was a grumpy old bugger but a knock at 7am because you were worried about a loved pet would not bother me.

It's an animal in distress! Of course I would knock.

I wouldnt care if you knocked on my door at 7am about a distressed animal.
Try the fire brigade first, if they say no then tree surgeon. Let us know how it goes OP

Not strange at all, cats are cute ! And seeing the tree may help suggestions etc

I'd say the same, as would most of my friends, I think.

It’s early to knock but what would you want the neighbour to do? I’d leave them in peace. If you’re worried about loitering around their property just pop a note through their door to explain as a PP said.

OP you have found the cat now, its not going anywhere, take yourself home for a brew and go back at 10am. You don't know these people, it could be their only lie in of the week. Cat is safe a few more hours.

Cays come down on their own. You just have to be patient. The cat is fine.

10 at the earliest, unless they show movement.

Cook some fish on the stove, keep it warm in a dish, with a lid, wait til you near the tree, let cat smell fish. Leave dish on floor and everyone bugger off.

Cat will get down. Eventually.

If you call the RSPCA, they’ll be straight into the “would you like to give a donation” speech.

I would stick a big, obvious note through the door, explaining that you didn't want to disturb them and explain why you are in the garden. It covers why you are poking around the garden and then they can decide if they want to come out or keep to themselves. They might not even notice the whole thing.