My cat, Trevor, jumped over the short bottom pane of my window (the middle opens out) at 4am the other day trying to get to a 6-inch window sill on the outside. Unfortunately, he must have missed the window sill because the next thing I knew he was 6-7 feet below it on a 3-foot wide ledge, pacing and meowing frantically 4 stories above traffic.
Hmm, maybe you need a video to understand all that…
We tried everything to get him up:
- Lowering his carrier down with food and catnip to bait him inside and then pull him up by the makeshift extension cord rope (see video)
- Leaning an ironing board against the brick wall on the outside at a 45 degree angle so he would
walkclimb riskily up (he wouldn't) - Calling the fire department to see if they would get him with the crane and bucket like in the movies (they won't)
Trevor even tried to jump back up to the small ledge but alas, his front paws held on for about 2 seconds before he fell all the way back down (it's hard to watch your cat try to kill himself in front of you).
Eventually, he made it through the darkness, and at 8am animal control came over, noosed him, and yanked him all the way up by his neck.
But what I really wanted to show you is my online, uhh… pal? and old school friend of PIC (see lameking.net) Spooner's unexpected thorough analysis of the potential fall. Keep in mind, Spooner and I have not engaged in direct conversation in over 3 years.
Here's the picture I posted on Facebook, Spooner's comments to follow:
Less than 2 minutes to calculate all that and write it in practical, coherent form??! Even if this was typed out ahead of time, Spooner, you are the man.
The lesson here: teach your cat to relax, or get a place on at least the 15th floor somewhere – no one wants an expensive vet bill.
p.s. Special thanks to animal control for sending the shortest, fattest woman on staff who had never dealt with cats before. I don't know what would've happened if she had fallen out the window and died. Would they have sent someone else to save Trevor and then cleaned up her body? Or would they have held Trevor indirectly responsible and pushed him off the ledge? Find out next time on, "America's Next Top Feline"!