Help! Who Can Rescue My Cat from a Tree?

Contrary to popular belief, if your cat gets stuck in a tree, the local fire department isn’t likely to come out and rescue the kitty with one of their ladder trucks. Let’s face it, they’ve probably got more important places to be.

But in your time of need, you can turn to a profession well known for safely climbing into high places: Tree service providers.

Dan Kraus, a certified arborist and owner of highly rated Champion Tree Care in Everett, Washington, received his first call for a cat rescue more than a decade ago. To fulfill the need, he assembled a directory of tree service professionals who engage in cat rescues, starting in 2004. “Most people tell me how long it took them to get my number,” he says. “There are cats in trees everywhere and nobody had anyone to call.”

Today, his directory lists more than 400 professionals nationwide. Kraus says he helped his own business when he made himself known to local veterinarians and fire departments. “I get a lot of referrals from the fire department when they give people my number,” he says.

Kraus, who charges $75 for the service, says no two rescues are exactly alike. “Some trees are harder to climb than others, but mostly the cat itself determines how hard it will be,” he says. “If the cat is friendly and wants me to bring it down, it’s really easy, but if it’s been in the tree for days and is freaked out and afraid of me, I might have to wait a while and give it some food to convince it I’m a nice guy.”

To retrieve wayward cats, he designed a special contraption for cat retrieval: a laundry bag with a leather glove sewed into a hole in the bottom. He puts his arm all the way into the bag and glove to protect his own skin, then carefully eases the cat into the bag. “It works really well,” he says. “The longest I’ve ever taken on a cat rescue was less than two hours.”

RELATED: More tips about stuck kitties!

One of the companies on Kraus’ directory, highly rated Limber Tree Services in West Hurley, N.Y., gets about one call a month for cat rescue, according to owner Jordan Voelker. He says he advertises this particular service by making himself known to local humane societies, wildlife rescue, police and fire departments. “Since fire departments don’t do this kind of thing anymore, when people call in a panic, they know who to refer them to,” he says.

A cat lover himself, Voelker says he seeks out such jobs to protect both the felines and their human families. “If they don’t know cat behavior and trees well, they put themselves and the cat at risk,” he says. “It made sense I could combine my skill with a love of felines.”

He generally ascends the tree armed with a duffel bag and pillowcase, spends a few minutes getting acquainted with the cat, places the pillowcase over it and zips it in the bag for a safe descent. “The families are thrilled to death,” he says. “I have to be careful, because sometimes the cats get spooked and they go out further on the branch, which really tests my climbing skills!”

He says the average cat rescue takes about 45 minutes. “I charge my standard rate of $100 an hour, but I usually end up discounting it because there’s a soft spot in my heart.”

When Angie’s List member Susan Ray of Gibsonia, Pennsylvania, heard about a stray cat that had been stuck in a tree for days, she called highly rated Wizzers Tree Service in Mars, Pennsylvania. She had previously hired them to work on her own trees, and as a cat lover couldn’t bear to think of the stray stuck in the branches in below-zero November temperatures.

“Lee [Wyzkoski, the owner] immediately responded and was on his way,” she says. “He talked to the cat in a very soft and calming voice. This cat was at the complete top of a very tall Locust tree and out on the thinnest of branches. Lee managed to get out to the ends of the branches and put a hand out to the cat; the cat began to meow and came right to him. Lee placed the cat into the backpack and secured her prior to his descent.”

Afterward, she says, Wyzkoski adopted the cat when no owner could be found. Though she says Wyzkoski declined to accept payment for the job, she gave him a $200 gift certificate for the veterinarian to cover the cost of spaying and other basic needs.

Kraus agrees that the service is best suited to a cat lover. “It’s not always easy. It takes a certain kind of climber to want to get cats,” he says. “Cats can be mean and hard to get down. So if you’re doing it for quick cash, there are easier ways to make it!”