Lifestyles

Your cat is being chased by a dog in the backyard, and the next thing you know, kitty is stuck at the top of a tree with no idea how to get back down.

Now what do you do?

Forget calling the fire department. They'll just laugh.

But there is someone who might help -- your arborist.

Some will do it for free, while others charge a nominal fee.

Robert Kruljac, president of Arborel Tree Service in Indiana Township, has come to the rescue for many pet owners.

"Having a professional who is insured to do this is a good idea," Kruljac says. "This kind of thing is covered under my insurance of my business, and while it is not my primary business to rescue cats, I will help out if I can. Safety is paramount. We know what we are doing, but we have still had some harrowing experiences. There have been times we have leaned over a 50-foot cliff. You have to make sure the cat wants your help because there have been problems."

Kruljac recently saved a cat named Hermione. The owners wanted to pay him, but he suggested they make a donation to Friends of the Urban Forest in his company's name.

"It can be really emotional when a pet owner sees his or her cat in a tree," he says. "They are so, so happy when you hand them their cat. There have been times when cats hiss and claw at the tree climber. So each one is a challenge. You also have to take precautions to protect the cat and the tree."

A Web site -- Cat in a Tree Rescue was created by Dan Kraus, an arborist in Seattle, Wash. He came up with the idea after getting lots of calls from owners whose cats were stuck. He printed business cards and contacted veterinarians and the humane society to get the word out. He charges $75.

"It isn't really a money-making business," Kraus says. "But we have to charge something. For me, it is just a chance to help someone who is worried about his or her cat. It is a service that I can provide, because I have the equipment for my business."

Kraus also contacted fellow arborists across the country and has a list on his site of tree climbers who are willing to help. Tony Gilch of Gibsonia, West Deer, who works for Keelen Brothers Tree Service in Aspinwall, is one of them. He says he does his best work off the ground.

"You can't approach it without a game plan," Gilch says. "It takes care and concern, because cats have instincts, and they know fear. They can sense if you are afraid. Sometimes they will climb higher if they aren't comfortable with what you are trying to do for them. I try to find out the cat's name, and I have a treat to give it."

What sometimes can complicate the situation is when a cat is stuck during a thunderstorm or other inclement weather or if the animal has been up there for days without food or water. And you can't just try and shake the tree or spray water to force the cat out.

"This is not about traumatizing the animal," Gilch says. "We are there to help get the cat down and back with the owner. Cats, like humans, can get hypothermia if they are up there too long. It is a satisfying feeling when I rescue a cat. We are making someone happy, and it makes us feel good when we know we've helped reunite the cat with its owner."

Kraus says it is sometimes a real adventure to rescue a cat. Cats are usually capable of coming down on their own, but they panic.

"They get scared and freeze up," Kraus says. "And then they stop thinking about how to come down."

Joel Keefer, owner of Keelen Brothers, says he and his company have never had a bad experience rescuing a cat.

"We just want to get the cat down, because the owners are so distraught," he says. "We are glad to help."

Tom Schultheis, owner of Beaver Tree Service in Latrobe, and assistant chief of the Lloydsville Volunteer Fire Department, says both places have received calls. His initial reaction is to tell the owner to put milk and food at the bottom of the tree first.

"But if someone really needed help, I would try to help," Schultheis says. "If the cat has been up there for days, I would do what I could to help get it down."

In June, a cat was rescued by the Leechburg Volunteer Fire Company. Two men went up in an aerial platform and used a garden hose to spray water gently and gingerly coax the cat down.

"We just try to help people," chief Tom Foster says. "Nine out of 10 times, the cat will come down on its own when it gets hungry, but this was a child's pet and the child was upset. So getting the cat down made the entire family happy. And that also was a little bit of good PR for the fire company."

Getting cats from trees really is not a fireman's job, says Francis Deleonibus, assistant fire chief for the City of Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire.

"We try to limit the risks we take and climbing a ladder into a tree is not real safe," he says. "And with an aerial ladder, you have to maneuver it and that can be a risk. We are all about public service, but it has been our experience that if the cat is up there that it doesn't want to come down. And if it is not ready to come down, it will scratch and bite the rescuer. ... So we have moved away from this kind of service because it is not like in the cartoons."

Carolyn Machowski, manager for animal services consultation for the Humane Society of the United States, based in Maryland, suggests waiting a few days before action is taken.

"A cat usually finds a place in the tree where it can sleep and most likely will come down on its own," she says.

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