Jasper didn't come home last night. I heard some very plaintive meowing this morning and traced it to a tree further down our road, where he was stuck about 8 metres up. A neighbour confirmed he'd been chased up there by a dog at about 10pm, but she assumed he'd ind a way down.

Cue several hours of me calling/cajoling/borrowing ladders and breaking into the garden he was in to no avail. He couldn't work out how to get down, the branches were sparse and rotten and he didn't have the courage to jump. As he'd spent 12 hours up there I figured he was properly stuck.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, it seems you can call 118 to report a stuck cat. The man on the phone was lovely, 20 mins later a fire truck with 3 firemen turned up, and with an assortment of long ladders and branch shaking Jasper was down within 10 mins.

I fully expect to be billed for the service and rightly so (they didn't seem sure if I would be charged, but I made sure they took my details). I was worried that this was too trivial to contact them about on the emergency number - in the UK I don't think they come out to cat rescues anymore? - so I thought I worth sharing in case anyone ends up in a similar position!

(I did a search and couldn't see a similar topic, so apologies if this has been covered before).

I thought this was another news item from The Local.

Glad everything turned out OK in the end. Will remember the fire brigade if it happens to us.

You don't seem to be having much luck with your cats do you?

phdoofus - people were taking pictures of the event so we may yet make it into the papers...

Belgianmum - I know! I almost didn't post because I knew people would think that. I guess having old cats alongside kittens maximises the potential for vet's visits/odd behaviour. There's much more that goes on, but I try to only post things which might help others/when I can't find an answer

Well the UK fire service certainly seems happy to rescue stranded seagulls ...

fireserviceseagullrescue

Glad your cat is safe!