291
The cat was rescued! Xcel refused to help. Someone in the community finally found a big enough ladder, climbed up to live wires and rescued the cat. Thankfully everyone is safe.
this post was submitted on 06 Feb 2026
291 points (95.3% liked)
cats
27629 readers
1530 users here now
Typical internet cats. Videos, pics, memes, and discussion welcome!
Rule 1) Be kind
Rule 2) Follow the lemmy.world rules
other cat communities
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
Freaking hero... respect
When I was about 11 I had a cat I loved dearly get stuck in a massive cottonwood tree over my house for 5 days, it was agonizing listening to him cry every day.
My parents were cold and heartless about it and joked that there would be a "cat skeleton tree" in our yard.
I tried everything, finally got an older sibling to help throw a fishing line up and pull up a bucket with wet food. It didn't make it quite to his limb, but eventually the smell drove him to climb towards it, and from there I was able to coax him down. He was covered in ants and dehydrated but he was fine.
A couple weeks later he ran up a pine tree and got stuck for 4 days again. This time I fashioned a pole and just knocked him off the branch. He fell about 20 feet into a pile of leaves and pine needles and was fine.
Respectfully, fuck your parents. I’m glad you were there for that cat.
He was my only friend for many years, living in isolated areas and being kept out of school I didn't have much else besides shitty parents and siblings that just wanted to get high, the whole idea of people being heartless towards innocent beings in need of aid makes my blood run cold and the back of my neck feel hot with anger.
A couple weeks later he ran up a pine tree and got stuck for 4 days again. This time I fashioned a pole and just knocked him off the branch. He fell about 20 feet into a pile of leaves and pine needles and was fine.
I wasn't 11 but as a young man, newly purchased home owner and father I was struck by an epiphany that I was able to get a cat after years of never ending moving and renting.
So I went out and got the greatest cat I could ever find. A grey and white tuxedo.
Well within a month this idiot had climbed a Norfolk pine tree. A good 20 plus feet, right to the fricken top.
For 6 hours he meowed and meowed. My daughter meowed and begged for me to get him. Now I was by no means a tree climber but I wasn't gonna leave em and he clearly couldn't work out how to get down.
So up that tree, sap, pine needles, webs, all in my fucking mouth, I climbed until I got to the top and grabbed that idiot. It was fucking terrify (I hate heights). I shoved him in my hoodie and somehow got down.
Thus he became forever known as stupid cat.
That said he wasn't that stupid that he ever repeated it. Never went higher then the first branch of a tree again.
That's a great story, I appreciate your sharing.
I want our species to be judged by how far out of our way we go to help those who have no impact on our own lives, and how much we value even the smallest lives and the connection between us and other species even.
I am also terrified of heights. I think I'd just cut the tree down.
Omg wasn't this story on reddit a few days ago? Something is off here. Why would the cat simply stay there for 5 days? No cat would just sit there for that long - hunger usually gets the better of them and they risk jumping even if afraid at first. Also why haven't people done anything about that cat in the days since this was posted on reddit? If that cat really is stuck don't wait for the fkn electric company, get a fkn ladder and get the cat. Or get a blanket under the pole and prod the cat until it jumps. No one has been doing anything about that cat for 5 days, wtf?? None of this makes any sense
Maybe it's weird that the cat didn't try jumping down but this situation is not that rare. I've seen a workplace where a cat was stuck in one of those semi-floors between windows and when asked the employees were like, oh yeah, she's been there a few days.
I had a different situation. There was a raccoon stuck in an old tractor tire in our neighborhood, and nobody did anything for 3 straight days. I rescued him, eventually. He was cold, hungry, and scared, but didn't bite or hiss at me. I think he knew that I was helping him.
Have you not read the article? People tried, ladders don’t reach, firefighters need Xcel to turn off power.
Edit: Kitty was saved!
I believe that might have been a different cat on reddit. I believe that one was up there for three days and it was updated they were rescued after the third. But I drink a lot so I'm not sure.
Aww would be a shame if a pole a few blocks up just 'failed' for some reason. :/ The cat could co-incidentally be free to climb down or be rescued during the totally unexpected outage!
If the newspaper article doesn’t get them to do it, then this is the way.
“Leave me alone!”- le cat.
(Don’t think xcell actually needs to turn the power off, but they do need to send a technician in a bucket.)
TIL technicians come in buckets.
(I thought they came in cans)
“For the safety of both the animal and our crews, Xcel Energy is not able to respond to remove animals from power poles or other electrical equipment. When animals are frightened, rescues can unfortunately lead to injury to the animal or to the people attempting to help. Additionally, our equipment carries a risk of electrical contact, even when it may not appear energized. Because of these safety risks, we cannot shut off power for rescue attempts,” Xcel said on social media.
Translation: "Cat might scratch our dude, or we might get sued if we accidentally hurt it during rescue. Additionally, though we 100% have to have the ability to shut down that strip for maintenance, if we totally didn't do that and went up there anyway it would be dangerous which is why we do shut it off during maintenance. Because of the safety risks involved with literally breaking maintenance protocol which is 100% optional, we could just shut it down like we do for maintenance for ten fucking minutes and grab the cat with a cherry picker, but fuck your cat."
The trick is to ignore them. My cat got halfway up the tree in our yard before deciding he didn’t like it, then did some crazy Free Solo shit to climb down, including swinging from a branch over to the main trunk from a claw hold. He’s never gone up again.
Most cats can survive terminal velocity. That cat isn’t stuck.
Most cats don't know that though
It wouldn't have been up there for 5 days if it wasn't
My father was a firefighter, and his go-to quote every time someone wanted a cat rescued was "How often do you see a cat skeleton in a tree?"
They eventually jump down. They can generally survive terminal velocity falls without injury so long as they land well, which they generally do when they jump out of the tree. But it's still scary, so it may take them a bit to build up the nerve for the jump.
Has anyone considered that turning off the power might not even be possible without turning it off at hospitals and other critical locations...?
Critical locations like hospitals have backup generators.
all critical locations have huge DC batteries specifically design to take over during a short outage. Then generators.
There would always be a risk any backup systems fail. As another commenter pointed out, in other countries it would be illegal to cut power like that for that kind of reason. And that's a good thing. Power is literally keeping people alive and shouldn't be turned off because it seems mean to leave it on.
But a better point is, no one discussing this knows what downstream effects could happen if they killed the power. Seems kind of crazy to me to pretend we do.
A backup system that isn’t tested regularly is not a backup at all, just the illusion of one.
If you can’t turn the power off with 24h notice then nature will turn it off with zero notice at the most inconvenient moment.
They should indeed do regular tests of their backups. They should also ensure technical staff is on-site during those tests.
load more comments
(6 replies)
If their back up system fails then it’s their fault for not keeping it up to date. Seriously, my husband is an engineer who designs these battery systems. They do not “fail” if they are maintained and replaced properly.
load more comments
(6 replies)
I would be astonished if that janky, raggedy wooden pole connects to anything but neighborhood housing.
load more comments
(2 replies)
Just adding that these operations are federally regulated to remain in operation. They likely don't even have the choice if they can't justify the liability.
Careful, a bunch of downvotes and nasty comments probably are coming your way despite there being a good reason for such regulations.
Lol, I was an electrical product investigator/inspector for 15 years. I've dabbled in being a pariah of sorts. But thanks for the heads up! A level head is a balm these days.
I guess by not turning it off they risked people being electrocuted and possibly result to a brownout within the area, seeing how eventually resulted to bystanders attempting to rescue the cat and a bad PR.
Personally I think it's just a lapse in risk analysis on the electric company.
Five days? FIVE DAYS?! That poor baby! I hope she's safe! Awwhhh....That poor kitty...
Thankfully the kitty was rescued off the pole and reunited with his owner. I didn’t see any updates on how he is doing, I hope he got plenty of love and care.
Lemmy, looking at an old wooden pole with splinters and hanging wires and old ceramic insulators: "LET THE CAT DIE, THAT THING IS POWERING THE ENTIRE WESTERN SEABOARD, RUSSIA WILL TAKE ADVANTAGE AND INVADE, MILLIONS WILL DIE."
I hate you all and hope your non-existent girlfriends leave you one day for being heartless and mechanical.
view more: next ›