Ronnie's story: When your cat is stuck in a tree - call Canopy Cat Rescue

Ronnie spent 11 hours in a tree in Lake Forest Park
Photo by Canopy Cat Rescue

By Cyndi Jewett

Ronnie is a black and white male cat with a tuxedo front and a mustache. I always say "No one is a bigger fan of Ronnie then Ronnie". He is a sweet loving talkative boy who loves treats and walks around like he owns the place.

My 19 year old daughter always makes sure he is in the night and when she still didn't see him at 2am she went outside to call for him and shake his treats. She heard his meow and went to see where he was and found him way up in a tree near our home in Lake Forest Park.

I was at a loss as to what to do, scared for Ronnie and my daughter was panicking. My first thought was the fire department (like in the tv shows), but that isn't a reality as I quickly learned. I called the non-emergency police line and they had no idea where to send me.

I called two emergency vet hospitals and they had no helpful information. This was all before 3am. I decided to leave a voicemail mail for my vet and PAWS to call me in the morning when they opened.

I thought about trying to find someone with a ladder and getting him down myself, but realized that was not a safe option for me, but really had no idea of what to do.

My vet called me first and they suggested shaking treats or opening a can of tune, but I explained there was no way for him to get down by himself, which CCR later confirmed. They had no other options they could offer me.

PAWS called and they gave me the number to Canopy Cat Rescue!!!!!! I was thrilled! I thought there was no help for Ronnie. He was scared and the crows were surrounding him, not happy he was in their tree. I called Shaun at CCR at 8am and he had Ronnie out of the tree by 10:30am. We think Ronnie was in the tree for about 12 hours.

We were told by CCR that they believe he was chased up the tree by another animal, possibly a coyote.

I am doing my best to spread the word, so everyone knows about CCR. They offer an invaluable service that anyone can afford since it is by donation. They suggest $75 to $100, but will take more or less. They believe every cat deserves to be helped getting down from a tree. We as cat owners couldn't agree more. I was happy to donate $100, which is well worth it for their service. Imagine the vet bills if he would have fallen or the medical bills if I would have tried to rescue him...

Canopy Cat Rescue is two brothers-in-law, Shaun Sears and Tom Otto. They are arborists who love cats. They have no problem climbing up 75 feet into a swaying tree to sweet talk a terrified cat into a rescue net.

They rescue treed cats all over Puget Sound. In the last week they have been on Camano Island, Key Peninsula, Renton, Redmond, West Seattle, Renton, Auburn, and Port Ludlow. They average about 400 cats a year, but they have already broken that record this year.

And they have a day job, as arborists specializing in habitat creation and monitoring in tree canopies. 

• Phone 877-721-6369
• Facebook with photos and videos of every rescue @canopycatrescue Send Message on Facebook
• Email canopyconservation@gmail.com
• See their CNN Great Big Story video