RSPCA rescues cat that gave birth to kittens in a tree!

06.09.12

We were left stumped after we were called to rescue a cat who is believed to have given birth to kittens 25ft up a tree.

We received a call on Monday, 3 September by a concerned member of the public who had spotted mum and a small kitten poking their head out of a nook in the tree in Littleover, Derby.
 

Too high to reach

RSPCA Trainee Inspector Sarah Burrows was called out to the incident and, realising the cat and her kittens were too high to reach, she called out the fire service.

Firefighters from Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Serviceattended the scene and used ladders to climb up the tree and then place the kittens in a cat carrier.

Mum ran off, but then returned for the kittens and she was also caught and placed in the carrier.

The mother cat, who has been named Squirrel, was taken with her three kittens to our Derby and District Branchand they are now all being cared for by fosterers.

Three kittens were found in the tree and they are thought to be just two weeks old. Another kitten had been found on the ground below the tree around two weeks earlier, it was taken by a member of the public to a vet and is now understood to be in the care of a local cat rescue charity.

It is thought Squirrel would have been going up and down the tree to get food.

Trainee Inspector Sarah said:

I couldn’t quite believe it when I got the call to say that a cat and her newborn kittens were up in a tree. 
It didn’t quite ring true. But when I arrived we could just see mum poking her head out of the nook in the tree, it was quite bizarre indeed.

She clearly thought this was the best place to keep her kittens safe, but I don't think she had really thought it through as to how she was going to get them down afterwards!

Sarah added:

"I would like to thank the fire service for getting mum and her kittens to safety."

Squirrel and her kittens, who have not been named, are now in the care of Derby RSPCA and all seem to be doing well.

 

Source:http://www.rspca.org.uk/media/news/story/-/article/Rescue_cat_that_gave_birth_in_a_tree_Sep12