A Cat Stuck Between Two Walls Rescued By Firefighters

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A cat in Wales had to be rescued by firefighters after it became stuck in a gap between a garage and the wall of a house. The fire service was called after the RSPCA had assessed the situation and realized that they could not get the cat out without help. The RSPCA were alerted on a Monday morning that the cat had become stuck. However, it is not known how long the cat was there before he was noticed. It is believed that he became stuck at some point late Sunday night or early Monday morning. He probably tried to get through the gap between the garage and the wall when he became wedged between the two.

It was RSPCA inspector Sophie Daniels that attended the call out. She could immediately see the cat and was able to get her hand in the gap to reach him. However, there was simply no room for her to be able to pull the cat free. The gap that the cat had gotten into was only about 7cm wide. The BBC were one of the first news organizations to report the story and Daniels shared with them a photo she had taken of the cat. From the photo it can clearly be seen how little room the cat actually had. There was definitely no way that the cat could have got free by himself.

Firefighters were called to see if there was anyway that they could get to the cat. It soon became apparent that in order to free the cat, part of the garage wall would have to be removed. The cat could not move forwards or backwards. He was able to move his head but the rest of his body was completely stuck. There did not look to be anyway that the cat could be pulled out without the risk of causing injury. There was also the issue of nobody being able to get a good enough grip on the cat to try and move him because there was no way they could get their hand in.

The firefighters determined that the only way they could reach the cat is if they knocked through the wall from the inside of the garage. If some of the bricks in the garage could be removed, then this would give the cat more room to maneuver himself out of the position he was in. Even if the cat could not get himself free, this would give more room for someone to reach in and pull him through the hole that had been created. When assessing the situation, the firefighters could see that only a few bricks would need to be removed.

The owner of the garage was not the owner of the cat. They also did not think that the cat belonged to any of their neighbors. It was not a cat that they had seen in the street before. This could have potentially caused a problem as they would need to get the permission of the garage owner to remove bricks and create a small gap in the garage wall. The other wall was inaccessible and so removing bricks from the garage was the only option that they had.

Luckily the owner did agree to let the firefighters remove some of the bricks from the garage wall so that the cat could be set free. This is something that the RSPCA were very grateful for as they could not see any other way that they could get to the cat. The firefighters would not have been able to do any work to the garage without the permission of the homeowner to take out the bricks. According to Wales 247, the cat did become a little distressed while the rescue was taking place. The process of removing the bricks created a lot of noise and at this point he became a little frightened. The firefighters worked as quickly as they could to take out the bricks and reach the cat. They did need to take care while they were removing the bricks, but they are used to working in high pressure situations.

Apart from appearing a little nervous, there did not seem to be anything physically wrong with the cat. He seemed to be in generally good health and he looked well-fed. This allowed the RSPCA to speculate that he was a pet and not a stray cat. However, because the cat did not appear to have been stuck for too long there was a chance that the owners did not even realize the cat was missing yet. As soon as the cat was free, he was taken to the vets to be checked over. He was a little cold and so he was placed on a heating mat. The vet was confident that he did not have any serious injury and that all he really needed was some rest. He received a lot of fuss and attention from the staff at the vets.

An appeal was made by the RSPCA to try and find the owners. The cat was checked for a microchip but there was not one present. This would have made the search more difficult as it would rely on the owner or someone that they knew seeing the appeal that the RSPCA put out. The RSPCA and vets both recommend that you get a microchip for your cat. It is in their nature to roam around and so there are occasions where they could become lost. A microchip contains the owners details and so they can be contacted immediately when their cat is found.

Pictures of Cats reports that the owner was thankfully found and the cat was allowed to go home on Monday night. He was given a full bill of health by the vet before he was allowed to be released. At the moment is does not seem as if he is suffering from any lasting side effects from his ordeal but he must be glad to be back home again.