‘Purr-fect' ending for Clara

Tree service rescues stranded cat, By Nancy Kriz WARWICK, N.Y. — Cat lovers know that one of the stressful parts of ownership is the dreaded “cat-stuck-in-a-tree” scenario. And last week, it was Warwick resident Debi Parker’s turn to face that “cat- astrophe.” Clara, the Parker family’s 8-year-old black cat, enjoys the opportunity to be outside. Like many cats, Clara freely ventures outdoors, returning the same time every day to go inside to eat, sleep and to live the “fat cat” life. But on Nov. 2, Clara didn’t return home at her regular time, worrying Parker. “It’s not like her to not come in,” said Parker. “By the next morning, we started to get concerned.” Her husband and children searched for Clara with no luck. Three days later, Parker’s husband Tom looked up a 75-foot tree in a neighbor’s yard to find Clara perched about 60 feet up, and not going anywhere. “It was serendipitous,” Parker said. “We had been looking for her for days. Luckily, he looked up in that tree. We couldn’t hear her cries. The leaves were off that tree. We would have never found her with the leaves on.” The Parkers tried to coax Clara down with food, to no avail. ‘Really, it’s up to the cat’ But sensing her cat’s health was deteriorating, Parker became more upset. On Thursday morning, she Googled “tree services” on the Internet to find a local tree pruning business who she hoped could help rescue Clara. Her call to Timberwolf Tree Service in Warwick led to a referral to Viking Tree Experts in West Milford. In an hour’s time, owner John Olsen was on site, with his ropes, a cat carrier and other equipment, prepared for only his second feline rescue in his career. “I just told her I would do my best to get her cat out of the tree safely,” said Olsen, who climbed up 60 feet and was within reach the stranded Clara. “Really, it’s up to the cat. But that cat wouldn’t cooperate. I tried talking to that cat, I brought her food, but that didn’t work too well.” Instead, Clara — obviously spooked by her unexpected visitor — scrambled higher, reaching the highest part of the tree with no other place to go. To complicate matters, for safety reasons Olsen could not climb any higher himself to attempt to grab her. Olsen told the Parkers they had two choices: Leave Clara there, though they all agreed she would certainly die; or attempt a “controlled” cutting of the branch the cat sat on, hoping to place the falling branch into a lower branch of a neighboring tree. Assuming that happened correctly, Clara would need to be clinging to that branch as it fell. At that point, she could easily be grabbed by Olsen or she could jump to the ground herself if she was so inclined. But if the branch didn’t fall the way Olsen envisioned, Clara would fall 75 feet to the ground, with the heavy branch possibly falling on top of her as well. With that, Parker told Olsen to go ahead and cut the branch. Olsen hooked up his cables, and Tom Parker and his neighbor Pat Early held a blanket to catch Clara if she didn’t hold onto the branch. They also laid blankets on the ground to cushion any fall out of the blanket’s range, readying themselves as co-cat rescuers. With a loud sound, the branch was cut, and fell exactly as Olsen expected it would. Clara fell off the branch, and bounced onto a portion of the blanket held by the two men, falling then onto the ground. She raced off before anyone could catch her. $150 rescue bill; $190 vet bill Later that evening, at the same time she always reappeared at the Parker home, Clara returned. But lieu of being fed, she was whisked to her vet’s office. At some point during the fall, Parker speculated, the cat became impaled on part of the branch, causing a severe gash in her thigh. After stitches and antibiotics, Clara returned home late that evening. “I gave her lots of love, I couldn’t scold her,” said Parker. “But she is now an indoor cat for good, and let me tell you, she’s not happy about it.” Probably not too happy either was Tom Parker, who had a $150 rescue bill and $190 vet bill as a result of the frenzied day.

I didn’t do this for the cat. I did this for my wife.” Tom Parker, after paying $150 to rescue the family cat from a 75-foot tree, plus $190 vet bill to check out the animal after it spent four days up in the tree.