a kitty story to make Twilla's day...

[lady cop]

0

sweet.

NORFOLK, Mass. -- Rescue workers in Norfolk, Massachusetts freed a cat whose head was stuck in a storm grate in Norfolk, and on Thursday, the feline was reunited with her owner.

Rubick the cat got stuck on Strawberry Lane. A resident spotted the cat and called Animal Control.

"I'm not sure how or why, but usually for a cat to go in there, there's got to be a pretty compelling reason... to try to escape through the grate. My guess is she was chased in there," said Hilary Cohen, a Norfolk Animal Control officer.

At the scene, firefighters and an animal control officer were unsuccessful in trying to extricate the young, short-haired grey cat.

"We tried to manipulate the head through on scene and were unable to do that successfully. We transported the grate and the cat down to Acorn Animal Hospital and sedated the cat so she wouldn't fight the process. As soon as she was sedated, the staff here was able to remove her head from the grate," said Cohen.

The cat is currently at the hospital, undergoing treatment for her injuries. She is expected to recover.

The woman who owns the cat came forward after seeing the story on TV and has picked Rubick up from the shelter.

Cohen says she has seen three other cats in similar situations during her time at her job. She believes the cats try to escape from a predator and end up hanging themselves in the grates.

She added that teams have been successful in all the previous rescue attempts.


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[Twilla]

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My first thought on seeing that photo was "thank god some asshole didn't come along and stomp on that poor animal's head." Pretty sad that I'd even think that, isn't it?

Glad the kitty is okay, they might consider making those storm grates a little smaller mesh.

[Twitchin Kitten]

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Sadly those kinds of thoughts are the first thing I think of too.

We have oval holes on the grates and some are bars close together. That thing is definitely a problem there, especially considering this isn't the first time that vet hospital has encountered this.

This is similar to why I hate seeing collars on cats. Even those expandable ones that are designed to prevent choking to death. Those just don't work. I've heard meowing off in the distance too often when I had the farm only to follow the sound to some poor cat stuck in a tree or onto something by the collar. Fortunately I've not encountered one that hung itself to death. I think I'd have freaked out.

Cohen says she has seen three other cats in similar situations during her time at her job. She believes the cats try to escape from a predator and end up hanging themselves in the grates.