A cat was discovered hanging to a tree for 48 hours leading to a large scale emergency service operation that saw police close the road.
The RSPCA and fire officers from Ellesmere Port and Chester rushed to the aid of the stricken cat who was found hanging to a branch 45-feet above the ground.
Owner Joanne Salomon tried in vain to coax down the petrified cat - but the cat, called Oreo, was unable to respond and only became more distressed climbing higher.
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RSPCA Inspector Naomi Morris was called out to the tree on Hooton Road, Hooton, because bad weather delayed the rescue until the next morning on February 25.
A full scale operation swung into action with police closing off the road while an aerial platform was deployed by firefighters to reach the tiring cat.
Ms Morris, from the RSPCA, said: “It was a very tall tree and attempts to try and get the cat to move off the branch which overhangs the road were unsuccessful.
"The fire officers cut branches away, but they were struggling to reach him with the platform.”
“It was scared and rooted to the spot, so a ladder was put up and a fire officer managed to grab hold of the cat who was given a traditional fire service lift down to safety.”
Back on the ground, Oreo was reunited with her family, who had mounted a search for their pet after he failed to return home two days before.
While largely unscathed, the cat lost two claws from clinging to the branch and was experiencing severe fatigue.
Ms Salomon, who adopted Oreo from the RSPCA’s Wirral and Chester Branch, recalled: “I’d walked past the tree and could hear a faint miaowing and spotted him about 20 feet up. We tried to coax him down but he wouldn’t budge.
“A tree surgeon came out, but he climbed higher onto the branch and stayed there.
“We worry about how clear Oreo’s sight is as he has a genetic condition which has left him with abnormal eyelids and he had surgery to correct that.”
The procedure, undertaken by an eye vet, involved reshaping Oreo’s eyelids using human lip filler injections, and was featured in the veterinary media.
Ms Salomon added: “He’s quite a timid cat and he was very distressed by the ordeal after hanging on for two days.
“But it was a fantastic effort by the RSPCA and fire officers. The officers that came out were amazing and Naomi was so compassionate. Myself and my daughter, Ella, were delighted to have him back safely.
“The fire service said it was a useful training exercise for them to get the aerial platform out in case it is needed for humans - they said they enjoyed the challenge.”
Ms Morris added: “The owners put food down and tried calling him. Sometimes in these situations the cat takes a leap of faith and jumps down. But he’d gone too high up and he couldn’t move.
“We have an arrangement with the fire service that we attend these incidents first and if we can’t undertake a rescue they come and assist. In this case they went above and beyond to get the cat down.”
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