Cat went into culvert and can't get him out

[Willowy]

Yay!

Did you trap him or get him another way?

Yeah, it doesn't sound like he has the Adventure Cat personality. Not many cats do.

 

[catsknowme]

Yay!!! Happy news!! Your plan is a good one - allow him to decompress. I feel for your disappointment at not making him into an adventure cat but SALUTE your acceptance & respect in allowing him to be his own true self. Maybe there is a Maine Coon X in your future who will be your Adventure Cat...plenty of cats & kittens needing to belong to a real family. Please keep us updated on the "sequel" - the follow up after such an upsetting episode is quite important and your knowledge gained will be helpful to many around the globe.

 

[SpecterOhPossum]

Woohoo!!!
also..Sorry for the stupid question but I didn't see it mentioned, you have a sturdy cat carrier for him right?

 

[Popnfrsh24]

Woohoo!!!
also..Sorry for the stupid question but I didn't see it mentioned, you have a sturdy cat carrier for him right?

Yes, I went a bought a nice one from petsmart yesterday so that I wouldnt have to deal with any sort of potential mishap on the way back to my apartment!

 

[SpecterOhPossum]

Yes, I went a bought a nice one from petsmart yesterday so that I wouldnt have to deal with any sort of potential mishap on the way back to my apartment!

very good !!

 

[Popnfrsh24]

Also, I didn't end up trapping him. He was under my neighbors patio and finally responded to me calling him at 4 AM. luckily there was only one place for him to get out so I just called for him and he came right up and ate some food. after a few mins i was able to pet him then just grab him and take him away!

 

[Mamanyt1953]

You are growing as a cat daddy by leaps and bounds! We ALL make mistakes early on, EVERY ONE OF US, whether our babies have two legs or four. We're now into the "all's well that ends well" portion of our program, and that's a very good thing, indeed!

In these troubled times, we need all the good news we can get, and I've now had my dose for the day!

 

[Popnfrsh24]

My kitty is doing just fine...but I had a question for you guys.

I live in a 3rd story apartment that overlooks a bunch of trees and a pond. My kitty very much likes looking out the patio and out of my bedroom window. Before this whole culver fiasco, I would let him out on the patio sometimes without a leash. He seemed to enjoy it and I wasn't too nervous about him doing something stupid and jumping off.

After this fiasco, I have been way more cautious with letting my cat out on the patio. Should I be? I know he is in his comfort zone since it is still my apartment, but I wonder, what are the chances of him jumping off if he sees a critter? It is about a 20-25 foot drop and I know hes been brave and poked his head and legs out the corner to get a better look at things. Are they smart enough to know not to jump off?

 

[Willowy]

Some cats have jumped/fallen off. Is there a way you can rig it up with netting to make it safer?

 

[Norachan]

Are they smart enough to know not to jump off?

Not always. I've known cats get distracted by birds or lose their footing when trying to balance on the ledge around a balcony. It would be better if you could net the balcony to keep him safe.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Well, I wanted to give some actual examples on how to do this, but when I googled "cat proofing a balcony," I found such a wealth of information on different ways to do this that I decided to simply give you the link to my google search!

cat proofing a balcony - Google Search

 

[war&wisdom]

I have this on my balcony: Amazon.com : Kidkusion Indoor/Outdoor Banister Guard, Clear, 15' : Childrens Home Safety Products : Baby

Of course, they could still jump onto the railing and then down, but at least they couldn't jump right through!

 

[war&wisdom]

Also -- I have figured out what a "culver" is based on the context in this thread, but I have literally never heard that word in my entire life and was quite confused. I even looked it up on Merriam Webster and Wikipedia, and the only definition I found was "pigeon"...

 

[Willowy]

Culver's is a midwest fast food restaurant that sells the best burgers in the world . But nah, OP meant culvert, looks like they fixed the typo in the title.

 

[war&wisdom]

Culver's is a midwest fast food restaurant that sells the best burgers in the world . But nah, OP meant culvert, looks like they fixed the typo in the title.

Yup -- but I also had never heard a storm drain referred to with that terminology. I guess they don't use it in my area!

 

[Mamanyt1953]

You hear it in the south all the time. In fact, our street is closed to through traffic as they open up and replace culverts.

 

[Willowy]

Around here, it's not really a storm drain, although the OP did kind of mean that. Usually a culvert is just a little tunnel under the road to allow water through. I have my own culvert running under the driveway. I think the difference is that a storm drain leads to the river but a culvert is just for localized water management? Something like that.
Culvert - Wikipedia

 

[catsknowme]

My father was a civil engineer for CalTrans & he taught me that a culvert is a pipe underneath roads to allow water to pass through, whether for constant creeks or dry washes that have water flowing during flooding. Storm drains run alongside the road with inlets at intervals and feed into a diversion system such as city sewers or existing streams & creeks or dry washes.
As for the balcony, maybe a plexiglass barrier attached to the top of the railing or a "cat proof" barrier to keep him off the railing would work. The barrier in the link from war&wisdom looks ideal to keep your little viking from slipping through the railing. Please let us know what you use - this is a great summer topic!