Rescuing a Cat

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by Ex-Calif

And if you are gonna have cats on board you should probably have the right resucitation gear on board...

LOL

[minaret]

Originally Posted by Bash

spent New Year's Eve in Clipper Cove, where maybe 15 boats were anchored. A cat fell overboard from one of the boats yesterday, and swam over to a neighboring boat, where it began scratching at the hull. The couple aboard that boat were unable to rescue the cat, largely because of their freeboard made it difficult to scoot the cat up. The cat finally swam away toward the beach, where it scooted off into the undergrowth.

The story has a happy ending, and after considerable seaching the cat was finally reunited with its boat.

If a situation like his ever happens to you, there's an easy way to help a cat get aboard. Take a towel by the end, and lower the other end into the water where the cat is swiming. It will grab onto the towel, holding on firmly enough that you can pull it back into the boat.

Not only is this a great way to rescue a cat, but it's a good way to avoid getting scratched in the process.

I rescued a neighbors cat from the water in the dark with a towel once. The cat was new to the dock and wandered aboard my boat not realizing we had a huge Rottweiler/Malamute cross sitting just inside the companionway. He was quite surprised and ended up cornered at the stern. The only way out for him was over the side, and he went for it. My wife handed me a towel to get him out, but unfortunately it was a relatively small towel. The cat swarmed up the towel and then up my arm in a split second. I was wounded pretty good despite my efforts at safety, but that cat was going down for the third time by the time I got a towel. The moral of the story is, use a beachtowel or even a long piece of line, cats can climb much faster than you might think with the right incentive.

[senormechanico]

Originally Posted by msponer

I'm pretty impressed with Tania Aebi's cat, which climbed up the Monitor windvane while the boat was at sea.

On our previous boat we also had a Monitor.
When we were in a Mexico anchorage, we gave our cat a swimming lesson and tried to get him to climb the boarding ladder next to the Monitor.
Even though it was deployed, had teak steps, the cat climbed the Monitor.
We repeated the excercise several times, but the result was the same and done in a flash.
How his claws got a hold of stainless, I'll never understand.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Glad there was a happy ending. Big fish net works good.I like the towel idea though!

May depend on the cat, but it really would have freaked my cat out, and then he could have ended up injured and in the water.

It was tough. Dark, moonless night, and he's gray. Only way we could even see him was from the ripples in the water as he frantically swam around.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by minaret

I rescued a neighbors cat from the water in the dark with a towel once. The cat was new to the dock and wandered aboard my boat not realizing we had a huge Rottweiler/Malamute cross sitting just inside the companionway. He was quite surprised and ended up cornered at the stern. The only way out for him was over the side, and he went for it. My wife handed me a towel to get him out, but unfortunately it was a relatively small towel. The cat swarmed up the towel and then up my arm in a split second. I was wounded pretty good despite my efforts at safety, but that cat was going down for the third time by the time I got a towel. The moral of the story is, use a beachtowel or even a long piece of line, cats can climb much faster than you might think with the right incentive.

Ohhhh yeah, and a frantic cat is a scratchy cat!

[boasun]

Frantic cat is a scratchy cat: Is the first understatement of this year.

Thick leather gloves and kevlar shirt for protection when handling frantic cats.

[lolarose]

who need the cat on the boat,(any pet for that matter),for heaven sake.

my boat is my "pet"

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by boasun

Frantic cat is a scratchy cat: Is the first understatement of this year.

Thick leather gloves and kevlar shirt for protection when handling frantic cats.

Actually, my half-drowned cat, when retrieved from the piling, was so relieved to be out of that salt water that he went completely limp and submissive (first and only time I've seen him that way!) He let me carry him down to the laundry area, where I put him in the laundry sink and rinsed the salt out of his fur. A neighbor brought a towel and he let me towel him dry. He complained mildly toward the end of his rinsing, but here's the thing people need to know -- a saltwater-doused cat can survive the water only to kill himself cleaning his fur afterwards. You have to rinse the salt water out.

[Dos Gatos]

For some reason couldn't post using IE8. Using Firefox now.

That was my cat. He didn't fall in. He went for a swim to shore voluntarily. I invited the swimmer and his brother to go to shore. The brother jumped into the dinghy but the swimmer couldn't make up his mind so I left him on deck. After we reached shore the cat decided to join us from maybe 100 yards away. I was surprised he went for it because of the distance.

The older couple was concerned and the lady was annoyed with my cavalier attitude. I have three cats and they've all been in the water at different times for different reasons but never have fallen in from the boat. Slips at the slip, swim to shore but never a fall from the boat. My older cat can swim but never gets wet to the skin. Something about his under-fur. I rinse them when I know they've been in salt water.

I drag the dinghy which is an accessible height. From there they know how to jump to the deck. They often jump from boat to dinghy while playing.

The swimmer is on the left, his brother on the right. They are 8 months old and were dumped at Marina de La Paz last June. I've been looking after them since. They came back 3500nm non-stop offshore on the clipper route to SF. They are well fed, personable and follow like poorly behaved dogs. They have their shots and are getting neutered.

If you'd like to adopt one or both, they are available. The cat in the middle is 13 years old and is not available.

[Ex-Calif]

I'm more of a dog person...

I wouldn't make my pet wear a life vest but an H harness with a bigger back loop might make retrieval easier and not too intrusive on the pet.

[louiseevans]

we seem to have acquired an abandoned kitten in Curacao; we're heading to Colombia and Central America in a few days; what's the attitude of the authorities to waifs and stays?

[David_Old_Jersey]

Tigers can swim.

Probably best to keep it well fed though.......

[GnarlyMon]

My cat can swim like a beaver.

[NornaBiron]

Just got back to our boat and Puss is on deck, very wet! She obviously fell in, swam to the stern ladder and climbed back on board. She's been rinsed and is now sitting on a towel looking very sorry for herself!

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by NornaBiron

Just got back to our boat and Puss is on deck, very wet! She obviously fell in, swam to the stern ladder and climbed back on board. She's been rinsed and is now sitting on a towel looking very sorry for herself!

I guess you know it's important to rinse them off thoroughly. Cat fur absorbs water, and then they can poison themselves if the salt stays in their fur.

Both mine have now fallen. The second one was much smarter about it than the first. She rapidly found a piling, climbed up, jumped on to the boat next to me, got on the cabin top and then the bimini, and then made a flying leap of a jump onto the netting on the side of my cockpit. All four claws into the net. I wish I had a video of that!