How to Help a Trapped Kitten

If you encounter a trapped kitten in your neighborhood, your first impulse will likely be to try and help it in any way that you can. Rescuing a trapped kitten can be a stressful experience, and can sometimes prove dangerous if the kitten is protected by a mother cat, or if you try to reach a trapped kitten in a high tree or dangerous culvert. However, with the steps outlined below, you will be prepared to help the next trapped kitten you encounter.

Instructions

    • 1

      Remove any other animals from the area, including your own pets, as the sight or sound of them may generate additional stress for the trapped kitten.

    • 2

      Call in reinforcements. Your options will vary based on your geographic area, as well as where exactly the kitten is trapped. For cats up in trees or trapped in a wall, call the fire department. For kittens trapped with a protective mother, call your local police department, who may in turn direct you to call your local animal control office or animal rescue association.

    • 3

      Provide the kitten with food, water, or cat mlk (available at pet stores), if you can reach the animal. Keeping the kitten hydrated and fed is a priority until officials arrive to extract the kitten.

    • 4

      Contact friends and family to see if they might want to adopt the kitten once it has been freed, in case it is a stray. That way, you can help to save the kitten's life in both the short term and the long term. Stray cats not adopted quickly run the risk of being euthanized.