Fat Boy the Cat Rescued After Being Stuck on Power Pole in California for Days
A power company shut off electricity to 250 homes so the cat could be rescued.
— -- Power line technicians recently rescued a cat that was stuck on top of a power pole in Fresno, California, for at least five days, according to a spokesman for the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E).
Fat Boy the cat had been missing for three days last week when his family finally spotted him perching atop a 45-foot-high power pole in the neighborhood on Friday, Nov. 18, said PG&E spokesman Denny Doyles.
The family called the local fire and animal control departments, both of which referred them to PG&E, Doyles told ABC News today. He said that the pole had "over 12,000 volts of power" and that "not just anybody, even firefighters, should be climbing that."
That same day, a PG&E power line technician arrived on the scene and tried to coax the cat down using "a long non-conducting pole with a bag of food," Doyles said. "But the cat didn't budge. The worker told Fat Boy's family that cats on poles usually come down on their own."
But when the Fat Boy still hadn't come down by Tuesday, Nov. 22, Doyles said PG&E "de-energized power to 250 homes" and sent two linemen "up the pole."
One of the linemen, who owns a cat himself, "went up with a car carrier brought up on a line," Doyles said. That lineman "spoke very calmly to the cat and was able to reach out and slowly get him and put him into the cat carrier."
Two veterinarians on the scene injected fluids into Fat Boy once he was back on the ground before determining he was OK aside from dehydration, Doyles said.
Fat Boy was reunited with his family shortly after.
"I can say this is a pretty uncommon thing in our area," Doyles said. "In the five years I've been in Fresno, this is the first cat I've seen on our poles."
PG&E linemen have since installed a plastic sleeve to "keep any more animals from going up," Doyles said.
Fat Boy's owners told ABC-owned station KFSN in Central California that the cat is now happy to be back inside his home, and his perch is now atop a couch.
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