A kitten stuck in a tree along Stirling Road was rescued after two nights.

The feline was secured 10 storeys above ground, thanks to the perseverance of cat lover Eugenia McKayson, who contacted numerous agencies for help and raised awareness about the situation.

Kittens likely abandoned

McKayson was first alerted by a cat feeder about two kittens in the tree on Apr. 16 sometime after 8pm.

The feeder had secured a kitten in the area by luring it with food, but later noticed that there were two other kittens that had climbed a little ways up a tall tree.

Sharing the story on Facebook, McKayson said she believed that the kittens, which are approximately seven to 10 weeks old, were abandoned.

McKayson got on a ladder and tried to lure them down with food, but one grey kitten got spooked and climbed even higher up the tree.

Another man stopped by to help, and successfully secured the other calico kitten.

Calling for help

McKayson contacted various organisations and agencies to seek help.

This included the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) Singapore, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF), the National Parks Board (NParks) and the town council.

NParks advised her to leave the cat alone for the night, as there was a chance that it would climb down by the morning. Taking their advice, she decided to place a trap at the foot of the tree.

However, the kitten seemed unable to climb down, as it was still on the tree the next morning (Apr. 17).

By then, the kitten had climbed to a height of nearly four storeys high.

Both the town council and SPCA visited to take a look, but were not equipped to do high rescue cases.

McKayson called SCDF, but the team that arrived were of no avail as they did not have a ladder that was long enough.

She subsequently made a report to NParks. The agency sent a contractor down, but the kitten was hiding as it was raining heavily. They were also unable to rescue it as it was too high up.

In her posts, she said:

"Thankful for everyone that came down to help the little kitten from various agencies. Thank you so much. [...] I’m not giving up.. I’ll check on it again the morning. "

Kitten climbed higher

Later that night, the kitten had climbed even higher and was approximately eight storeys high on the tree.

It continued climbing even higher, and the next day (Apr. 18), it had ended up in the crown of the tree, which was around 10 storeys high.

McKayson made enquiries to some private agricultural agencies, hoping they had the necessary equipment for rescue, but they did not have cranes that could reach eight floors high.

"I'm super helpless right now. It’s raining heavily and baby is hungry and drenched," she wrote.

She continued to appeal for help on Facebook, but did not want non-professionals to get involved and put their lives in danger.

Around noon, a professional tree climber got up to the kitten's height to set up some traps on the tree. Apparently, someone had responded to her online pleas by engaging their services.

However, as the climber worked, the kitten continued to evade him by climbing even higher.

Finally rescued using a fishing rod

In a final update at 3pm on Apr. 18, McKayson shared that the kitten was secured, and her "biggest nightmare" was over.

She told Mothership that as the kitten climbed higher and higher, it happened to be only about three or four metres away from the neighbouring HDB block, where McKayson had been taking photos from.

McKayson and other residents of Block 115 Mei Ling Street decided to take things into their own hands instead.

As they were running out of options, they used the only thing they had on hand — a fishing rod.

Much to everyone's amazement and relief, it worked.

McKayson said she was assisting and had her hands on the rod, but did not see how the kitten managed to hang onto the tool.

Everything happened quickly, she said. They managed to reel the kitten in from the 10th floor, and secured the kitten in a carrier.

She thanked her "neighbourhood handyman uncle and friends" for their help in the rescue.

Miraculously, the kitten did not fall ill despite being caught in the rain for two days.

She quickly got to feeding the kitten, and she shared that it is "slowly calming down and adapting to its surroundings".

Here's the safe kitty:

Top images via Eugenia McKayson.