Residents save 20-year-old blind cat floating on icy lake. ‘Nothing short of a miracle’
A 20-year-old blind cat was rescued from a frozen Massachusetts lake after he took an unexpected cold plunge, photos and a video shows.
A panicked passerby called the Westford Police Department to report a cat floating on a piece of ice in the middle of Nabnasset Lake, Westford Animal Control said on Facebook.
The caller told officials “she could hear the ice cracking beneath him” and the cat was submerged with only his head above the freezing water. The cat was about 30 to 40 feet from shore, officials said in the Dec. 16 post.
Photos show the black and white cat bracing as the ice crumbles beneath his paws.
“Poor thing just has no idea what’s happening to the ground,” someone commented under the photo. “So scary.”
Two people who were working at a home nearby noticed the cat’s predicament and sprung into action to help, officials said. One of them hopped in a rowboat and broke through ice with a shovel after the other pushed the boat out as far as he could.
“He quickly accessed the cat and plucked him from the water moments before he surely would have succumbed to the frigid cold,” the department said. “The cat was taken indoors, toweled off and wrapped up in blankets.”
Someone shared a video of the man bringing the cat back to shore in the rowboat in the comments.
When animal control arrived, the cat was “shivering, lethargic and in shock,” the department said. Officers took the cat to a veterinarian “where his temperature was so low that it didn’t even register on the thermometer,” officials said.
Officers weren’t sure the cat would make it and quickly tried to find his owners. A resident who lives nearby told officers they thought it might be their cat Tiki who had gotten out either that morning or the night before.
“They were able to positively identify him and then informed us that Tiki is not only 20 YEARS OLD but is also BLIND!” the department said. “We believe that Tiki may have been chased onto the ice by a predator last night and found himself stuck on the ice floating straight across the lake through the night.”
A photo shows what officials believe may have been Tiki’s route across the lake.
“This story is nothing short of a miracle from start to finish,” the department said, thanking the bystanders who rescued him. “There is no doubt that we would not have made it in time to save this old man!”
The department shared a photo of “Tiki resting comfortably at home after his cold plunge.”
“My heart is full because of all of these wonderful animal lovers!” someone said in the comments. “Good luck Tiki! You definitely had a few of those 9 lives left. Hope you recover soon and are resting curled up in your bed at home!”
Westford is about a 35-mile drive northwest from Boston.
This story was originally published December 18, 2024 at 12:49 PM with the headline "Residents save 20-year-old blind cat floating on icy lake. ‘Nothing short of a miracle’."
