Marita, Jessica and Elizabeth reunited with Rio the tuxedo cat who was stuck in a palm tree for the past two plus weeks. Photo: Supplied
A Whanganui moggy has used up one of its nine lives and gotten a new nickname after being rescued from a Phoenix palm in Gonville where it was stuck for more than two weeks.
Microchipped cat Rio was plucked from the tree this morning and reunited with its owners after a rescue mission that has drawn in the whole community.
Nobody is entirely sure how Rio got stuck in the tree, but Jodie Hawira of Animal Rescue New Zealand - who helped free the cat - has a theory.
"Now that we know that it is definitely not feral - 'cause usually a cat that's feral would try and go up there and eat the chicks of the birds up there - but now that we know it's a pet cat and a family cat, we think maybe a dog chased it up."
Phoenix palms have nasty barbs on their fronds, making Rio's descent challenging.
Those barbs, which are poisonous, meant Fire and Emergency and the SPCA couldn't help get her down.
Instead an arborist, two cherry-picker companies, a drone operator and enthusiastic locals all made attempts to entice the cat down.
Jodie said in the end a neighbour, Eddie, finally cracked it.
"He set up this cage [with fresh meat and clean water] on some boards and then he went back up in the cherry picker and he nailed it up in there and cable-tied it as well so it was really secure.
"And then at about eight o'clock last night I took them down a torch so they could actually see if the cat was in there and when I got down there I could see the cat was in the cage and I was just so happy."
Photo: Supplied
She said it appeared Rio, who had been nicknamed Phoenix in the meantime, was unscathed by its ordeal.
"It's very healthy especially after being up in the tree for two and a bit weeks, but yeah it's in good health, absolutely wants cuddles."
Trieste Neilson runs the specialist cat rescue organisation CHARM.
She reunited Rio with her owner Brad Larsen.
"I rung him and asked him if he was missing a cat named Rio and he said 'yes we are' and I said I had Rio here and I said to him that she's actually quite famous."
Brad, who was recovering from surgery, was surprised to learn that Rio had become a neighbourhood celebrity.
"We lost track of her three weeks ago when just shortly after we got a new puppy and she wasn't too happy about that, so I guess she went for some time out and then got herself stuck up a tree only around the corner really.
"And not being on Facebook or having read the paper for the last couple of weeks we were completely oblivious to all the drama going on with our cat."
He said the family was overjoyed to have the three-year-old moggy back at home.
"We've got a few kids including three young daughters who just absolutely adore Rio and have just been so upset at the thought that she had gone and might not be coming back.
"So, there's a bit of a reunion going on at home right now and we're over the moon."
Brad said a family conference was being planned to consider adding Phoenix to Rio's name somehow.
