Imagine being chased up a tree.

Imagine being too scared to come down.

Now picture what six days without food and water in freezing temperatures would be like.

That’s just what happened to an unlucky and cowardly feline last week. An older, gray male cat that was either chased or foolishly climbed to the top of a 40-foot cedar tree on Coles Road was stuck for six days high in the air without a prayer of getting itself down.

Nearly constant meowing drove a nearby resident to seek help from Jean Favini, president of Oasis for Animals.

Jean and her husband, Gerry, spent hours at the base of the tree trying to coax the stubborn cat down.

“Our ladders wouldn’t reach and the poor cat just wouldn’t move an inch,” Jean Favini said.

When she got on the phone she found out there are a number of people who won’t rescue cats. It’s not like in childhood story books.

“I discovered firemen and policemen don’t rescue cats from trees,” she said.

But a South Whidbey tree trimmer answered her plea for help. Jim Fox of Langley brought his tree-climbing equipment along and was able to reach the cat.

Using cleats in his boots, he climbed a tree next to the cedar and was able to reach over and pluck the cat from a branch.

Favini said she’s certain that Fox, despite his last name, is actually a cat person.

“Jim was very good; he was speaking softly and making purring sounds to calm the cat,” Favini said.

Fox said he rescues about six cats a year.

“I once rescued a cat that had been up for 19 days,” he said.

Fox said that he uses spurs on his boots for cat rescue rather than throwing ropes over branches which spooks cats.

“This cat was definitely ready to come down,” Fox said.

The cold and hungry feline went home with the Favinis to a heated cat bed along with food and water.

Favini, who named the cat Topper because of its perch at the top of the tree, hopes she can reunite it with its owner.

For more information or to identify the cat, call Oasis for Animals at 321-7233.