A KITTEN has been rescued from a Cleveland drain pipe after an animal carer played a YouTube video with the sound of a mother cat meowing for her kittens.
The sound enticed the kitten out of the pipe where it had been out of reach of volunteer ambulance driver Rikki-Lee Smith.
RSPCA humane advocate officer Josephine Jordaan said Ms Smith had provided a great example of putting problem-solving skills to good use.
Ms Jordaan said the RSPCA had taken a call on Thursday from a Sherrin Court resident about a kitten crying in a drain at the front of her Cleveland property for the past few days.
“She was concerned the mother had abandoned it and with the forecast rain, feared it may drown if it couldn’t escape,’’ Ms Jordaan said.
“As our rescue unit were already attending to a kangaroo hit by a car in Jimboomba, Rikki-Lee, one of our dedicated volunteer ambulance drivers, was sent out.
“As Rikki-lee pulled up, she could hear the kitten meowing straight away.
“One of the neighbours came to offer assistance and confirmed which drain the kitten had fallen into.’’
A photograph was taken of the drain and the shape of the kitten could just be made out. It confirmed the kitten was too far away to be reached.
Ms Jordaan said one idea was to place some food at the end of the drain in the hope the kitten was hungry and would walk out.
As she waited for a response, Ms Smith then thought if she could just get the sound of a mother cat calling on her mobile phone, the kitten might move.
“Thank goodness for technology and YouTube,’’ Ms Jordaan said.
“Rikki-Lee searched on YouTube for a mother cat calling out to her kittens, played the video into the drain and the kitten immediately started to call back and then wandered straight out,’’ she said.
RSPCA rescue units often use this same technological trick to retrieve ducklings from drains.
