Firefighters rescue 'Smokey' the kitten from Hastings stormwater drain
Smokey the four to five-week-old kitten owes his life to the fire department after he was recovered from a stormwater drain late last night.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand Hawke's Bay District Manager Ken Cooper said they received a call from concerned neighbours who heard and saw the kitten in distress on Williams Street, Hastings.
One appliance from Hastings attended and enticed the kitten out of the drain. Unable to locate an owner, the kitten was dropped off at VetsOne Hastings, where he will remain for the day, before moving to the SPCA to be re-homed.
While Cooper is unsure how the cat was enticed out of the drain, he said firefighters were well-equipped to deal with any situation thrown at them. "Firefighters are pretty good at that sort of stuff and use various methods."
He said it was a good outcome for all involved.
"It is a feel-good for the firefighters to be able to have calls like this which can seem insignificant because we do go to some quite challenging and traumatic events on a daily basis.
"It's nice for firefighters to add value." They aptly named the kitten 'Smokey'.
Firefighters rescued the kitten from a stormwater drain. Photo/Hawke's Bay Fire.
VetsOne Hastings Veterinary Nurse Nadine Hook says the kitten, a male domestic short-haired, is doing really well and nothing to indicate he is hurt.
"My boss, Sharon Marshall, said that she got a call last night to come in for a kitten that was found in the drain and when she came in she saw multiple large-sized uniformed men holding this tiny little kitten."
They believe he might be semi-wild as he doesn't have a collar, and is too young to be microchipped or neutered.
"He is a little spicey," she says. He is able to be handled but sometimes kittens when they've gone through a traumatic experience are still in that whole fight or flight mode so they get a little bit defensive and they're not sure what's going on."
All in all, he is in a good condition. "So someone like his mother has probably been looking after him, he's not too skinny or dehydrated or anything."
"When he came in last night he was quite cold naturally and he hadn't eaten for a while so we are just making sure he is eating and drinking and all that kind of stuff." He is now receiving care from their feline-only hospital.
"And then he will go down to the SPCA where they normally do a seven-day hold time to ensure if he does have owners, they can come in that time period, and if not, he will probably be put up for adoption."
Smokey the kitten at VetsOne in Hastings the morning after being rescued. Photo/VetsOne Hastings.
She says Smokey is "really cute and small" and a lot of people coming up to Christmas are thinking about getting pets.
"One of the sad things though is often black cats are the last ones to be adopted, they always go for the coloured ones and the fluffy ones." But she doesn't believe that will dissuade any potential owners.
Hook, who has been a vet nurse for 15-years, says they occasionally hear of kittens stuck in walls, under houses or up trees, but never really in a drain.
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