WESTFORD – Good Samaritans came to the rescue of a 20-year-old blind cat that was spotted on a patch of ice in the middle of a Massachusetts lake on Monday.
A passerby spotted ‘Tiki’, the black and white cat, about 30 to 40 feet from the shores of Lake Nabnasset in Westfordthe city’s animal control agency wrote in a Facebook post. She said she could “hear the ice cracking” and saw the cat become submerged up to its head in water.
Good Samaritans rescue cat from icy lake
Westford Animal Control said two contractors, Nate and Kris, working nearby saw what happened on the icy lake. They found a rowboat and used a shovel to break through the ice and the catwhich they pulled from the water “just before he would have certainly succumbed to the freezing cold,” animal control said.
The Good Samartians brought the cat inside and wrapped him in blankets. Animal control arrived to find him “shaking, lethargic and in shock.”
“We immediately transported the cat for veterinary care, where his temperature was so low that it did not even register on the thermometer,” animal control said.
The cat may have been chased by a predator
Tiki’s owner contacted animal control to report that the cat may have left the house overnight. The Animal Protection Society suspects that Tiki was chased onto the ice by a predator.
Tiki was “resting comfortably at home after his cold plunge” Monday afternoon, animal control said.
“This story is nothing short of a miracle from beginning to end,” the agency said.