16 year old Gloucester had never shown interest in getting out the window, yet that’s just what he did when his family vacationed at Cape Cod over 4th of July weekend. The old boy is unhurt after taking a 20 story dive from the window of his Manhattan high rise apartment building.
Gloucester stayed home when his family went to Cape Cod for the 4th of July holiday. Petdad Barry Myers says he left the window “cracked open” by about 6 inches, which implies that it was opened for ventilation. The Myers family got a call on July 4 from the neighbor feeding Gloucester and looking in on him, when he could not be found.
By the time Gloucester was discovered to be missing another tenant and a security guard or doorman, depending on the report, had found him on the ground below. The cat was taken to the vet, where no serious injuries or damage were found during several days spent under observation in the ICU. Gloucester’s vet, Richard Fried, of Lincoln Square Animal Hospital has made comments suggesting that, though the cat is unharmed, the incident was a serious one.
Mr. Myers told local news outlet Gothamist “He’s still a little wobbly because he took a hit on the noggin … We feel very lucky and grateful. ” Gloucester, now nicknamed SuperG, has been with Mr. Myers since the man found him in a basement in Boston 16 years ago, so he is a longtime family member.
As we mentioned a month ago when Copper fell 12 stories onto a garage from his 14th story window, the ASPCA’s Bergh Memorial Animal Hospital reports that “High Rise Syndrome”, where cats fall several stories, is quite common and falls occur regularly over the course of the summer.
While details of the story vary somewhat across news reports, Gothamist‘s version sets out to conform to Mr. Myers’ own telling of events.
that is a cool name for a cat! Gloucester.
I think Gloucester just used up 8 of his 9 lives. Lucky boy.
wow
What is the tube doen his nose for I wonder?
Awwww, poor guy. He doesn’t look so good in that picture. I’m so happy he survived without much injury. He’s an old boy and I hope they don’t open any more windows.
I hope people don’t get the idea this is okay. It’s pretty freaky that he survived it- Seems like a more fitting name for this cat might be LUCKY! 🙂
No way! Poor guy! How scary!
Cats are SOOOO resilient! It’s amazing what they can go through and survive!
ive had cats fall out of windos scary but lukly they wer ok rushed thm the vets lukly just bit bruised and bit shaken up glad the cat ok 1 of em i saw em fall tried rush up stairs 2 stop em but cudnt get 2 em quik enuf talk bout heart stoppin
Life with Cats, I agree, it is serious. He could have had a concussion if cats gets those, but any injury to the head is dangerous. Do you know if he is still wobbly or doing better? I worry about long-term injuries that can’t be seen.
Dexter is amazing. So is Iris.
@Life With Cats – Ah, gotcha. 🙂
High rise syndrome….the higher the fall, the greater chance of survival. Cats can stretch themselves and literally slow down. I had a cat that fell out a window, about 50 feet, and survived without any injuries, just a sore little body for a while. It’s sad, but it happens, cats just love to be up high looking down at the world.
poor thing.
OMG! Thank goodness it survived!
The tube looks like what in the human world would be called an ng tube, nasogastric (maybe they call it the same thing in cat world, not a vet) it was probably used as a way to give him meds, maybe nutrition, just like for peoples!
Just another example of why you need screens on your windows.
Ya Gotta be like a cat–land on your feet no matter how far you fall or who knocks you down!!
I think nobody will say now that animals/kats has no feelings and are not able to miss their owners – of course they do. Good luck for this old little guy – wish him all the best 🙂
i find this so strange. in brasil it is normal for people put of those nets across windows and balconies so the cat cant make a flying leap for a bird and plunge to their deaths. they put them up for kids and for pets. seems they dont use them much in the U.S. weird!
It’s a bit wrong to say the cat was uninjured when the vet says he’s wobbly from taking a blow to the head. It is more appropriate to say the cat has only a concussion. Don’t get me wrong; I’m glad the cat survived without too much damage. I’m just a stickler.
BTW, the tube looks like a feeding tube. The vets are probably force-feeding him because he has no appetite as a result of the head injury. Older cats can go down the tubes very fast if they don’t eat.
Window screens are not always very sturdy. They’re not meant to hold cats in, just keep bugs out. They don’t say whether there had been a screen in this situation, but it seems to me that a full-grown cat could easily knock out a window screen if it wanted to chase the pigeon on the other side.