Mikey's bad day

I cut out of work a little early yesterday after finishing up a mind-numbingly tedious project, figuring it might be nice to blow off some steam at the barn. Sure, I was planning on setting up a grid night a bit later with friends, but eh, who doesn't love just chillin with the horses, right? 

Except -- I got there as one of my barn mates was preparing for a lesson, and she let me know that Michael, our beloved barn snoopervisor kitty, had been stuck in the hay barn rafters for hours (if not longer), and she was anxious to try getting him down after her lesson. 

pictured: our very beautiful hay barn with sawdust bay 

There are old ladders and whatnot, but apparently they weren't tall enough. She thought maybe we could stack some hay bales? 

In any case, I obviously went over to investigate immediately. Sure enough, she'd already attempted placing the (ancient and omg so heavy) ladder on top of the hay bales, which is exactly as sketchy as it sounds. 

pictured: a cat who has made a series of poor choices and now experiences extreme regret omg

But.... Naturally, Mikey had worked his way over to the other side of the barn rafters anyway -- and was on top of the sawdust bay dividing wall. That definitely isn't likely to be where he got up in the first place, bc the walls are smooth there... But, that's where I found him. 

And oh my goodness, guys, he was SO SAD --- it broke my heart to hear him crying like that! 

"plz halp :'( " -- mikey, probably

So I dragged the ladder off the hay bales and over to the sawdust pile. I've honestly never really gotten up on top of a sawdust pile. Or, at least, not since I was like 12 and we used to go hunting for toads in the pile at an old barn where I used to volunteer in exchange for rides... I wasn't totally sure what to expect about whether it would hold my weight or be too unstable. 

It held my weight, tho, and the weight of the ladder once I could drag it up there. And actually, the ladder sunk maybe about a foot into the sawdust, which probably made it safer anyway?? Maybe? Idk. 

guys. i'm not gonna lie. this was the scariest fucking thing i've ever done in my nearly-middle-aged life omg

Really, tho, it was crazy sketchy. I sorta expected Mikey would have jumped down to the ladder himself once it was in place, and maybe he would have if we left him alone. But he didn't, so I figured it was worth a try to get up there myself. Which.... climbing up that ladder definitely counts as one of the *most uncomfortable* things I've done in living memory. 

I reeeeeally hoped Mikey would just climb right onto my shoulders, like he often does in the barn, but he was too scared. Actually, he was too scared to let me pick him up, too. So I had to get all the way up to the top of the ladder to clutch his scruff, while unwrapping his claws from the beams, to bring him down at least on top of the ladder. 

wants to come say thanks, but also... reeeeeally wants to go eat some food omg starving 

From there, I could go down a couple rungs, grab his scruff again, unwrap him again from clinging onto the ladder for dear life, and drop him a reasonable distance into the sawdust pile. Whew! 

"i'd like to talk about that time you *dropped me* tho <3" - mikey, i'm sure

I definitely know some cats that, once they've discovered a new and exciting way to get in trouble, will repeat with increasing frequency. And, it's also probably true that if left long enough, Michael would have found his own way down. 

But, eh, idk. I have such a bleeding heart lol, I hate seeing an animal in distress. And am glad to learn that, actually, a large enough sawdust pile *can* actually support a ladder with reasonable stability. Tho, ugh, 10/10 do not recommend. Unless, of course, you also have to rescue a beloved kitty!! Or, maybe you'd have left him to figure it out on his own?