He had already called animal control and a local shelter. According to him, neither could help because the cat was inside the structure. His landlord suggested calling a pest control company. The first company he tried reportedly laughed at the request and declined.
Then he called Venus.
We weren’t sure this belonged in a pest control company’s job description either. Still, we couldn’t leave a cat trapped inside a building with no food, water or clear way out. Curiosity probably played a role too. We decided to take a look.
Twenty Feet Up and One Tiny Opening
The business owner thought the cat was trapped inside a wall. Once we arrived and followed the sound, we realized there was more than one cat and they were in the attic.
Reaching them created the real problem. The only interior access was an opening roughly 18 inches square and about 20 feet above the floor. At 6 feet 4 inches, I was not going to fit through it. A smaller member of our crew climbed the ladder and worked through the opening while trying not to step through the ceiling.
We also inspected the roof and found large, open vent shafts. We weren’t certain whether the cats had used them until one suddenly jumped out. That startled us badly enough that we nearly came off the roof with it. Pest control does occasionally provide an unexpected cardio workout.
Borrowing an Idea from Rodent Work
Once we understood the building, the problem started to look familiar. We needed to stop the cats from moving through the open vents, make sure we didn’t seal one inside and safely capture the remaining animal.
We secured the accessible openings and arranged a live capture setup with food and water. The remaining cat entered it the next day. Thankfully, the shelter agreed to accept the cat once we brought it to them.
No one got scratched. No one fell through the ceiling. Most importantly, the cats made it out of the building alive.
Why This One Still Matters
What I remember most isn’t the ladder, the tiny opening or even the cat that nearly knocked us off the roof. It’s that the customer had already heard no several times. We didn’t know exactly how we would solve the problem when we arrived, but we were willing to inspect the situation and think it through.
That attitude has served Venus well. Pest problems don’t always follow the textbook, especially in older commercial buildings. Sometimes the most valuable skill is recognizing which parts of an unfamiliar problem resemble something you’ve solved before.
This rescue was an unusual exception. Venus Pest Company does not provide routine cat trapping or animal rescue. A frightened cat can bite or scratch, and attics, roofs and tall ladders create serious hazards. If a cat becomes trapped inside a building, start with Bryan Animal Control or College Station Animal Control, depending on the location, rather than trying to reach it yourself.
If the noises in your attic turn out to come from rats or mice, that does fall within our work. Our Rodent Control Program begins with an inspection to identify the animal, locate accessible entry points and determine the right way to remove it.
We never added cat rescue to our service menu. For one memorable day in Downtown Bryan, though, Venus became the company willing to try.