Blind cat rescued from icy Massachusetts pond by passerby

Tiki, a 20-year-old blind black-and-white cat, likes to roam about outdoors. But this time he caused a scare after he was seen on ice floating in a Massachusetts pond and then fell in.

He has an alert passerby and a couple of nearby construction workers to thank for his rescue.

“The crackling happened, and I was like, hysterical,” passerby Dawn Felicani recalled Thursday. “And all of a sudden, it fell in! It’s little head was sticking out! I’m in tears, and I’m freaking out.”

In this image provided by Dawn Felicani, Tiki, a 20-year-old blind cat, sits on the thin ice of Nabnasset Pond, before being rescued, Monday Dec. 16, 2024, in Westford, Mass. (Dawn Felicani via AP)

She called first responders and a local animal control officer in Westford on Monday. One of two construction workers at a neighbouring house hopped into a rowboat and the other pushed him out and helped him navigate Nabnasset Pond. The worker in the boat used a shovel as he moved to break through the ice and fetched him from the water.

Tiki was taken inside, toweled off and wrapped in blankets.

In this image provided by Dawn Felicani, Tiki, a 20-year-old blind cat, is toweled dry after being rescued from the thin ice of Nabnasset Pond, Monday Dec. 16, 2024, in Westford, Mass. (Dawn Felicani via AP)

Animal control officer Kirsten Hirschler said in a news release that Tiki was shivering, lethargic and in shock. He was taken to a veterinarian. She said that his temperature was so low “it didn’t even register on the thermometer.”

She said she believed that Tiki might have been chased onto the ice by a predator and found himself stuck there. He usually doesn’t venture that far, his owner John Arden said Thursday.

Tiki is doing well and is acting like nothing ever happened, Arden said.

He and his wife have owned Tiki since he was a kitten. He’s been blind for about a year, but still gets about fine.

“He’s pretty annoyed that he can’t go back outside,” Arden said.