Community Saves 20-Year-Old Blind Cat Stuck on Ice Chunk on a Frigid Lake in 'Miracle' Rescue

Mar. 15, 2025

Tiki before and after he was rescued from the lake.Photo:Westford Animal Control

Westford Animal Control

On the morning of Monday, Dec. 16, a person noticed that a feline — later identified as Tiki, a blind, 20-year-old male cat — was “floating on a piece of ice” on Nabnasset Lake in Westford, Mass., Westford Animal Control said onFacebook. In other words, Tiki was trapped.

Kris “pushed the boat out as far as he could” and helped Nate “navigate from shore,” the organization added. “Nate was able to utilize a shovel as he moved, breaking through the ice. He quickly accessed the cat and plucked him from the water moments before he surely would have succumbed to the frigid cold.”

Tiki stuck on a lake in Westford, Mass.Westford Animal Control

Once out of the lake, Tiki was taken indoors to warm up, dry off, and wrap up in blankets, animal control said.

The feline also received veterinary care, and animal control officials quickly became worried that Tiki would not make it. “Upon our arrival, this neutered male was shivering, lethargic and in shock,” the organization said, adding that his temperature was “so low that it didn’t even register on the thermometer.”

“Unsure if he would pull through, we began urgently searching for his owners,” the organization said. Luckily, Tiki’s owner reached out, telling officials that the cat “had gotten out last night or early this morning” — and informed the agency the pet is blind.

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Tiki the cat after he was rescued.Tiki the cat after he was rescued.Tiki the cat after he was rescued.PHOTO:Westford Animal ControlTiki the cat after he was rescued.PHOTO:Westford Animal Control

Tiki the cat after he was rescued.Tiki the cat after he was rescued.

Tiki the cat after he was rescued.

Tiki the cat after he was rescued.PHOTO:Westford Animal ControlTiki the cat after he was rescued.PHOTO:Westford Animal Control

Without the help of the Good Samaritans who stepped in to rescue Tiki, the cat may not have made it off the lake. Now, he is Tiki “resting with his owners,” the Westford Police Department shared onFacebook.

In the words of Westford Animal Control, Tiki’s rescue was “nothing short of a miracle from start to finish” — and one that wouldn’t have been possible if people hadn’t stepped up to help the stranded feline.

“There is no doubt,” the organization wrote, that without their help, animal control officials “would not have made it in time to save this old man!”

source: people.com