A CAT has been left counting its lucky stars — and perhaps the remainder of its nine lives — after spending a harrowing morning stuck in a tree.

Prahran’s James Delany woke in the early hours of Sunday, October 11 to the mournful cries of a grey and black tabby cat stranded high above the treetops in Murray St.

A call was made to Stonnington Council, who in turn contacted the fire brigade, and by 7.30am the professionals had arrived and a feline rescue mission was underway.

“I was there from about 2am to 7am in the morning,” Mr Delany said.

“It was great that they (the firemen) were able to help it. They worked very well together as a team.”

Windsor Fire Station senior station officer David May said his crew found the cat perched in a tree fork 10m from the ground.

Initial attempts to coax the cat down were unsuccessful.

“With one firefighter at the top of the ladder we tried all the standard calls and temptations to get the cat to come to us,” Mr May said.

“The moggy would have no bar of it, so we used a small hose to try and move him down ... we were careful not to blow him out of the tree of course.”

Distressed and soaking wet, the cat climbed to the highest possible section of the tree where it was eventually retrieved by firemen using a ladder platform.

“We slowly edged up below him and the cat was very willing to be rescued by us in the ladder cage,” Mr May said.

“We do occasionally get all types of rescues, including all sorts of animals.

“Hopefully the cat has learnt his lesson and keeps all four paws on the ground in the future.”

Leader understands the cat has now been returned to its owner.