This kitten got its head stuck in the grate to a storm drain in Southwest Harbor last week. The rescue effort involved police, public works crews and, finally, an Ellsworth veterinarian. The 4-month-old cat is fine.—PHOTO COURTESY OF JENNIFER MARTEL

SOUTHWEST HARBOR — A 4-month-old kitten used up one of its nine lives here last week, but thanks to police and the town’s public works crew, the frisky feline is back safely in the arms of its owner.

Police responded to a report of a kitten caught in a storm drain at Beech Cliff Apartments on Forest Avenue on the afternoon of Aug. 14. The animal’s head was stuck in a hole in the thick cast iron grate covering the drain and the animal was dangling in the air.

Chief David Chapais and parking officer Jennifer Martel arrived to find that resident Mike Murphy already had removed the grate, but the kitty was still trapped; another person was supporting the cat’s body so it would not get injured.

“The cat most likely crawled through a drain pipe and tried to get out by climbing out a hole in the grate and became stuck,” Chief Chapais said. “There were all kinds of people hanging around giving advice on how to get it out.”

After calling the Small Animal Clinic in Ellsworth for recommendations from a veterinarian, the cat was doused with vegetable oil in hopes the lubrication would make it easier to free the animal. “That didn’t work either,” the chief said.

Scott Alley and Dean Tozier of the public works crew were then called to the scene. Mr. Tozier, a volunteer firefighter, went to the Southwest Harbor fire station and returned with a metal-cutting saw used to free people trapped in crashed vehicles. The plan was to cut the grate to make it easier to transport the stuck kitten to the Small Animal Clinic.

“It wouldn’t touch it; cast iron is so hard,” Mr. Tozier said.

So Mr. Tozier and Mr. Alley picked up the grate, which they estimate to weigh nearly 150 pounds, got in the back seat of the police department’s Ford Expedition cruiser and, with Ms. Martel at the wheel, made the half-hour journey to Ellsworth.

“They sat in the back and held that grate all the way to Ellsworth,” Chief Chapais said. “The cat stayed calm through the whole ordeal.”

A veterinarian at the Small Animal Clinic found that freeing the cat wasn’t going to be easy.

“Even the vet had a hard time getting it out,” Mr. Alley said.

Finally, a solution was found.

“They sedated it, lubed it up some more and its head popped right out,” Chief Chapais said.

The male kitten appeared to be fine, but was kept overnight as a precaution. The next day, owner Erin LaSalle took him home.

Ms. LaSalle, who recently moved to the apartment complex, said the kitten was from a litter born at her boyfriend’s grandmother’s house. After moving to the apartment she attempted to keep the cat inside.

“He kept sneaking out,” she said. “So I let him go out.”

Ms. LaSalle said she let the cat outside at about 10 a.m. the morning it got stuck. She then lay down to take a nap with her baby, only to be awakened some time after noon.

“I looked outside and there were people standing around the drain,” she said.

At first she thought a small child had been injured. She went outside to see what was going on. “Then I heard a meow and looked down and there he was.”

Ms. LaSalle reports the kitten is doing fine.

“He is the most rambunctious cat ever,” she said. “He’s already snuck out twice.”

A neighbor has offered to block the drainpipe with a screen to keep the incident from occurring a second time. Ms. LaSalle thinks it’s a good idea.

“He may be just stupid enough to do it again,” she said.

The kitten has not been named. Town employees are suggesting Draino but Ms. LaSalle has another idea.

“I’ve been thinking about ‘Trouble,’” she laughed.