Long Island cat rescuer saves pet trapped behind wall

John DeBacker, a cat rescuer known as ‘Catman’, successfully rescued a cat named Lola after she spent approximately five days trapped behind a wall in a home in Franklin Square, Long Island.

The ordeal began two weeks prior when Lola slipped under a floorboard during her family’s move from a second-floor apartment. After initially evading traps set by DeBacker’s team, the cat fell and became stuck upside-down behind a first-floor wall. Rescuers found that Lola had been eating insulation and was growing increasingly weak.

To complete the rescue, DeBacker and a contractor used an electric saw to create an opening in the wall and utilized an endoscopic camera to locate the cat. To avoid startling the animal, they switched to a quieter drill. DeBacker was able to reach through the narrow opening and carefully pull Lola out backward. DeBacker described the successful rescue as a ‘miraculous’ event given the cat survived five days without food or water.