It wasn't quite the cat-up-a-tree cliche, but it was something near-enough that gave a Wellington fire crew a memorable call-out for the long weekend.
At around noon today, firefighters from Thorndon Fire Station responded to reports of a cat trapped in a wall cavity at a Wadestown home.
The crew arrived to find the stricken feline had somehow got itself stuck in a cavity in the kitchen - and couldn't claw its way out.
"It turned out it had just climbed behind a built-in kitchen unit, so we just removed the fridge, lifted up the floor of this unit - and out popped the cat," senior station officer Andrew Walker said.
"There was no great dramas - the cat came out that fast that it gave us a bit of a fright, but other than that, it was all fine."
The cat's owner was "very happy" at being reunited with their beloved pet.
Walker said, on average, most fire crews carried out one animal rescue each year.
"It's a bit of a cliche, but it's not rare.
"But hey, pets are very important to people, and I'm very fond of my own pets, so if you can help out, you do."