It will likely remain a mystery how what's been described as a cute, good-natured white-pawed cat managed to make its way up a large tree in the Riverdale greenbelt.

Jan Slipetz, however, is hopeful she'll be able to find the owner of the feline.

On Monday, Slipetz heard what sounded like a cat crying from a tree in the area on Alsek Road near Klondike Road.

'I don't know what happened,' Slipetz said in an interview Thursday afternoon, suggesting a dog might have chased it.

When she called the Human Society Yukon, staff there told her they had received other reports about it. Because it was dark though, nothing could be done to get the cat out of the tree, she noted.

The following day, when Slipetz heard the same sound from the tree, she continued calling around in an effort to rescue the cat. Finally, she reached Sourdough Tree Services, with Mike Martin volunteering to come out and get the animal.

'I didn't really do a whole lot,' Slipetz said, recalling Martin climbing the tree to get the cat.

Martin, who owns Sourdough Tree Services along with his son, said this morning it's not usual for the company to receive a call about a cat being stuck in a tree. There are usually about five such rescues in any given year.

'I just went and got it,' he said.

Martin used his tree-climbing equipment to get up the 12 metres (40 feet) and rescue the cat.

'This was a really nice cat,' he said.

Normally, scared cats might scratch or attempt to climb even higher when Martin works to get them out of the tree.

In this case, the cat hissed at him a bit, but didn't scratch or try to scramble away.

While Slipetz tried to give Martin some cash as a thank-you for his help, he wouldn't take it. Instead, he asked that if the owner is found, a donation be made by that person to the humane society, she said.

By the time the whole ordeal was over, it was dark. Slipetz decided to bring home the cat, who was quite cold after the lengthy stay in the tree.

With two dogs in the house though, it's meant keeping the cat in a single room when the dogs are inside in addition to keeping the animal fed.

On Thursday afternoon though, the cat had some free time to roam around the house while Slipetz's dogs were outside.

'He's quite cute,' Slipetz said about the feline.

The cat is grey with black markings and has six toes on his paws.