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Cat freed after six days in Nieuwendijk wall

A cat spent six days trapped in a cavity wall on the Nieuwendijk after falling seven metres. Firefighters drilled into a neighbouring shop before the animal climbed out onto the roof.

By · Published October 11, 2026 at 6:00 p.m. CEST · 1 min read

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Firefighters have rescued a cat that spent six days stuck inside a cavity wall on the Nieuwendijk after it fell seven metres into the gap.

Neither the animal ambulance nor the animal police could get to the cat, so the fire brigade was asked to step in.

A hole through the shop next door

In the end, firefighters had to drill through the wall of a neighbouring shop, according to an Instagram post by the animal police.

The cat then managed to climb up by itself and was caught on the roof.

Fed while it waited

During its six days in the wall, the cat was kept going with food that was thrown down to it now and then.

Specialists from Stichting Amsterdamse Zwerfkatten, a foundation that looks after the city’s stray cats, have since taken the cat in and checked it over.

The foundation says the cat is doing well.

If this rescue has you thinking about giving one of the city’s other animals a home, here is how to adopt a pet in Amsterdam.

Source: AT5