But, in the case of Kitty the long-haired black moggie, it was an old tree which almost claimed one of her nine lives.
The 10-year-old Persian was prowling the back gardens on St George's Road in Barnsley when she decided to survey her empire from a slightly higher vantage spot.
Forty feet up a tree covered with ivy and rambling climbers, to be precise.
The only problem was, once she had scrambled up there, she couldn't get back down again.
And, two days later, what started as an innocent daring adventure was turning into something a little more serious.
In desperation Kitty's worried guardian Marie Lane - who was cat-sitting the pet as a favour to a neighbour - phoned the RSPCA.
And RSPCA inspector Terry Speight then called in the fire brigade after all attempts to entice Kitty down failed.
The petrified puss ignored saucers of milk, cat food and even microwaved pilchards in her terror at sliding back down the tree.
Terry said: "Marie was distraught - she had tried all sorts but nothing worked and Kitty's owner was due back the next day.
"The cat was 40ft up and its fear was stronger than its hunger. And despite having spent more than 48 hours up there in the wind and rain it decided to wait until it was rescued.
"It was in a 'V' between the trunk and a bough and, thanks to the ivy, it had a nice little bed. If it was a bit more precarious it might have been tempted to come down."
A crew from Barnsley fire station initially attended the scene with a regular appliance and ladders, but straightaway realised they would need their aerial platform in order to reach the stranded puss.
Crew manager Gary McCurdy led the heroic rescue.
"It was a big old tree in the bottom corner of the garden and it was a very hard spot to reach just with a ladder," he said. "The cat had been up there for two days so people were getting a bit worried.
"In the end it was simple. We just went up there with the platform and got her down.
"It's only my second ever cat-up-a-tree rescue in five years of being a firefighter, so it's not as common as people think."
Terry added: "Marie said it was the first time it had ever happened to Kitty.
"I have known cats to jump just as the firefighter reaches out, but fortunately she did the sensible thing and hung on.
"Marie was very relieved and grateful - and she's got quite a story to tell."