I don't think you can get a hook into the realtime tool messages. However...
Maybe the feature it appears to be hanging on is just a large feature that requires extra time to process? If you look at this feature (probably has the same OBJECTID field value as the message indicates), is there something unusual about it? How many verticies does it have?
The TaskManger can be a useful tool in diagnosing things like this. While the tool appears to hang, what is going in parent process (ArcMap.exe if you are calling the tool from that application). Is the processor or RAM usage fluctuating? Do you see the read and/or write bytes increasing? How long will the tool run if you don't cancel it?
Also, if the tool is indeed hanging, would your script do something else (like try an alternate tool, or use a modified tool parameter)?
While it may be more complex than you are wanting to do, you could accomlish a sort of "time out" process by using the "subprocess" module.