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Cat stuck in a tree?

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It happens all the time. All cats are natural tree climbers, but when it is time to come down, some cats know how to climb down and some don’t. Those that don’t know how to come down are truly stuck. When the cat is stuck, the cat and its owner are both suffering, and that suffering is needlessly prolonged when numerous people convince the owner that all cats come down on their own. That is not true. Some cats will come down, but some won't. If the cat has had enough time to figure out how to come down on its own and is still stuck, then it's time for a rescue. Rescue Service Learn about my rescue service , view  video highlights  or a  gallery of images of past rescues, and read the blog of individual rescue stories using either the Rescue Stories page or the blog archive link in the sidebar. All the links, as well as my contact information, are in the navigation sidebar. All About Cats in Trees The subject of cats in trees is poorly understood by the general public,

Meadow

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It was five years ago that Meadow first appeared at Kenny and Tiffany's door in Denham Springs, Louisiana and decided to move in with them, so she is probably six or seven years old now. She is a sweet, friendly girl, so it wasn't hard to convince them to let her stay. Now, for the first time in her life, she has found herself stuck 25 feet high in a Pine tree behind their house, and she was stuck there for three nights before Kenny and Tiffany found me and asked me to rescue her. Meadow was happy to see me climb up to her, and she lived up to her friendly reputation by greeting me and letting me pet her. Now, the only remaining issue was deciding how to bring her down. She is not a lap-sitter, so getting her on my lap and pulling a lap bag up around her was unlikely. However, she has no history of being traumatized by a carrier, so I thought that would be her best option. Many people are surprised to see me use a carrier to secure a cat in a tree, because their general expecta

Self-Rescuing Trio

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I recently tried to rescue three scared kitties who decided they would rather take matters into their own paws. The first one was Chanel, an eight-year-old black beauty who was stuck in a large, beautiful Cypress tree in Baton Rouge, Louisiana for one night. She seemed calm enough at first, but when I approached her, she decided she would rather take her chances and jump fifteen feet to the ground. I could not see where or how she landed, but she ran off and went back home and is doing very well. The second kitty was Sister Cat in Slidell who was stuck 40 feet high on the lowest limb of a tall Pine tree for two nights. Sister Cat is a friendly, six-year-old girl who probably would have let me rescue her, but she got very spooked when I shot my line into the tree far above her and decided she would just come down on her own. She did a good job of it too. She backed down almost all 40 feet of that Pine tree while we waited down below cheering for her and holding a sheet for her if she fe

Sam

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Generally, for my safety, I don't do rescues at night, but there are some exceptions. I am usually comfortable finishing a rescue in the dark as long as I am able to start it in the daylight, but I don't like to begin a rescue in the dark unless there is a compelling reason for it. Darkness had just fallen when Bella called me to rescue her cat. She and her husband, Raymond, had been out of town most of the day, and they returned home to find their cat, Sam, stuck in a tree in their backyard. It was easy to detect the sense of desperation and urgency in Bella's voice, and she wanted me to come rescue her cat right now. When I suggested that I could rescue her cat the first thing in the morning, Bella found it unthinkable to wait that long. That was totally unacceptable. I fully understand that. When you love your baby as much as Bella loves Sam, you want to relieve their suffering immediately. The rescue is as much for the cat owner as it is for the cat, so I was actually c

Princess' Second Rescue

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There is something peculiar going on with the Tallow tree in Laura's backyard in Watson, Louisiana. First, I rescued Laura's cat, Princess, from that tree, and two months later, I got a text message from Laura early in the morning saying that her son's cat, Menue, is now stuck in that tree. Thirty minutes later, however, she let me know that Menue came down on his own. Late that same afternoon, Laura contacted me again saying that her Princess is now stuck in the tree for her second time. I couldn't go out there that day, but I went the next morning to rescue Princess who was impatiently waiting for me about 25 feet high in the tree. The first time I rescued Princess, I could not get her to walk into the carrier, and I had to resort to grabbing her by the scruff and bagging her. She handled it well, but I am trying to avoid handling cats that way as much as possible. Because of her position in this tree on both occasions, the carrier is the only other gentle way I knew

Kitty Kitty

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When Kelsey arrived at her friend's house in Denham Springs, Louisiana to adopt two new kittens, she was surprised to find one of the kittens stuck 30 feet high in a tree. The kittens are three months old, and she had not given them a name yet. She temporarily called the tabby boy Kitty Kitty, and it was that tabby boy who was stuck in the tree. Kitty Kitty was described as a very sociable, friendly boy who would happily walk up to any stranger. I love to hear that about cats I am about to rescue. There is never a guarantee that the cat will be that friendly with me in the tree, but the odds are certainly much better. I certainly understand that many cats have legitimate reasons for not fully trusting me when I climb up to them in the tree, but I still often tend to be a bit naive and expect all cats to welcome me, and it sometimes hurts my feelings when they run away in fear. I try to explain to them, "I'm a good guy." "You can trust me, kitties," but I don