Cat Rescue Guy

We had some severe weather roll through our area recently, and that was the day that Fynn chose to get stuck in a tree in his next door neighbor's backyard. He hung on tightly as the wind and rain thrashed him about, and it broke Kristy's heart to watch him suffering up there and to be unable to help him. Kristy did her best to coax him down, but he was 45 feet high in a Sweetgum tree, and Fynn was just too scared to try. She called various people and services for help but failed until Animal Control referred her to me, and by that time, Fynn had spent two nights in the tree. Fynn is a sweet and friendly boy, but I was worried about my rope installation scaring him out to the end of his limb where I would not likely be able to reach him. To prevent that, I chose to install my rope below him and work my way up to him gently and quietly. That was the plan, but I struggled clumsily and noisily like an amateur climber to reach him, and Fynn was concerned enough to walk out his limb...

What happened to Dum Dum after he escaped his house in Baton Rouge, Louisiana is a mystery. We don't know where he went or what he did. We know only that he was gone for a total of eleven days and ended up a few houses down the street where he was stuck in a tree for at least three nights. It's possible he was stuck in the tree the entire eleven days, but three nights is all that we can verify for sure, and it seems likely that he would have been noticed sooner if he had been there longer. Only Dum Dum knows the answer, and this  eight-month-old part Ragdoll kitty isn't saying  a word about it. When Tyson discovered Dum Dum about thirty feet high in a Sweetgum tree in his backyard, he and his family then realized that this must be the cat they thought they had been hearing faintly crying the past three nights. Tyson immediately began to take responsibility for the cat and find a way to help him. When a friend of his told him about me, he called me and explained the situatio...

Most rescues are routine in the sense that I climb the tree, get the cat, come back down, and everyone is happy. Some rescues, however, are not routine. The cat may be difficult, the tree may be difficult, more time and trouble may be needed, more drama may unfold, and the ending may not be typical. Carly's rescue could have been routine, but I made a blunder which led to more drama and risk than usual. Carly is a four-year-old kitty who first mysteriously appeared to Andy and Troy as a small kitten in the woods miles from anyone. They kindly took her into their home on the bank of a bayou near Plaquemine, Louisiana and made her a part of the family. They don't know what happened to cause Carly to climb the Sweetgum tree next to their house, but they found her 55 feet high in the tree and crying loudly for help. They did everything they could to help her down, but nothing worked. They contacted me i n the afternoon after Carly's first night in the tree, but I was just start...

Kimchi was not in the mood to entertain visitors. This ten-month-old kitty had been stuck in this stupid tree in Baker, Louisiana for more than two days and had not had a thing to eat in all that time. He was tired, he was hungry, and he was sleep-deprived. Now along comes this strange man intruding on his solitude and acting all friendly and cheerful, and Kimchi was just too grouchy to deal with that. Then that audacious man just plopped himself down on the limb just three or four feet from him and kept on talking. Kimchi had no interest in what he had to say. Although he was on a long limb and could have walked away from the annoying man, he was just too tired to move. He would tolerate the man for a while, but he was not going to be friendly or polite. It wasn't long before he reached the point where he could not tolerate the annoying man any longer, so he stood up, turned his back to the man, took a few steps away, and settled there. Kimchi's limb was pretty long, and I did...

Meghan is quite a cat lover, and she has several cats of her own, including one six-month-old Ragdoll, named DaVinci, who is very special to her. DaVinci is not allowed outside, but he managed to escape and climb the large Live Oak tree in the backyard. Meghan lovingly describes DaVinci as "not very bright" unlike his namesake, and DaVinci not only climbed the tree, but he also went thirty feet high which, in a Live Oak, is very high and getting into the small wood. Of course, DaVinci did not know how to climb down, so he was stuck there, and Meghan was very distressed. She and her family "moved mountains" to help DaVinci down, but failed in their efforts which only added to the distress. DaVinci wasn't happy either, and he was complaining constantly about his plight and their lack of success. At her wit's end, Meghan called me and asked for help. I heard the distress in her voice and her need for a quick resolution, and I understood how much her baby meant ...