Cat Rescue Guy

It was five years ago when I rescued Sassy the first time . She was an unknown kitty at that time, but Robin agreed to be responsible for her, and she did all the right things to find the owner. When no owner was found, Robin decided to keep her, and Sassy has lived happily with Robin and her daughter, Millie, ever since. Happily, that is, until she got stuck 25 feet high in a tree in her backyard near Hammond, Louisiana. No one was happy about that, especially when the temperature dropped down to freezing that night. Sassy's beautiful long hair may have helped insulate her from some of the cold, but it wasn't enough to make her comfortable or happy. Sassy was a sweet, cooperative kitty when I rescued her the first time, and I had no reason to believe she would be any different this second time. I was expecting an easy rescue until I saw the tree. This tree is a nasty mess cluttered with limbs and twigs pointing in every direction, and there were large detached limbs up high th...

It was one of my most dreaded rescue scenarios: a feral juvenile cat stuck in a huge tree. The tree was a large, spreading oak that is wider than it is tall, and it had large limbs extending forty feet from the trunk. That gave a scared cat plenty of room to roam, and there was no way I would be able to reach it at the end of those limbs. To be fair, we knew nothing about this cat, so maybe I would get lucky and be able to befriend it, but I wasn't feeling optimistic about that. We didn't know if this gray tabby was a male or female, but I will just assume it was a male and call him Grover. The tree was on Maria's property in Tickfaw, Louisiana, but she didn't know about this cat until her neighbors pointed it out and said that it had been stuck there for three nights. Being the animal lover that she is, Maria sought to find help for this kitty and eventually found me. I arrived to find the cat resting next to the trunk on a limb about halfway up the tree. When I began ...

I love rescuing sweet kitties like Coco. This nine-month-old, all-black kitty in Duson, Louisiana just innocently assumed that I was a good guy, and he fully trusted me from the start. He readily stepped on my lap, but he wanted more than that. He continued up my chest and wanted me to hold him there. After spending two cold nights in the tree, he was happy to have some warm company. That's the kind of reception I love to get, and I wish every cat would respond that way. While I can't say I enjoyed climbing this dense Cypress tree with all the tight squeezes between limbs, I certainly enjoyed rescuing Coco and would happily do so in whatever kind of tree he might climb. Thanks, Coco. That was fun.

Cats have been busy lately, and this rather lazy year has ended with a burst of activity including these three rescues in three days. First is Tangera, a sweet, but shy, six-month-old tortie who slipped outside and climbed a Sweetgum tree in her front yard in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She was not comfortable with me in the tree with her despite my reassurances, and she slowly and quietly made moves to climb up higher in the tree to get away from me. I wasn't ready to secure her, but I had to prevent her escape. I picked her up and placed her on my lap with some gentle pets. Her slow movement away from me gave me enough time to get my cat bag ready, so I bagged her before she could escape. She didn't complain or resist one bit and is now safe at home with her grateful family. In a different Baton Rouge neighborhood, several people noticed an orange tabby that was stuck in a tree in one of the neighbor's backyard. Someone called Animal Control, and the Animal Control officer in...

This is the fifth time I have rescued Simon, and because I know what many of you are thinking, I want first to offer an explanation to ease your mind. Yes, Simon is an inside cat. Yes, his family knows he likes to escape and does what they can to prevent that, but Simon can be very sneaky and determined. Also, Simon is unusual in that he has a magnetic attraction to trees, so when he escapes, he runs straight to them. To prevent him from climbing, his family has nail caps put on his claws, and, in fact, this time when he escaped, it was just two hours before his appointment to get new nail caps. One more thing: Simon is a cool, super-sweet, cooperative kitty, and I love to rescue him. All that said, it's true that his rescue count is getting up there. Indeed, he is now tied for second place among all the cats I have rescued. He still needs three more rescues to catch up with the leader, but given his circumstances and youth -- he is nineteen months old -- I think it's possible ...