Cat Rescue Guy

Two super-sweet, photogenic kitties rescued from a tree on consecutive days. First was Garlic, an eight-month-old orange and white boy who was stuck in a tree next to his house in Ponchatoula, Louisiana for two nights. He was eager for me to climb up to him and happy to see me. He stepped on my lap where I had already prepared the cat bag, and I pulled the bag up around him and took him home. His family, including a few canine siblings, was very happy to have him safe at home again. Next was three-and-a-half-year-old Princess who was stuck in a Tallow tree in her yard in Watson, Louisiana. She had been stuck there only 16 hours, but that was still far too long for her. She was very relieved to step into the comfort of the carrier I held in front of her, and she was even more relieved to be back in the comfort and safety of home.

It breaks my heart to see a cat, especially a kitten, cowering in fear when I approach it in the tree. I feel so sorry for the little creature to be in the position of being unable to escape and forced to face, in his mind, the terror of a deadly attack by a predator. That is what I saw when I approached this small kitten hiding and trembling in the main union of a very large Oak tree. The tiny gray tabby had settled in an excellent hiding place there where two very large branches of the oak tree diverged and formed a comfortable, safe bowl between them about 25 feet high. She was safe there and well-hidden from view with plenty room to stretch out and sleep without any fear of falling. But then I poked my ugly head into the opening where I could see her, and she cowered, backed up a few inches, and held her head down so she could not see me, and then her body began to shake. I did my best to reassure her, but she was slow to be convinced. Her trembling didn't stop until she discov...

This is Pumpkin. She was a foster kitten who had the good fortune of getting sick just before she was scheduled to be transported to another rescue organization. Because of her illness, she could not be transported, and, as a result, her fosters decided to keep her. She is ten months old now and living a happy life in Baton Rouge, until she went outside and explored behind a neighbor's fence where she discovered an unneighborly dog who chased her up a tree. Gary noticed her absence right away and began searching for her, but it was not until the next morning that he found her by following her cries. When I climbed up to Pumpkin, I found her very calm and a bit sluggish, probably due to being a black cat in the June heat. She was panting and suffering in the heat, and I wished I had thought to bring some water up in the tree with me. She showed no fear or distrust with me, and she let me pet her, but she wasn't making any effort to step on my lap. When I moved to a better positi...

I can't explain it. I don't know why I haven't had to rescue a cat stuck in a tree for over three weeks. Such is the random nature of the "business" plus the fact that fewer cats get stuck in a tree during the hot season here. It has been so quiet lately that I began to wonder if my phone was broken, but this May vacation has been interrupted now thanks to a sweet, but cautious, orange tabby girl named Snooki. Snooki is about four months old, and she was stuck in an old, tall Oak tree which was covered with vines and closely bordered on two sides by some dangerous electrical power lines. These lines did not touch the tree at any point, but the tall tree hung over them, and they were still close enough to be very concerning. To prevent shooting my line over the power lines, I always shoot away from them, but with the lines bordering two sides of the tree, I was very limited in places where I could shoot to install my rope. The only good place available was the same...

I have seen frightened cats at the end of a long limb who came toward me, not because they wanted to make friends, but because they wanted to sneak past me so they could get away from me by going back toward the trunk where they could go higher, lower, or out on another limb. I have seen friendly cats come to me, walk away, and return to me just because they were excited and needed to keep moving, but this is the first time I have seen a friendly, trusting cat come to me and keep going past me without returning even though she was clearly comfortable with me. Then, to make it more interesting, after she went past me, she disappeared.  I have certainly had cases where the cat was very difficult to find in the tree from the start, but this is the first time I have ever had a cat disappear in the tree after we became friends and established an excellent level of comfort and trust.  That is what Little Mama did. Little Mama is a mystery torby kitty who showed up at Donna's door in...