G

His name was originally Garfield. Then they started calling him G-money.  Now they just call him G.  Whatever his name, G is a sweet and very friendly orange tabby that is only four months old.  He got stuck in a tree on the neighbor's property, and it took three days to find him.  When Taylor called me to see about a rescue, I assumed at first that the rescue was for Patsy, a cat of hers that I had rescued once seven months earlier.  But, no, this time it is G, Patsy's kitten.  Apparently, getting stuck in trees runs in the family.

 When I arrived at Taylor's house, she lead me by car down the road and around the corner to a neighbor's house.  We drove down the long driveway and stopped where it made a loop.  There was G, out on a limb about 25 feet high in a leaning tree which was next to a storage building.  The little guy looked down at us and let out some pitiful cries.  He was clearly tired and wanted down.

 The branch where I wanted to install my rope was well above G, but, in order to shoot my weighted bag up there to install the rope, I would have to aim very carefully to avoid hitting G.  If I accidentally hit G with the weighted bag, it would hurt him and probably cause him to fall.  The big sling-shot I use to launch the weighted bag is not what I would call a precision instrument, so I needed to be very careful.  Fortunately, I aimed well and hit my target branch without hitting G.  The rest should be easy as long as G cooperates.

 I installed my rope and climbed up to G.  He remained far out on the branch watching me.  He is normally a very friendly boy, so I knew my chances of getting him to come to me were very good, though not guaranteed.  He seemed relaxed enough, but he was not coming toward me.  I decided to give him a good reason to come to me by opening a can of food, a sound he immediately recognized.  He looked pretty exhausted, but he perked up and began a slow walk toward me.  The food was calling him, and he let his nose lead the way.

 When he got close to me, I let him have a bite of the food.  I pulled the food closer to the carrier which was already open and in position on his branch.  I put the food inside the carrier and reached my hand out to him to sniff.  He backed away, so I pulled my hand back.  I didn't want to scare him off.  He seemed comfortable being close to me, but he did not want to be touched.  So I used the food to lead him back to the carrier, and then I placed the food in the far back.  I pulled my hand away from the front of the carrier so he would be more comfortable.  The food continued to call him, and he slowly walked inside.  I closed the door.

The bumpy ride down to the ground did not stop G from continuing to eat.  I gave the carrier to Taylor, and by the time she walked him home and released him, he had finished eating that whole can of food.

 Shortly after the rescue, Taylor sent me this picture of G resting with his best buddy, Isabel.  The next day, Taylor reported that G was feeling fine and acting like nothing had happened, exactly what I would expect of a cat.


Now if we can just get G and Patsy both to go to school to learn how to climb down a tree on their own....