Stormy

Stormy is an inside cat, but lately this two-year-old, tuxedo kitty has been hearing the call of the wild and has been darting out the door when he sees a chance. After his most recent escape, he climbed up a tree in his backyard in Ocean Springs, Mississippi and got stuck there. He was 25 feet high and beyond Tiffany's reach and abilities. He did this once before, and, after one night in the tree, he either came down or fell down and appeared at the door ready to come back inside. Tiffany was hoping he would do that again, but this time, he kept staying in the tree, and Tiffany was getting more and more worried.

Stormy has one feline sibling, an orange tabby named Sunny, and he also has two canine siblings, but on the same day Stormy got stuck in the tree, one of his canine siblings had to be put to sleep due to cancer. Tiffany was stressed enough about the loss of her beloved dog, but now she had the additional worry about losing her Stormy as well. She contacted Bob Reese, Mississippi's preeminent cat rescuer, and asked for his help, and Bob referred her to me. By this time, Stormy had been in the tree for four nights.

Fortunately, except for one small twist in the plot, Stormy's rescue was straightforward and easy. He was friendly in the tree and let me make friends with him right away. Since he seemed relaxed and the tree allowed for an easy descent, I thought he might like to go down to the ground in my lap. He stepped on my lap and happily settled there, but when I began the slightest movement downward, he got very nervous and wanted to get back in the tree. I tried to calm him down and reassure him, but he was too uncomfortable and jumped back up onto the branch. He was barely able to reach it, and I grabbed him to help him pull himself back up on the branch.

I pulled the carrier up to see if he would walk inside it. He stared at it and sniffed it but did not see any reason to go inside. I opened a can of food for him, and he was very interested in that. He was very hungry and quickly sank his teeth into the food. I let him have a bite and then held the food in front of the carrier. He ate another bite, and then I placed the food inside the carrier. He had to give the carrier the sniff test again, but then he stepped inside for the food. However, he left his back legs on the tree, so I slowly pulled the carrier away from him to force him to follow. Then he stepped his back legs inside, and I closed the door after tucking his tail inside.


I brought him down and handed him to Tiffany. She took him inside and released him there and let him finish eating the food I had given him. After he finished that food, he ate a bowl of his own food. By the time he went to bed that night, he ate four more times and drank two bowls of water. I guess he figured he needed to make up for the meals he missed while he was in the tree. After a good night's sleep, he is feeling much better now, and Tiffany is very relieved as well.