Izzy's rescue was the kind that had me thinking it is time to retire from the cat rescue business. My first clue was the answer that Jennifer gave me when I asked the standard question about how Izzy normally reacts to strangers. It's the question I always ask everyone who calls me for a rescue, because it tells me what reaction to expect from the cat in the tree. Does the cat greet a stranger, run away from them or just stay and watch. When Jennifer said that Izzy runs from everyone including her, then I knew I was in trouble. Izzy is a normal, sweet cat most of the time. She loves to be close to Jennifer and sleeps with her, so it seemed odd that she would run from her when seeing her. While I was encouraged that Jennifer thought that Izzy would make friends with me as long as I approached her carefully, I also felt an ominous cloud hanging over me.
Then I arrived at the site in Mandeville and saw the tree. The top of the tall tree curved over the yard next door, and the few limbs were very long and exposed. This is the worst kind of tree to rescue a skittish cat, because Izzy could go far out to the ends of the long limbs, and I would not be able to follow her. To make matters more enjoyable, this was immediately after several days of rain, and the yard, like everyone's, was sloppy and muddy. However, the mosquitoes seemed happy.
The rescue went as expected. Izzy would not let me get anywhere near her, and she walked far out near the end of a very long limb. There was no hope of going out there with her and no hope of luring her to me. The only thing working in my favor was that the limb she was on was suitable for setting a trap. I went back down to the ground, retrieved a trap from my truck, climbed back up, set the trap and went back down to the ground.
The problem with setting a trap in a tree for a cat is that I have no idea how long it will take the cat to go to the trap. She might go to it right away, or she may not go until morning. What is certain is that she is more likely to go into it when no one is around. I went to my truck out of sight and took a break hoping she would go into it soon. Otherwise, I would have to leave and come back in the morning. After several minutes, I decided to sneak around the side of the house and take a peek to see if she was making any progress. To my surprise and glee, she was already in the trap. I had to double-check to make sure I was seeing it correctly, but she was definitely in there and the door was closed.
I climbed back up the tree, covered and secured the trap with Izzy in it, and slowly lowered it to the ground where Jennifer was waiting. Jennifer walked her home and released her inside the house. Jennifer was happy. I was happy. This wasn't so bad after all.
