Cat Rescue Guy

People in this area will certainly remember the two consecutive nights of lengthy thunderstorms we experienced recently. Jinx, a sweet, nine-month-old, kitty belonging to Ireland near Slaughter, Louisiana, was stuck in a tree for those two nights. This was the first, and probably last, time that Jinx has been outside, and it was not a pleasant experience. When I arrived to rescue Jinx, she was about 45 feet high in a corkscrew-shaped Sweetgum tree, but, when I tried to shoot my line into the tree, she got spooked and climbed higher and higher until she went as high as she could go in this tree. She was now about 75 feet high, and Ireland lost all hope that it would even be possible to rescue her. I was having some doubts of my own, but Jinx made it possible by being very cooperative once I climbed up to her. She was ready to get out of this miserable tree, and she tried to reach down to me once I got close to her. The stem was too steep for her to climb down to me, and she was a bit ou

This next rescue in Zachary, Louisiana continues the same theme of the past two rescues in that it serves as a good example of how stressful it can be for both the cat and the owner when a cat gets stuck in a tree. Colby, a senior in high school, was so worried about his cat, Kiggy, that he called me at 10:00 at night after Kiggy had been stuck for only three hours. I had just gone to bed and turned off my phone, so I didn't get his message until the next morning, but I like people who care so much about their cat that they call for help right away to minimize the suffering. If I had been in his place, I probably would have called even sooner. Colby was up all night worried about his sweet cat. Kiggy was miserable too, and she fussed the whole time I was there on the ground preparing to climb up to her. When it took me a little longer than usual to get ready, she made it clear she was getting impatient and that I needed to hurry. This five-month-old kitty wanted off this short, dea

It's easy to have a disinterested response to the news of another rescue of a cat stuck in a tree. After all, it happens so frequently, and they are all mostly the same. But to the cat and the owner, this is not routine. This is usually the first and last time, and this is huge. It's dramatic, it's stressful, and there is nothing more important at that moment. As for me, after doing hundreds of rescues, they are common, but each one is certainly not routine. It may be an abstract case of a cat stuck in a tree while I am driving there, but, once I get there and see the cat in a miserable position in the tree, hear his intense cry, meet the owner, and sense the owner's distress and the deep meaning the cat has to her, then it becomes very real. This is important, and that was especially true for these next two rescues. Little Bit is a two-year-old, pale, flame-point Siamese cat who recently began learning the art of escaping out the door when it is left open a bit too lon

Gray had never been outside before, but he managed to escape his house in Livingston, run across the street, and climb a Live Oak tree where he soon discovered he did not know how to climb down. For an eight-month-old, Gray is a big boy who still has some kitten-like hyperactivity that makes it hard to stay still very long. When I first arrived after his one night in the tree, Gray was at the top of a long angled branch, but, by the time I was ready to install my rope in the tree, he had come down quite a bit and stopped where the branch became too vertical to manage. I set my rope in his original high spot and climbed up to him. Gray is a friendly, sociable boy, but all this activity and being outside made him nervous. Still, he greeted me and let me pet him right away, but soon his nervousness and kitten energy made it necessary for him to climb higher. I tried to block his path with my hand, but he slipped around it. I worked my way up a little higher, and, again, we had a friendly