Cat Rescue Guy

On every rescue, I always hope for a cooperative cat, because that makes the rescue much easier on both me and the cat.  Before the rescue, I always ask several questions of the cat owner to help me estimate how cooperative the cat will be.  In Jem's case, I was told that she was a very sweet cat, but I never know for sure how any cat will react once I approach them in the tree.  Jem, however, turned out to be a most cooperative cat -- almost too cooperative.  On a scale from 1 to 10, Jem is a 10. Jem, a gray tabby girl, is only 9 months old and lives in a nice home with her calico sister, Scout.  Jem had been stuck in the next-door neighbor's tree for two nights before her owner, Lynn, was able to find me.  Those two nights had been miserable ones, for both Jem and Lynn, as the weather had been cold and rainy.  When Lynn called me on the morning of the third day, she was clearly distressed with the ordeal of trying to find someone to help her beloved Jem.  Without making gu

For whatever reason, most of my cat rescues occur on Mondays and Fridays, and it is rare for a rescue to happen on a weekend.  So I was a bit surprised when my phone rang on a Saturday morning, and Jennifer, the caller, told me that one of her cats was stuck in a tree.  Hippy, the orange marble tabby cat, had been stuck in the tree for two nights, and the temperature on both nights had been very close to freezing.  Hippy had been wanting to get back down on the ground badly, but just did not know how. It was an hour and 20 minute drive to the site, and there I found Hippy resting calmly about 45 feet high in the tree as seen in this picture.  The base of the tree was surrounded by wild vines, bushes and small trees, and I would need to clear at least a small area in order to be able to get my rope in the tree.  Jennifer helped as we cleared a small area, and then I got to work.  Hippy peered over his branch intently watching me as I worked, and then he jumped down to the next branc

Sam's rescue was a very unpleasant one -- both for Sam and for me.  I got the call late in the afternoon at a time when I would have normally put off the rescue until the next morning.  There was only an hour and a half of daylight left, and it would take me about 30 minutes to get to the site.  But I was told that the cat had been in the tree for 3 nights already and was exhausted and having trouble hanging on to the tiny branches on which it was resting.  I decided I should at least give it a try, so I quickly drove out to the site. The cat was only 20 feet high in a pine tree which was at the edge of a parking lot for an apartment complex.  The situation did not look as urgent as I was led to believe.  The cat was on a substantial branch and looked no more tired and uncomfortable than every other cat I have rescued.  No one knew if the cat belonged to anyone or not, and I had no information on which to base any expectations about how he would respond to me.  He was resting qui

Maddie is such a sweet gentle girl.  Tammy, her owner, found her as a homeless kitten a year earlier and gave her a home, not only in her house, but also in her heart.  Maddie worked her way into my heart as well. Maddie climbed the pine tree in the next door neighbor's yard and was stuck on a lower branch about 30 feet high.  When I arrived, she was resting about 8-10 feet out from the trunk where I circled her in red in this picture.  Since Maddie is not a particularly skittish cat, I was hoping that I could lure her with food to me at the trunk.  But when I started climbing, she became scared and walked all the way to the extreme end of the branch at the bottom edge of the picture frame. I tried to lure her to me with food, but she showed no interest.  She was simply too afraid of me to come any closer.  So I walked farther out on the branch close to where she was when I arrived.  Again I tried to get her interested in the food, but, again, she showed no interest. It is di

Minou was a difficult rescue.  I should have expected that.  After all, I had just had a quick and easy rescue the day before, so the law of averages had to catch up with me sooner or later.  What's worse, however, is that it did not end well.  Minou fell to the ground from a height of 40 feet.  He is doing fine now, but the way he landed on his side had me concerned.  He ran off immediately and hid as one would expect, but I wanted to make sure he was alright as soon as he emerged from hiding.  His owner, Mary, called me later that evening and reported that he was fine and eating heartily.  That was a huge relief to me.  But the rescue did not end the way I wanted, and I felt badly about it. Minou had just recently appeared at Mary's home far out in the country.  Though cautious with her at first, he quickly decided to adopt this new home and owner and settle in.  He allowed her to pet him, pick him up, and he even liked to sit in her lap.  Mary told me that he does not ru

Ringo is a sweet Siamese mix kitten who wandered up to his new home just two days before I came to rescue him.  He had climbed almost 60 feet up a pine tree close to the side of the house.  While he had been stuck in the tree only one night, it had been a cold night, and he was ready to come down.  The children in Ringo's family were very concerned about their cat, and were very glad when I arrived to rescue him.  They were very curious about the whole process and grateful that I was going to rescue him. I had some confusion about his name.  Some of the people who had gathered to watch the rescue told me his name was Bubba.  Later, however, his mom told me it was Ringo, so that is what I am calling him now. Ringo's rescue is the kind I love.  He knew exactly what to do, and he did not hesitate doing it.  He had walked out to the end of a branch, but once I reached his level, he walked back down to greet me.  He was a friendly little boy and let me pet him.  He readily