Maddie
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 difficult to tell from the picture, but from where I was standing then, it was very difficult to even see Maddie. She was completely covered with pine limbs and needles above her, but there was a small tunnel through which I could see her if I got down low. I could not go much farther out on the branch to get closer to her. Since I could not get her to come to me, I was thinking the only option I had at that point was to use the rescue-pole to snare her. But I was not sure I could even fit the pole through the tunnel to snare her, much less bring her out to me through that tunnel. I was getting concerned about what to do, when I decided that it would not hurt to try to lure her to me with food one more time even though she had clearly shown no interest several times before.
To my surprise, she walked up to me and appeared interested in the food. But as she approached and sniffed the food, she decided she was not interested in that after all. Instead, she rubbed her face against my hand as if to say that comfort and loving reassurance was more important than food to her now. She couldn't eat without making friends first. So I petted her and sweet-talked to her some more, and we built a good friendship right there and then.
She still was not interested in the food, but that was fine. I didn't need the food anymore, except for one last attempt to use it to lure her into the carrier. I wanted to give her the chance to walk into the carrier since that would have been the least stressful way to get her down. She poked her head in and put her front feet inside, but would go no farther. I was tempted to push her fully inside, but I was afraid that she would bolt. So, instead I put the carrier away and prepared to scruff her into a bag.
She handled the scruffing and bagging very well. She did not struggle or complain much. I tied off the bag, secured her to my harness and began the descent to Tammy who was anxiously watching and waiting below. Tammy was very happy to have Maddie down and safe again. She took Maddie back inside and released her there. Maddie and Tammy are both doing just fine now.
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 difficult to tell from the picture, but from where I was standing then, it was very difficult to even see Maddie. She was completely covered with pine limbs and needles above her, but there was a small tunnel through which I could see her if I got down low. I could not go much farther out on the branch to get closer to her. Since I could not get her to come to me, I was thinking the only option I had at that point was to use the rescue-pole to snare her. But I was not sure I could even fit the pole through the tunnel to snare her, much less bring her out to me through that tunnel. I was getting concerned about what to do, when I decided that it would not hurt to try to lure her to me with food one more time even though she had clearly shown no interest several times before.
She still was not interested in the food, but that was fine. I didn't need the food anymore, except for one last attempt to use it to lure her into the carrier. I wanted to give her the chance to walk into the carrier since that would have been the least stressful way to get her down. She poked her head in and put her front feet inside, but would go no farther. I was tempted to push her fully inside, but I was afraid that she would bolt. So, instead I put the carrier away and prepared to scruff her into a bag.
