Cat Rescue Guy

All of my cat rescue stories are, not surprisingly, centered around the cat.  This one, however, is more about the cat owner, or, more precisely, the cat caretaker.  Dottie has been taking care of Tuxie since he came to her as a feral kitten five years ago at her home in Petal, Mississippi.  Tuxie, as you will correctly guess, is a black and white, tuxedo cat, and in spite of Dottie's best efforts, she could never quite get Tuxie to overcome his feral nature enough to trust her fully.  Tuxie would show up on the front porch everyday and jump up on the small table there for his feedings.  There they would hold their unique conversation and Tuxie would eat the food that Dottie provided.    Tuxie made a home for himself under the back porch and considered that and the rest of Dottie's yard his own personal territory. Tuxie usually stayed just out of reach, but over the years occasionally allowed Dottie to touch him and even pick him up a couple of times.  He did not like being p

Buckley is a sweet, three year old, orange and white, long-hair boy who lives in a beautiful, natural setting in Covington with his mama, Schuyler.  There were lots of trees very close to his house, but Buckley had never been stuck in one before.  We don't know why he went up this tree just a few feet from his house, but he was stuck there and needed help.  He was only fifteen feet high, but the branch he was on was very long and horizontal making it easy for him to walk its entire length.  Schuyler tried to coax him down, but he just couldn't find a way to do it.  Buckley spent one night in the tree, but Schuyler found me the next morning and contacted me to see if I could help. I already had an appointment to rescue a drone early that afternoon, but I drove to Covington immediately afterward and arrived with about an hour of good daylight left in the day.  Schuyler and Buckley were there waiting for me.  If Buckley was cooperative, then this rescue could go very quickly.  B

Some rescues are difficult, and some are easy.  While I enjoy the challenge and reward of a difficult rescue, I really love easy rescues.  When the tree is easy to climb, and the cat is sweet and cooperative, it makes for a quick and easy rescue.  Pepper was an easy rescue. When Pepper was found about four months ago as a small kitten under a neighbor's house, Susan took her home, bottle-fed her, and nursed her back to health.  Not only did Susan save Pepper's life, she also adopted her as her own and gave her a loving home.  It takes a kindhearted person to do all that. Pepper had been in the tree in her backyard only one night, but it was a very long night for Susan and her husband who both tried everything they could to get her down.   When I arrived the next morning, Pepper was about 20 feet high in the tree and crying for help.  When she saw all the attention she was getting down below, she managed to climb down about five feet, but she could not be coaxed to go any

As a general rule, I don't do cat rescues at night.  I need enough daylight to be sure that I install my rope on a healthy, sturdy branch before I can trust my life to it.  However, if it turns dark after I am already in the tree, then I am comfortable with that as long as I don't have to re-position my rope where I can't see clearly.  I would still rather wait for daylight, but if the situation is urgent enough, I will not hesitate to go.  So when I got the call   to rescue Anastasia  late in the afternoon when a cold front was quickly pushing the temperature down to freezing, I rushed out the door.  Anastasia had already spent one night in the tree, and I did not want her to suffer through another one, especially a windy, freezing one.  It was late, but I had enough time to get there and set my rope in the tree before the daylight faded away.  Plus, Anastasia was expected to be a cooperative cat so I was hoping for a quick rescue. When I arrived, I dropped my teeth wh

Most of the time when I rescue a cat out of a tree, there is someone there who will take responsibility for the cat once I get it down.  Usually it is the cat owner, but sometimes it is someone else who is going to be responsible for the cat.  Sometimes, however, no one knows the cat or its owner, the cat is not micro-chipped, and there is no one there who is able to care for the cat. These cases are problematic for me.  I can't care for every one of these cats myself, so my options are very limited.  One option is to release the cat there immediately after the rescue.  If the cat is ear-tipped and, therefore, known to be sterile, releasing him is the best thing to do.  That is less stressful for him and allows him to resume his normal life, whatever that may be, as soon as possible.  If he is being cared for close by, he can then return to his home.  But if I don't know if the cat is sterile or not, then I think my best option is to turn him over to our local animal shelte