Cat Rescue Guy

It was about 4:30 in the afternoon when I got a call from Kirstie.  Her cat, Skittz, slipped out the door, climbed up a tree, and perched there about 25 feet high.  He had been there only four hours, but from his actions, she could tell he was stuck and did not know how to come down.  He had even just sat through a heavy rain shower without moving from his position.  Kirstie had adopted Skittz from Cat Haven just six months ago, so she called them for advice.  They referred her to me. Skittz is an inside cat and was not familiar with the outdoor territory, so I did not want to wait to see if he could learn how to come down on his own.  If he came down or fell while no one was there, he might not know where to go and get lost.  I wanted to get him down now. When I arrived, I met Kirstie as well as several neighbors who were all concerned about Skittz.  I spotted Skittz in a comfortable spot at the union of large stems of a tallow tree.  T he tree was on the edge of a large ditch f

It was getting late in the afternoon when I got a call about an unknown kitten that was chased up a tree by a dog.  The timing was not good, as the leading bands of rain from an advancing tropical storm were very close and moving slowly closer.  Even though the kitten had been in the tree only 30 minutes at the time I got the call, this was a rescue that could not wait. None of the neighbors knew the kitten, no one wanted to be responsible for it, and there were no posts on the Lost Pets Facebook page for a kitten matching this description.  The office of the Companion Animal Alliance (CAA) where I often take unknown cats was just closing.  After I rescued this kitten, I would have to keep it myself until the next morning and take it to CAA at that time. When I arrived, I found the kitten perched on the lowest branch of a large live oak tree.  Right away, I noticed the unusual markings of both a gray tabby and an orange tabby.  With spots of orange in the gray, I could see this w

I was driving home from a long, hot and difficult rescue when the phone rang.  I was already dehydrated and tired, and I needed some time to rest and recover.  I wasn't ready to do another rescue in this heat.  I learned the hard way once before about trying to do a rescue before I am ready. The caller was Paula, and her cat, Doodle, had been stuck in a tree in her neighbor's yard since the day before.  Paula had an appointment but would be back in a couple of hours.  I agreed to meet her when she got home, as that would give me enough time to eat some lunch, rehydrate and get some rest.  Plus, it sounded like the cat would be friendly and cooperative, so maybe the rescue would be fairly easy. I met Paula at her house, and she led me around the corner to the neighbor who graciously allowed us free access to her backyard.  There in the backyard I saw a tall pecan tree and quickly spotted Doodle about 35 feet high.  Doodle walked along a branch calling for us. Paula has t

A hot, summer day.  A large, spreading tree.  A feral kitten stuck in the tree.  The kitten's name is Bad Stuff. What could go wrong? Bad Stuff is an eight-week old black and white kitten who earned his name by having a special talent for finding and making trouble.  On this day, he followed his mother up into a tree along with his brother.  When mother and brother went down, Bad Stuff tried to follow but could not figure out how to do it.  Bad Stuff was stuck, and the next morning Ashley called me to see if I could get him down. When I arrived, I found Bad Stuff resting comfortably about 35 feet high in a union of large stems.  From the way he was described to me, there was no reason to expect him to be cooperative or even let me get close to him.  I wanted to try to get above him to keep him from going any higher in the tree, so I set my rope above him, climbed up to him and continued to climb above him to cut off any upward escape route.  I was surprised to see that he

This is the fourth time I have rescued Simba, and three of these rescues were all in the same tree.  There is only one other cat, Kitty, that I have rescued four times, so he and Simba are now tied for first place.  Kitty got an earlier start but has calmed down lately.  Simba busted out of the gate with two rescues in consecutive days, but his pace appears to be slowing down.  Will one of these kitties break the tie, or will some other dark horse overtake them both?  Time will tell. Simba is one cool cat, and I love to rescue him.  He is always so calm, confident, friendly and trusting, and he is as easy to rescue as he can be.  So when I got the call to rescue him this time, I was just as willing as I could be to go, but there was one problem.  My wife and I were on the road to New Orleans to see a play in celebration of our wedding anniversary, and I did not expect to be back home in time to rescue Simba that day.  I promised I would be there the following morning, weather permi

We have been having persistent rainy weather for the past several days, so I was actually a bit relieved to be in a rescue slump.  Sometimes, it is difficult to time a rescue between storms, especially when the rescue is a long drive away, and the weather can change so much during that time.  So when I got the call from Judi about her cat in a tree north of Covington, which is an hour and a half away, the weather was on my mind.  I checked the radar picture, and it looked like I had a chance, but it would be risky.  I told her I would be there as soon as I could. As I drove over there, I ran into some light rain interspersed with several heavy showers.  Even when I arrived in Covington, it was raining very hard.  On the outskirts of town, however, the weather cleared, so I continued my drive hoping for good luck.  When I arrived at the site, the weather was calm, and it appeared I might have enough time to pull this off. Judi led me to the tree that her one-year old, gray tabby, Cu