Cat Rescue Guy

Here it is just a few days before Halloween, and I get a call to rescue a black cat named Boo Boo.  How appropriate.  Boo Boo is an eight-year old boy who had been stuck in a tree for three nights before I could get to him.  He is fortunate to live with a very small, rural, close-knit community of people who care very much for him.  They all worked together to find a way to get him down themselves, but were unsuccessful.  That is when Kerri found me by doing a web search, and I agreed to go out there first thing in the morning. When I arrived at the site, I easily found Boo Boo crying less than 15 feet high in the tree.  I met Kerri there and she introduced me to Linda, the one who feeds Boo Boo.  They told me that Boo Boo is not normally friendly with strangers, but he certainly was crying in the tree as if he would be happy to see anybody who would help him.  He clearly wanted down, and he wanted down now.  I was hopeful that he would be cooperative. I set up my rope and he wat

Most of the cats I rescue are youngsters, but Tori is at least 10 years old.  She is an indoor torti who slipped out the door and soon found herself stuck 50 feet high in a tree.  Tori is not fond of strangers, so I was not expecting her to be cooperative in the tree.  Unfortunately, she was in such an extreme position in the tree that I would have a very difficult time reaching her unless I could get at least a little cooperation from her. I spent several minutes planning how I was going to approach her, but, sadly, the tree didn't give me many choices.  When I arrived, I watched as she walked down her branch all the way to the point where it joined the trunk.  I was both pleased and impressed to see that, since the last several feet appeared too steep for her to manage.  But if she was cooperative, then it was good to know just how far she could go. While I set up, Tori walked far out near the extreme end of her branch.  She was not comfortable watching me come closer to he

Two of the cats I have rescued, Kitty and Simba, have been tied for first place with four rescues each.  Now, Kitty has broken that tie.  Yes, Kitty got stuck for a fifth time, and I was happy to rescue him. Austin and Erika returned home from vacation to find that Kitty was missing.  They live in a new subdivision now, and there are no trees close to their house.  They looked all over for Kitty and checked the local shelters, but could not find him.  Eventually, it occurred to Erika to drive to a nearby wooded area to see if Kitty might be in a tree over there.  All she had to do was call for him, and he lead her straight to him.  There he was stuck about 20 feet high in a tree just inside the tree line.   It is not clear to the house sitter when Kitty got outside, so we don't know exactly how long Kitty was stuck in the tree.  We know for sure only that he had been missing a minimum of two nights. When I arrived at Erika's house, she lead me by car on a drive to the sit

Alex is a one-year old Persian Ragdoll indoor cat who found an opportunity to slip out the door, and he took it.  He quickly got stuck 20 feet high in a skinny tree, but Renita found him and called me that same day.  By the time I got there, Alex had been in the tree only half a day, but he was in an uncomfortable spot and was more than ready to get back home. Since Renita told me that Alex is a very friendly boy, I was expecting him to cooperate in the tree.  Indeed, once I climbed within reach of him, he welcomed me and let me pet him.   I knew he was uncomfortable trying to balance his large body on those skinny limbs, so I assumed he would be happy to walk into a carrier with its large, flat floor where he could stretch out and get comfortable.  I was wrong.  When I presented the carrier to him, he recoiled.  Apparently, he associated the carrier with a trip to the vet, and there was no way he was going in there.  I quickly put the carrier away.    I climbed up a litt

Oreo is one tough cookie.  Don't let her sweet and friendly demeanor fool you into thinking she is a push-over.  She is strong, and she is tenacious, and I learned that the hard way. When Irma called me about Oreo, it was late in the afternoon, and, from what she told me about Oreo, I thought this would be a quick rescue.  Maybe, if I rushed, I could get it done before dark.  But then she told me about the power lines running through the tree.  I do not want to be trying to rescue a cat near power lines in the dark, so, since Oreo had been in the tree only one night so far, I told her I would be there in the morning. When I arrived at the site that morning, I was not prepared for what I saw in the backyard.  There was a short portion of a tree that had been previously trimmed to avoid the power lines above, and this tree had since grown numerous limbs and sprouts that reached up into the power lines.  Accompanying those limbs was a large mass of dense vines that were also g

Lone Star is a sweet kitty with an interesting story.  Melanie first learned about him when she saw him on a leash being used by a homeless man and woman to solicit donations from people as they parked at a local Wal-Mart.  Melanie was concerned about the kitten, so she gave it some food and water and gave the people her phone number so that she could make arrangements to get the kitten spayed or neutered.  Shortly after that, the homeless woman called her and said that they are being arrested and the kitten is being left there in the parking lot all alone.   Melanie went over there to look for the kitten, and he walked right up to her in the parking lot of a Lone Star restaurant.  She took him home to care for him and referred to him as her Lone Star kitty. According to the homeless couple, they found a beat-up carrier on the side of the road shortly after the devastating flood of August 2016.  Inside the carrier they found this kitten.  The story can't be verified, but, it is

Starbuck is a sweet, six-year old calico that belongs to Ryan.  Starbuck is an inside cat, but she slipped out and got on top of the wood fence bordering the yard.  The dog that lives next door saw her and started barking at her and chasing her.  Starbuck jumped into a live oak tree and climbed up into it.  She succeeded in getting away from danger, but now she was stuck. Ryan and his roommates, Malory and Keenan, tried to coax her down but were unsuccessful.  They called the fire department which referred them to another fire department which referred them to 911 which referred them to Animal Control which referred them to me.  By this time, Starbuck had been in the tree one night.  Malory told me that Starbuck is a very friendly and sociable girl, so I was expecting an easy rescue, but that, of course, always depends on where she is in the tree. When I arrived, I found Starbuck about 20 feet high resting on an arching branch of a live oak tree.  She was near the end of the branc

After recent difficult rescues with uncooperative cats, I have been wanting to do an easier rescue for a sweet, cooperative cat.  Today I got my wish. Sweet Pea is a one-year old Siamese mix that lives up to her name.  She got stuck in a tree in her own backyard in Napoleonville for unknown reasons, and it took Veronica a full day to exhaust her own rescue attempts and then find me.  She called me late in the evening, and I agreed to drive out there the next morning after Sweet Pea's second night in the tree. When I arrived, I met Lloyd, Veronica's father, who led me to the backyard where I found Sweet Pea about 25 feet high near the top of a cypress tree.  Sweet Pea was crying repeatedly for us, and I took that as a good sign. Sweet Pea watched me closely as I worked my way up the tree, and she cried for help constantly.  When I got closer to her, she began to come down a little bit toward me, and that is another very good sign.  When I was close enough, I reached up m

Some rescues are quick and easy.  Such was the case with Peaches, the first rescue call I had in almost three weeks.  Peaches' rescue was so easy, in fact, that I did not even have to climb the tree.  That left me a little disappointed, since I was anxious to get back into a tree again to rescue a sweet cat.  But Peaches did not give me that chance, and it worked out for the best for him. I got the call from Ryan and Kristi, but Peaches belongs to Kristi's grandmother, Betty, who was in the hospital this day.  Peaches went missing six days ago, but it was not until this day that they were finally able to find him well hidden in a tree in the next-door neighbor's backyard.  Ryan found my website through a web search and called me. When I arrived at Betty's house, I met Ryan and Kristi, and they took me to the next-door neighbor's fenced-in backyard.  There I found Peaches resting in a large branch union of the tree less than 15 feet high.  I saw only half of hi