Cat Rescue Guy

It sounded like this was going to be a quick and easy rescue.  A friendly cat only 15 feet high -- yep, this would be routine.  But then I arrived there and saw that the cat was in a very dead tree.  This tree was not safe to climb, and there were no other trees close by that I could climb.  Still, it should go quickly if I give the cat a ramp to walk down. The cat's name is Gizzy, and he belongs to Kayla's family.  Gizzy is a six-month old Russian Blue male cat, and he always comes inside at dark.  Last night, however, he could not be found and the family worried about him.  The next morning, they found him in the next-door neighbor's dead tree, and after the children failed to get him down themselves, Kayla called Animal Control who referred her to me. I set up the ramp with difficulty.  It isn't easy to even hold a heavy, 22-foot long, carpet-covered 2x4, much less maneuver it with any finesse.  Fortunately, Trenden, Kayla's son, was there to help, and with

It was Christmas day, and Simba slipped out the door and was immediately chased up a tree by the next-door neighbor's rambunctious dog.  I have rescued Simba four times before, so Kerry and Shelley already knew who to call, but they debated about whether they should even tell me about this on Christmas day.  Fortunately, they did, but they were not expecting me necessarily to be available or willing to rescue Simba that day. To me, however, that was a  wonderful Christmas present.  I love rescuing cats out of trees, so I was not only willing, I was happy to go right away.  And to rescue Simba, one of my most favorite cats ever, made it even better.  When I arrived and told the apologetic family that this was a wonderful Christmas present, they all laughed, but I was serious. Simba is a very friendly, laid-back and docile cat, and his first four rescues were all easy.  I expected Simba to be easy to rescue this time too, but with cats you never know for sure.  This time he was

This is not Charlie's first time to get stuck in a tree.  It has happened a few times before, but her family always managed to get her down by themselves.  This time, however, Charlie climbed up a bit too high.  She was stuck 30 feet high in the next door neighbor's tree, and despite their valiant efforts, her family simply was not able to get her down. Hollie even called the local fire department, but the weather had made it too muddy for them to get their ladder truck close to the tree.  Fortunately, one of the firemen knew about me and actually called me himself from the site.  By this time, however, poor Charlie had been stuck in the tree for eight nights.  It was well past time for me to get out there to get Charlie down. Charlie became a member of Hollie's family six years ago when Hollie was driving with her daughter and they noticed a cat and four kittens on the side of the road.  They stopped and found that the mother cat was dead, so they picked up the four

When Jessica called me to rescue her cat named Hades, I admit I was expecting a hellish rescue at first.  But then she explained.  When they first adopted the cat a year ago, Jessica asked her then nine-year old daughter, Traniya, what she wanted to name it.  Traniya said, "Hades" without even knowing what it meant.  She just liked the sound of the name.  A few days passed before she learned the meaning of the word, but by that time, the name had stuck.  Fortunately, contrary to what you would expect of a cat by that name, Hades is actually a very sweet and friendly girl. Hades slipped out of the house and was chased up the neighbor's pine tree by an aggressive male cat.  Hades got away from the other cat but found herself stuck on a short stub of a branch that had broken off long ago.  She was only 15 feet high, but she didn't know how to climb back down.  Jessica struggled to find a way to help her, but it was not until the end of Hades' second day in the tr

I was out riding my newly repaired bicycle when my phone rang.  I stopped in the street and answered the call.  The caller told me her name is Holly and she and some colleagues discovered a kitten stuck in a tree between a street and the parking lot for a large medical clinic where she works.  No one knows the kitten, but Holly said that she would take care of it if I could get it down.  Holly sent this picture of the site to me with her own annotations.  It was exactly one hour before sunset, but I knew the parking lot would be well lit, and Holly and her colleagues wanted to wait there for me to get there even though they had just worked a full day and were anxious to go home.  I rode my bicycle home and packed up as quickly as I could. When I arrived, I met Holly, and she showed me where the kitten was.  It was hard to find the kitten since she was so small, still and quiet.  If the kitten had not been crying when they were below, it is doubtful that anyone would have ever notic

We are not sure why Louisa climbed up the tree, but whatever the reason, she sure picked a cold day for it.  Four inches of snow had just fallen -- a rare event for this area -- and the low temperature was expected to be in the mid-20s that night.  Paula, who cares for Louisa along with several other cats, dogs and horses, tried her best to get Paula down, but all her attempts failed.  Sleep did not come easily for Paula that night as she worried about Louisa stuck high in the tree in the cold.  She asked for help and ideas via Facebook, and the next morning a friend put her in contact with me. I drove out to the site in rural Maurepas early that afternoon.  It was a pretty and clear day, though still cold, and the ground was very sloppy from all the melting snow.  Paula thoughtfully met me at the gate to her property to let me in so that I did not have to get out on the wet and muddy ground to open and close the gate myself.  She made sure she closed the gate securely to keep the