Cat Rescue Guy

Most of the cats I rescue are less than three years old, though I have certainly had a few older ones as well.  Crazy Girl, however, may be the oldest cat I have rescued so far.  Mark is not sure exactly how old Crazy Girl is, but she could be as much as 18 years old. Mark does not know what caused his senior cat to climb up the tree, but he came home late from work and heard her calling to him as he got out of his car.  He found her about 25 feet high in the tree next to a camper trailer.  He tried to reach her with a long ladder, but he could not get close enough.  After searching the internet for help, he found me and e-mailed me that night.  I got his message the next morning, and after talking on the phone, we arranged to meet there in the afternoon. When I arrived, Jimmie Lynn, Marks' step-sister, led me to the tree.  Crazy Girl was still perched there and crying to us below.  Crazy Girl got her name for her sudden and inexplicable mood changes, and while she was genera

I was in no mood for a cat rescue.  I was still very tired from Sylvester's rescue the day before.  I did not sleep well that night and needed a day off, but, in spite of my wishes, my phone rang, and I simply could not ignore it.  Lacy in St. Amant called to report an unknown cat stuck in a tree in her yard.  She did not recognize the cat and was not able to care for it herself.  She said there were very few cats around her neighborhood because most people had cat-hating dogs.  It was probably a dog that chased this cat up the tree. So, not only do I have a rescue to do, it's another unknown cat, no one is there to care for it, and it can't be returned to the same place after neutering.  Since this was in Ascension parish, I called CARA's House, the parish animal shelter, to verify that they would be able to take this cat after I rescued it.  If the owner did not claim it, they would make it available for adoption. I drove out to the site and soon found the kitty

I love those "feel-good" rescues where the cat is friendly and eager to be rescued, where I make friends with the cat in the tree, bring him down safely and securely, reunite him with the loving and anxious family below, and everyone is happy and well.  Maybe there is some drama along the way, but in the end, it all works out well.  This was not one of those "feel-good" rescues. This cat was unknown, a stranger in the area, but because of his classic black and white markings, I am calling him Sylvester.  He just showed up this day in a tree in an area being newly developed near Hattiesburg, Mississippi.  This particular lot where Sylvester was stuck is undeveloped, but all around him lots are being sold and houses are being built.  It is remarkable that anyone even noticed him there, but Sylvester was not shy about making his presence known, and a developer employee noticed him and told his co-worker, Patty.  Patty is quite the animal lover, and this was not the

I had spent the day driving three hours to a funeral near Jackson, Mississippi and visiting afterward at a large gathering of family and friends.  I was driving back home when, just as the sun had set, my phone rang.  Brittany was calling to see if I could rescue her Snowshoe cat in a tree. Just minutes earlier, Brittany learned from her neighbor that there was a cat in a tree at the far back end of his backyard.  Brittany's cat, Marshall, had been missing for three weeks, so she immediately rushed over there to see if the cat could possibly be hers.  She quickly recognized him and was thrilled to find him at last, but now she had a new problem:  how to get him down. Brittany' sister, Shawn, had had a similar problem a few years ago, so Brittany called her.  As it turned out, I had rescued Shawn's cat, Ringo, more than two years ago, and Shawn still had my phone number on hand.  While I have rescued two cat siblings before, this would be my first time to rescue two ca

Four-thirty on a Friday afternoon is not the best time to drive on the interstate to a rescue, but that is when the call came in, and I wanted to be sure I could finish the rescue before sunset.  So I endured the slow traffic through construction zones and arrived at the site where I met Adam, Amber and their son, Nathan.  They led me to the backyard where Elsa, their four-year old gray tabby, was stuck about 20 feet high in a very tall oak tree.  Elsa was on the lowest available limb of the tree and had already spent one night there.  I wanted to be sure she did not have to spend another night in the tree, especially with severe storms forecast for the next morning. Elsa was crying to us below, and she seemed reasonably calm.  Adam and Amber had already told me that Elsa was a very friendly girl, but I wanted to verify that with them one more time.  They assured me that she liked strangers, so I was hoping for an easy, cooperative kitty.  I was not disappointed. I installed my r

It was only a matter of time.  It was not a question of "if", but "when."  I have been expecting Simba to get stuck in a tree again, and today is the day it happened.  I have rescued Simba five times before, so this would be his sixth rescue.  But there is more:  Simba has been stuck in a tree seven other times but was either rescued by Kerry, his dad, or somehow came down on his own.  That brings the total number of times that Simba has been stuck in a tree to thirteen.  And he is only three years old. I am lucky to have a cat like Simba to rescue, so the more times I rescue him, the better for me.  Simba is cool, laid-back, friendly and cooperative -- the perfect qualities I like in a cat to rescue.  So, I am always happy to rescue him. This time, however, Simba ventured beyond his own yard and went across the ditch to the backyard neighbor's yard.  Fortunately, the neighbors, Larry and Tammy, were very congenial and understanding people and were very gr

While Josh and Katherine were at a baseball game at the local park, they noticed a friendly calico cat making the rounds and visiting with all the people.  After asking around, they learned that the sociable cat was a frequent visitor there and appeared to have no owner.  They liked this people-loving cat and decided to give her a home with them.  So they took her home and named her Mittens.  Mittens settled in very well there in her new home, and was happy to have regular food and loving. Josh and Katherine were very quick to notice and act when Mittens was missing.  When they looked for her, they heard her cry from the wooded area next to their property.  It took a while to follow her cries until they could locate her up high in a skinny tree inside the woods.  Something probably chased her up there during the night.  Josh quickly ran out and bought a new 24-foot ladder and placed it under the tree, but it was too short to get close to Mittens.  Meanwhile, Katherine was doing some

It was early in the morning as I was preparing to leave home to rescue Miss Kitty in Tylertown, Mississippi when I got a text message from Stacey asking if I could rescue her cat, Mercury.  Mercury had been stuck in a tree one night, but the weather was expected to turn nasty, and Stacey wanted to see if he could be rescued before that.  The weather forecast told me that the chance of rain would begin around noon, and with a two-hour drive to Tylertown, I knew there was no way I could do both rescues in the same morning.  Miss Kitty had been stuck for three nights already, so her rescue was more urgent.  I told Stacey that I would have to rescue Miss Kitty first, but I would call her as soon as I finished. It was 11:30 when I finished with Miss Kitty's rescue and called Stacey.  The sky was cloudy but not showing signs of rain yet, so maybe I could get both rescues done after all.   I told her that I could be there by 1:30 if the weather allowed.  That is when she told me that

Mike is a Desert Storm veteran who lives in rural Mississippi with his wife and a few cats and dogs.  One of his dogs playfully chased one of his cats, Miss Kitty, up a tree, and Mike was hoping that Miss Kitty would find her way back down on her own.  As it became more clear that Miss Kitty did not know how to go down, Mike became more concerned.  He cares very much for his pets as well as all animals, and his concern quickly grew into distress. Mike tried everything he knew to help Miss Kitty down, and when that failed, he tried to find someone to help him.  That is when Mike experienced what most people experience when they try to find someone to rescue a cat out of tree.  Everyone either laughs, doesn't take it seriously, or gives a pat on the back with glib reassurance usually combined with bad advice.  Mike searched the internet for help and found Bob Reese, the esteemed cat rescuer of Mississippi and friend of mine.  Mike saw that Bob was located in Starkville and knew t

Maria was just getting in her car to go to work when she heard the familiar cry of her cat, Tommy Socks.  Tommy Socks, who was named by Maria's three daughters, is a one-year old gray tabby with white socks, and he is a very friendly and laid-back boy.  Maria looked around and did not see him at first, but his cries eventually led her eyes upward where she spotted him 30 feet high in a very tall tree just on the other side of the fence.  Maria called Animal Control for help or advice, and they referred her to me. When I arrived, Maria pointed to Tommy Socks up in the tree, but he was a little difficult to see, since his gray body matched the gray bark of the tree, and he was partly hidden by the foliage.  He was on the lowest branch this tall tree had to offer, and he continued to call out to us.  Maria assured me that he was friendly and relaxed with strangers, but I held on to a certain amount of skepticism since I never know for sure how a cat will react to me in a tree. I