Bud

We don't know much about Bud except that he is a friendly and sociable orange-and-white cat who likes to visit the neighbors at the end of his quiet, dead-end street. Jason sees him frequently and is pretty sure he belongs to the neighbor just two doors down. They often visit together for a few minutes, and Bud likes to rub against Jason's legs. When Jason came out of his house and heard a cat crying frantically, he recognized Bud's voice and searched for him. Jason quickly found Bud up in a tree at the edge of his yard where it borders a bayou.

 The tree Bud was in was small and shaped like a "Y," and Bud was about halfway up the left arm of the "Y."  Bud was only 15 feet high, and it seemed like he should be able to come down at least to the main crotch, but Bud wasn't moving. Jason tried to coax him down, and, when that failed, he parked his truck under the tree and stood up on that while placing a long board against the limb as a bridge between himself and Bud, but Bud would not try that either. When all his efforts failed, Jason called me to see if I could help.

A light mist had just begun to fall, and the weather radar picture showed that heavier, but mostly light, rain was still to come. On the way over there, however, I drove through surprisingly heavy rain most of the way. Fortunately, once I arrived, the rain was very light, and there was no lightning to threaten the rescue.

 Climbing this small, Y-shaped tree turned out to be challenging and strenuous, but after significant huffing and grunting, I managed to pull myself up into the main crotch of the Y where I was now in reach of Bud. Bud had occasionally glanced at my struggles, but, otherwise, appeared uninterested. After all, he had important grooming to do now that the rain had messed up his coat. I was happy to find him still relaxed, and we very quickly and easily established a new friendship there in the tree.


I opened a carrier and held it up to him to see if he would go inside. He did the usual cat-thing of looking and sniffing inside, looking on top and on both sides of the carrier before deciding it was fine. He stepped inside, hesitating a few seconds before putting the last back foot in, and then I closed the door.  Easy rescue.

 I brought him back down to the ground with the intention of turning him loose. Since he was a known resident of the neighborhood and in familiar territory, he could easily find his way back home, especially since it was likely that he belonged to the neighbor just two houses down. However, just to play it safe, I wanted to scan him for a microchip before releasing him. I opened the door to the carrier, let him slowly emerge and scanned him until I determined that he did not have a microchip. He walked to Lauren to visit with her while I opened a can of food for him. When he saw the food, he came running back to me to eat. I let him eat his fill while I packed up my gear. After eating, he continued to visit with Jason and Lauren and was still with them when I left. I know they will continue to look out for Bud, and, while I hope he does not get stuck in a tree again, I will be happy to rescue him if he does.