
Bella
As soon as I finished with Sebastian, I drove straight back to Baton Rouge to meet Sam and Ashely and rescue their cat, Bella. Bella is a very sweet, seven-month-old black kitty with a little bit of white on her chest. Bella was stuck about 30 feet high in a Sweetgum tree in her own backyard and had already spent one night there. Just like Sebastian an hour earlier, Bella greeted me happily. Even though I was a stranger to her, she knew I was her ticket home. After the usual greetings, I held the carrier up to her to see if she would go inside. This is the first time I have ever attempted to use a carrier that I had not first cleaned, and I did not know if she would be deterred by the scent of Sebastian who had been in there just an hour or two earlier. I gave her time to sniff the carrier to her satisfaction, and, after about a minute, she stepped all the way inside. I could almost hear her say, "I don't care who was in here; I am not going to miss my ride home." I closed the door and brought her down. We took her inside to release her, and she quickly settled back into her territory and routine.