Unknown Orange Kitty

We don't know exactly how long this poor, unknown, orange and white kitty was stuck 40 feet high in the tree, but it was at least seven days. She was lucky that Terry and Leslie, the neighbors who lived two doors down from this empty lot in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, noticed her and worked so hard to get her down. They even used a football to throw a string over a limb and then haul up a laundry basket so they could lower the cat to the ground, but the basket got stuck, and the cat did not get into it anyway. They put a lot of effort into helping this kitty they did not know, and they also attempted to find its owner, but all their efforts failed.

Considering how much the cat cried to the people on the ground below, I was hopeful that she would be an easy rescue, but I was wrong. She became frightened when I climbed up to her, and she walked half way out a limb on the opposite side of the tree from me and perched there facing me. The nature of her cries and growls made it clear to me that she did not want me to approach any closer, and I had to be very careful with her to make sure she did not go farther out on the limb.

I had a difficult time convincing her that I was harmless. I did not advance any closer to her except in very small increments and only if she did not show any signs of moving away from me. When I reached my hand out on her limb toward her, she voiced her displeasure even though my hand was still four feet away from her. I sat quietly for a while with my back to her to appear uninterested in her and then reached my hand out toward her again. I wanted her to show some interest in sniffing my hand, because I knew if she did so, she would be less afraid of me. I kept trying to inch my hand closer to her, but it was still at least two feet away from her.

I opened a can of food and held it out to her. She was resistant at first, but after several attempts, she finally showed some interest in it. I reached as far as I could, and she came close enough to smell the food and then take a bite. I let her have a couple bites and then pulled the food a few inches closer to me, but she would not follow the food, and we were back at the same impasse. Without moving my body any closer to her, I got my feet in position where I could reach much closer to her and gradually moved my hand closer to her. She still was not responding to my hand, so I tried the food again. It took several attempts, but she began to show some interest in the food again. I prepared the cat bag on my arm and tried to get her to eat some more. When she began to eat, this time I was successful in getting her to come a little closer to me as I gradually pulled the food closer to me. When she was at last in range, I petted her as she ate and then grabbed her scruff and put her in the bag. She did not fight or fuss, but she did need some consoling once she was fully in the bag.

I brought her down and checked her for a microchip while she was still in the bag, but no microchip was found. We put her in a carrier, and Terry and Leslie had already agreed to be responsible for her at that point. They had contacted a local rescue group, Rescue Animal Aid of Mississippi, which agreed to come out to see her the following day, so Terry and Leslie kept her overnight and turned her over to the rescue group the next morning. If the owner is not found, they will put her up for adoption.

Because it took a long time to gain the kitty's trust, I turned my camera off during the boring parts of the rescue and failed to turn it back on for the ending. Therefore, I don't have any close pictures of the kitty in the tree. I also was never able to determine if the kitty is a male or female, so I am making a guess. While most orange cats are male, this one looked more like a female to me, so I'm going with that until I learn otherwise. I hope nothing but good things happen to her going forward.