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Showing posts from October, 2021

Handsome

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If there were a meter which could measure the degree to which a cat owner worries and frets about her cat when it is stuck in a tree -- let's call it a fretometer -- then Jill's reading would be in the Very High range. I get it. If I were in the same position, my fretometer reading would be even higher. My greatest reward whenever I rescue a kitty in a tree is relieving the suffering of both the cat and the owner, and, as is often the case, this owner suffered more than her cat did. So, I will just say that rescuing Handsome was very rewarding. Handsome is Jill's five-month-old Siamese kitty, and she gave him that name because he was the prettiest cat she had ever seen. Handsome managed to slip away from Jill's watchful eye, and he began to climb a tall Pine tree in the corner of the back yard. The first limb he encountered was 45 feet high, and he perched there and slowly came to the realization that he was stuck. Jill wasted no time in working to find a way to get Han

Fish and Cupcake

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No, I am not suggesting a new dietary fad. These are the names of two cats I just rescued near each other in Mississippi. Fish, a two-year-old, gray-and-white tabby boy, is near Kiln, and Cupcake, a six-month-old, black girl, is in Picayune.  Both were stuck in a tree for three nights, and both were sweet and anxious to be rescued. Unfortunately, I have no video or pictures of Fish due to a camera malfunction. He was at the top of a Pine tree when I arrived, but by the time I got my rope installed in the tree, he had gradually worked his way down about halfway. He had been desperate for a rescue for a long time, so this friendly boy gave me no trouble when I climbed up to him and introduced myself. He is safe at home now, to the great relief of his family who sent this picture of him afterward. When Cupcake got stuck in a tree in her yard, her family sprung into action trying every do-it-yourself idea they could find. They even hauled a box up into the tree so that Cupcake could jump i

Sylvester

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Sylvester got himself in a spot that was miserable for both him and me. He was stuck about 40 feet high in a tree in the woods behind his home in Folsom, and he had been there for two nights when I arrived. I had to spend several minutes cutting and clearing a path through the undergrowth just to reach the tree, but I had an army of gnats and mosquitoes helping me all along the way. The tree had very few substantial limbs, so I had few choices for places to install my rope. Considering all the things that could have gone wrong with installing my rope in this situation, I really was very lucky that it went as well as it did. Still, I had been there over an hour and was soaking wet with sweat before I was even ready to begin climbing the tree. To make matters worse, Laura told me that her Sylvester always runs away and hides from strangers, so I was not expecting a warm reception from him in the tree. I needed to approach him as calmly and gently as possible, so that's what I did. As

Lilo and Stitch

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When Chantell came home from work, she found that both her cats,  Lilo (pronounced LEE-low) and Stitch, were missing. She noticed that a screen had been pushed out of a window, so she guessed they must have both escaped. After searching, she found Lilo up high in a tree in her back yard, but she could not find Stitch. She tried all the usual tips for luring Lilo down from the tree and called all the usual people to get him down, but nothing worked. Her pleas, however, did get the attention of someone who told her to call me, so I drove over there the next morning after Lilo's second night in the tree. When I arrived, as soon as I got out of my car, I heard cats crying. There was a small, very talkative kitten running at my feet, but I was also hearing an adult cat. The crying seemed to be coming from multiple directions, but that is often the case when a cat cries in a tree. Chantell took me to the back yard and pointed up to Lilo high in the tree. He was about 50 feet high near th

Pimple

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Pimple's rescue was about as easy and sweet as they can get. He is a super-sweet twelve-week-old tuxedo kitten who got stuck 25 feet high in a Pine tree near Denham Springs. He had spent the night there and was impatiently anxious to get down. All I had to do was climb up to him, and he was ready to step onto my lap for the easy ride down to the ground. https://youtu.be/wKd-S4yDfiw

Katera

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Katera is a very sweet girl, but she sure was disturbed by all the noise and movement I made in her tree while trying to install my rope. If it hadn't been for that, I'm sure this friendly 1.5 year old tabby in Mandeville would have readily greeted me in the tree. Instead, I had to prove my worthiness, so we visited 30 feet high in the tree together for several minutes before she deemed me suitable. She had been in the tree only 10 hours or so, but she was panting in the hot weather and was more than ready to go down.

Unknown Orange Tabby

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Carl is an insurance adjuster who was assessing hurricane damage at several homes in Donaldsonville, and as soon as he arrived at one of his stops, he noticed a cat stuck in a tree in the empty lot across the street. No one there knew anything about the cat. He went over to investigate, and the cat cried down to him as if pleading for help. The cat was not very high, so Carl took his ladder over to the tree to help the cat down. Unfortunately, as often happens, the noise and sight of the approaching ladder frightened the cat, and he went higher in the tree. After a few phone calls, Carl found me, gave me a call and then resumed his work. I arrived a few hours later and easily found the cat exactly where Carl had told me. He was a pretty orange tabby, and, when I walked beneath him and talked to him, he cried down to me and appeared to be a friendly kitty. He was only 15 feet high but about six feet out on a long limb of this Tallow tree. Each step of the rope-installation process scare

Mittens

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Mittens' rescue was short and sweet -- just the way I like it. This sweet, two-year-old cutie girl had been stuck overnight about 30 feet high in a large tree in her yard in St. Francisville where she lives with her owners, Katie and Derek. Mittens made her rescue easy and fun. She was relaxed and happy to see me, and, after we each introduced ourselves, she trustingly stepped on my lap for an easy ride down to the ground. In just a few minutes, it was all over with no drama or fanfare, and we all went back to our routines.  For all you difficult kitties out there, please watch the video below and let Mittens show you how it's done. https://youtu.be/2cDS4Ns3ER8

Fat-Fat

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Fat-Fat was fickle. She became so frightened when I installed my rope in the tree and climbed toward her that she climbed all the way to the tip top of the tree, but when I finally reached her, she was happy to see me. She really is a sweet girl, but she sure made her rescue more difficult for both of us. Fat-Fat is a two-and-a-half-year-old torby living with Kira near Brandon, Mississippi, and she earned her name because she was overweight when she first came into Kira's care. Kira did not intend to name her that -- it just happened by default -- and Fat-Fat is now sporting a healthy weight. We don't know exactly how long Fat-Fat was stuck in the tree, but she had been missing for six days, and Kira found her stuck in the tree three or four days before I arrived. When I arrived, Fat-Fat was resting on a limb about 40 feet high where indicated in the picture by the green circle. When I began to install my rope on a limb below her, she became frightened and climbed higher. As I