Cat Rescue Guy

A bolder cat may have been able to find a way down this tree on his own, but this unknown white cat with brown and black patches was stuck. The tree had a small, vine-covered stem that leaned and curved away very badly, and the cat was settled about 20 feet high at the apex of the curve where the stem was horizontal and tangled in vines. The slope of the stem back toward the ground was not so severe that a bold cat could not have managed to come down on his own, especially with all the numerous small limbs along the way that could serve as footholds. But the vines were an impediment, and the thin, smooth bark of the tree made the footing a bit slippery, so this kitty stayed put even through a night of cold weather with a temperature in the mid-20s. It wasn't quick and easy to climb up the main tree and get within reach of the cat. His stem was not large enough to support my weight, so I had to support it with a rope connected to the main tree and then break many vines out of the wa

The weather played a role in the next two rescues by adding to the misery of both cats. It was bad enough just to be stuck in a tree, but a cold front pushed through the area and brought rain and strong winds to make it all worse. Poor Bella got wet in the rain and tossed by the wind in the top of her tree, while Sookie stayed dry but suffered in the cold with blustery winds. Bella, a four-year-old black beauty, was stuck for one night about 30 feet high in the top of a tree in Greenwell Springs, and her concerned family worked very hard to find a way to get her down before calling me. Bella was not particularly friendly with me, but she tolerated me, especially since she had no place to go to get away from me. Fortunately, she loves to eat, so my offer of food was well received, and I used that food to lure her into the carrier and bring her down to a much-relieved and grateful family. Sookie is a one-year-old calico who was stuck in a Live Oak tree in Denham Springs for a whopping se

I had two rescues scheduled for the morning, and Cairo in Prairieville was the first. Cairo is an orange-and-white boy who has been stuck over 40 feet high in a Sweetgum tree just inside the woods behind his house. Cairo was a friendly boy, but he was not a cooperative boy. He greeted me, and we made friends right away, but, after that, I had trouble getting his attention. He would sit there with his back to me rubbing his face on the vines or walk three feet out the limb and back, but he would not step on my lap or into a carrier. When I tried to pick him up and place him in my lap, he protested and squirmed out of my hands. After patiently trying over and over to secure him in a gentle way, I gave up and just grabbed him by the scruff and pulled the bag over him. He wasn't happy about that and fussed a bit on the way to the ground, but he was happy once he found himself back home. After Cairo, I went back to Baton Rouge to rescue Vera who had been stuck overnight in a Live Oak tr

Figaro is a sweet, four-year-old, black-and-white kitty with a love for the outdoors, and she got stuck in a tree across the street from her house in Picayune, Mississippi and was stuck there for two nights by the time I arrived to rescue her. I have been fortunate to have several sweet, easy-to-rescue kitties lately, and Figaro continued the trend. She cried while she waited for me to climb up to her, and she was happy to see me. I spread the cat bag over my lap, she stepped onto my lap, and I pulled the bag up around her and brought her down. She went back inside to eat and take a nap in the clothes basket, and then she was back to her old self again.

Sweet Kitty was the third and final rescue I had that day after the unknown white cat in Picayune and the unknown black cat in Denham Springs which turned out to be Milo. I could not have asked for an easier and sweeter cat to rescue. Just like Milo, Sweet Kitty is a six-month-old, black, male kitten that had been stuck in a tree one night. Sweet Kitty was only 20 feet high in a Pine tree in Baton Rouge, and he had no problem with my rope installation. In fact, he was a bit intrigued by the whole process and saw the string I had hung over the limb as a toy. I had to pull it away from him before I could finish installing my rope. When I climbed up to him, he was friendly and ready for rescue. As I pulled the carrier up for him, the front door came loose, so I held the carrier at the edge of my lap as I struggled to get the door back in place. The carrier was angled downward, but Sweet Kitty didn't mind. Before I was ready for him, he stepped on my lap and walked right into the angle

After I finished rescuing the unknown white cat in Picayune, Mississippi, I went straight from there to rescue another unknown black cat in Denham Springs, Louisiana. This time, however, a turn of good fortune led me to the cat owner. When I arrived, a boy was playing in an adjacent back yard, and he noticed me and the attention I was paying to the cat in the tree. He told me that the cat was his, that he had been stuck in the tree for one night, and the cat's name is Milo. He had been worried about Milo but didn't know what to do.  His father had called the fire department, but they could not help. He  was very happy to learn that I was there to rescue his cat, and I was very happy to know now what to do with the cat once I brought it down. Six-month-old Milo is not one to just sit quietly and accept his fate of being stuck in a tree like the unknown white cat in Picayune did. No, Milo is the polar opposite and started crying loudly and constantly begging anyone to help him.

Two ladies, Connie and Donnie (yes, they are two of three triplets), noticed a white cat stuck in a tree in their neighbor's back yard in Picayune, Mississippi, and they were very concerned about it. They did not recognize the cat, and it did not belong to the neighbor. The cat stayed curled up in its perch and rarely moved or made any sound. They posted the cat on their neighborhood online forum, but no one had any information about it. They contacted me to see if I could get the cat down, and they offered to take care of it at that point. After making the arrangements with the neighbor, I agreed to be there the next morning after the cat's third night in the tree. When a cat is very quiet, I interpret that as a sign that it is either feral or at least unsociable, but that is not a certainty. When I gently climbed up to him, he took a look at me, voiced some displeasure, and walked a little farther out the limb to get away from me. While I was disappointed that he moved away f

The next two rescues I did were for Boba and Magnolia, and both were very sweet kitties who were easy to rescue. Boba is a six-month-old black kitten in Wiggins, Mississippi, and Magnolia is a two-year-old, gray-and-white tabby girl near Albany, Louisiana. Unfortunately, I have very few pictures of either kitty, because I forgot to turn on my camera for both rescues. Boba was stuck about 20 feet high in a tree next to her house and had spent one night there and endured a few rain showers. She was anxious to get down, so when I climbed up to her and offered a carrier to her, she readily stepped inside for the ride down to the ground. Magnolia had been stuck about 30 feet high for three nights, and she, too, was anxious to get down from there. When I climbed up to her, she appeared interested in stepping on my lap, so I spread the cat bag over my lap and gave her an opportunity to step on it. She readily got on my lap and started purring and kneading her front paws into my lap. I pulled

It's funny how flawed my memory can be. After I rescued Girl in Bay St. Louis the first time , I remembered her as a sweet, cooperative kitty, but it turns out that it was only luck and circumstances that led to that impression. She had been stuck in a tree for six cold nights when I rescued her the first time, and she didn't have the energy or any place to go to get away from me, so I bagged her with no trouble. Silly me, I was expecting her second rescue to be just as simple and uncomplicated, but I was blissfully unaware of her whole life story and reputation for a sour disposition. In fact, I didn't learn her story until almost the end of her second rescue after spending way too much time trying to accomplish the impossible by trying to befriend her. It turns out that Girl, also known as Lilly, has had a hard life, is not very sociable, and can be quite grouchy, so I guess I should feel proud that I was naively able at least to pet her several times without getting my h

There was something wrong with this picture, but I wasn't sure what it was. Mary found an unknown cat resting quietly in the main junction of her Live Oak tree and called me to see if I could help. The cat was an adult and only ten feet high, so I was not convinced it was even stuck. Cats that know how to climb up and down a tree often find a safe perch they like and just rest there and go down whenever they feel like it, so maybe that is what this cat was doing. He wasn't so high that he couldn't get down on his own, so I wasn't convinced the cat was stuck. I asked Mary to check the cat in the morning and let me know if he is still there. The next morning, the cat was still in the tree, so I went over there to evaluate it for myself. His entire time in the tree had been spent curled up in the same spot, and he had always been quiet and mostly motionless.   He would not look or respond to me, so I thought he might be more feral than tame.  Perhaps he is just very tired