Unknown White Cat
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 from me so readily, I found it reassuring that he actually spoke to me, since I would not expect a feral cat to do that. I spent the next several minutes trying to earn his trust and, hopefully, even his friendship as I worked to safely move closer to him. He was clearly uncomfortable with my presence, but I held out hope that he would, in time, become more comfortable with me.
I offered him some food, but that did not interest him. I was not close enough to reach out to let him sniff my hand, so I carefully worked my way out closer to him. Once I was closer, I reached the food out to him again and, this time, held it closer to his nose. He showed more interest in the food this time and eventually got the courage to try a bite. For the first time, he was actually coming a few inches closer to me. I let him eat a few bites and then pulled the carrier up to him. I placed the food in front of the carrier and let him have another bite of food. I put the food in the back end of the carrier and was surprised to see him go all the way inside with little hesitation. I closed the carrier and brought him down.
On the ground, he seemed more tame now and showed more interest in sniffing my hand. I wanted to scan him for a microchip, so I cracked open the door and reached inside with the scanner. I was not sure I could trust him well enough to put my hand all the way inside to scan him thoroughly. I also did not want to leave a large opening in the door where he might try to escape. I did not find a microchip, but I also did not scan him thoroughly enough to say with any certainty that there is no microchip.
I turned him over to Connie and Donnie, and they took him home and released him inside. After some time inside, the cat began to reveal a sweet and affectionate disposition, and they are continuing to care for him until his owner can be found.
Again, I forgot to turn on my camera, so I wish to thank Connie and Donnie for providing the only pictures that I have of this rescue.