Cat Rescue Guy

Despite the appearance of inactivity here, cats have been quite busy getting stuck in trees. I took a short trip out of state, and, while I was gone, I got four rescue calls in one morning, all of which, thankfully, resolved thanks to other rescuers. Before I left on my trip, however, there were two rescue calls, the first of which resolved when the cat came down from an electric power pole on its own shortly after I arrived that night. I didn't do anything except watch in gratitude, but when the cat fell the last few feet straight into the owner's arms for an emotional reunion, I felt both honored to witness such a meaningful and beautiful reunion and yet ashamed to be trespassing into an intimate and private moment. I was deeply touched. (No pictures due to the darkness.) The second rescue was an unknown orange tabby that was stuck in a tree in Livingston for one night. I had to use the rescue-pole to reach him, but he slipped out of the noose and fell. Fortunately, Mike, the

It is easy to see how Cutie got her name. That is certainly what I would have called her whether I intended it to be her name or not. While Cutie has the looks, this six-month-old girl doesn't have the skill for climbing down a tree, so, when she climbed 60 feet high in a Sweet Gum tree just inside the woods behind her home, she was stuck there. Amy searched all over for help to get Cutie down, but she didn't find me until Cutie had been stuck in the tree for five nights. When I climbed up to Cutie, she was a little cautious with me at first, but she quickly learned that I was probably a good guy, and she came carefully down her sloping limb toward me. Cutie could not get a firm grip with her claws when going down the sloping limb like this with no side shoots for a foot hold, so it took some courage on her part to do it. When she reached the trunk, she could not come to a secure stop, so her momentum forced her to step onto another limb on the opposite side of the trunk from m

When Taylor told me that her cat, Nash, would not let her touch him, I became very concerned. A few months ago, Nash came out of the woods behind her rural home in Baker, Louisiana and made an appearance for the first time. Taylor and Rick have been feeding him these few months, but, despite that, Nash was not comfortable being close to them or anyone. Now, Nash was stuck about 20 feet high in a tree, and I was concerned about how I was going to rescue such a fearful cat. Once I arrived and saw where he was in the tree and how limited his movement was, I decided it would be best to climb on the opposite side of the tree out of his sight and to get above him before he saw me for the first time. If he saw me coming upward toward him, he would surely climb higher, and I did not want to chase him to the tips of the tree where he would likely fall or jump in his effort to get away from me. I thought my chance of getting above him undetected was good, because I have often been surprised to n

"Free Kitten with every Bulldozer" That's not exactly the way this bulldozer transaction was planned, but that's the way it worked out. When Sean went to get a bulldozer, he was asked if he would like to have a kitten too. His first reaction was, "no," but then he thought about his two daughters and decided that was actually a good idea. So with the bulldozer, he returned home with a sweet, fuzzy, three-month-old, bobtail kitty that they named Dozer. Dozer has been with his new family only one month, and he already got himself in trouble by climbing the Live Oak tree in the front yard. Since Sean had taken Dozer earlier to the good people at Cat Care Center for a checkup, he called them for advice, and they referred him to me. Dozer had been stuck 35 feet high in the tree for one night when I arrived to rescue him. I can't ask for a sweeter and easier cat to rescue. Dozer stayed calmly in place while I climbed up to him, he immediately made friends with