Cat Rescue Guy

No, it's not the name of a new TV program. These are the names of the cats in the next two rescues I did immediately after rescuing the unknown white cat . Ernest and Laverne are not related, but their rescues were very similar. In both cases, I broke my usual protocol of going up to them slowly, earning their trust, and making friends with them before securing them. Instead, I stealthily climbed up to them, surprised them, and grabbed them quickly before they could escape. So why was I so rude and forceful with them when I could have been polite and gentle? Ernest is an eight-month-old, gray-and-white tabby boy who normally runs away from strangers, and he was stuck in a tree immediately behind his backyard fence in Baton Rouge and had spent one night there. On the other side of the tree trunk was another fence which bordered a yard containing a very large dog with a rather intimidating appearance. Ernest was perched about 25 feet high, and there was at least 30 feet more of the t

After rescuing an unknown black cat, I got a call to rescue an unknown white cat. Makes sense. That keeps everything in balance. This white cat appeared in Chantel's Live Oak tree next to her rural home near Watson and had been stuck there for at least four nights despite Chantel's relentless efforts to find a way to get it down. I love Live Oak trees. They are a dream to climb, but they are a nightmare when trying to rescue a cat that is afraid of me. Cats have so much room to roam, and there is no way I can keep up with them. In Live Oaks, I really need the cat to come to me or let me go to him. When I arrived, I was pleased to see the cat look down at me and talk to me, so I was hopeful I had a cooperative kitty to rescue here. But my hope was misplaced. When I climbed up to the cat's branch, I could not lure him to me for anything. He clearly recognized the sound when I opened a can of food for him, but he would not come any closer to me than ten feet to get it. Even wh

When Kacee called me about an unknown black cat that was stuck in a Pine tree in her Baton Rouge backyard, it had been in the tree only a few hours. Normally, I like to give a cat one night to see if it can figure out how to come down on its own, because many do just that. It's also to the cat's advantage to have that challenging opportunity to learn the skill of climbing down, so it can climb down from a tree in the future. Kacee sounded disappointed when I told her all of this, but she understood, and I agreed to rescue the cat in the morning if it was still there. An hour later, Kacee called me again and asked if I would please rescue the cat now. She was very worried about it and couldn't bear to see it suffer any longer. I understand that. After all, rescues are as much for the people as the cats, so I agreed to go out there right away. I never know what to expect with an unknown cat, but I was encouraged by what I found when I arrived. The black cat was resting about

Pete and Shannon in Slidell, Louisiana were given a cute, gray tabby kitten as a gift, and they named him Guido. They love him dearly, but this little hyperactive powerhouse has been quite a bit of trouble and stress for them. Guido is now only  six months old, but he has already been stuck in a tree four times. The first time, he fell out of the tree. The second time, someone cut the tree down. The third time, a neighbor happened to be walking by and free-climbed (Yikes!) the tree and got him down. The fourth time, it was my turn, and Guido did most of the work himself. When I arrived, Guido was higher in the tree than shown in this picture and had been crying his little heart out for three nights. I planned to climb the more vertical stem and reach over to his stem to rescue him, but, to do that, I had to install my rope at the main fork of the tree, climb up to that point, and then work my way up the stem from there. Guido became so excited to see all the promising activity on the g

Every time her much larger doggie siblings go outside, Mia, an eight-month-old, dilute calico, likes to go too, and, when the dogs come back inside, Mia comes back inside with them. One recent evening, however, Mia did not return, and Randi was concerned. She went out to look for Mia and found her stuck 30 feet high in a tree in the woods behind her home. This is the second time that Mia has been stuck in a tree, and it was just two months ago that I rescued her in the next-door neighbor's tree. She was as sweet and cooperative as she could be the first time , so I was very happy to go rescue her again. Mia was just as sweet and cooperative the second time. She trusts me before I even get close to her, and, once I get close, introductions are not needed. It's as if we are old friends, and she is ready to step on my lap as soon as she can. All I have to do is spread the cat bag over my lap, let her step on it, and then pull the bag up around her and take her down. She is safely