Guido

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 ground below, that he began to climb down to the next limb, and that is when this picture was taken. Once I climbed up to the main fork, he got even more energized and began making his way down to me. Each time he stopped on a limb, I thought that would be as far as he would go, but each time he managed to find a way to keep coming down until he was just within my reach. We each introduced ourselves and made friends right there.

Since Guido was still a bit high, I decided to hold the carrier up above my head to his level and let him walk inside. As I moved the carrier toward him, he decided he could come down even closer, so I held the carrier in front of him there. With very little encouragement, Guido walked inside, and I closed the door and brought him down. I was very happy that he managed to come all the way down to me because that made my job so much easier. But it was certainly a bit nerve-racking to watch him come clumsily down that stem to me knowing he could easily slip and fall. I caught most of that action on video so you can experience the tense action too.

After a rescue, most cats want to go inside, get some food and water and then sleep. Not Guido. Before I was ready to leave, Guido was inside the house at the cat door, which, fortunately, was now securely locked, pawing at it desperately to get back outside where all the action is. They are doing their best to keep him inside, but that is going to take a lot of patience with this little troublesome boy. I expect to be seeing him again someday soon, but I don't mind, because I know Guido will make it easy and enjoyable for me again.

https://youtu.be/f0YRCXBC604