Piper

One of the most common times when an indoor cat escapes outside is when guests are visiting. Guests can't be expected to be thoroughly aware and vigilant about preventing an escape as they go in and out, and cats often take advantage of these opportunities to answer the call of the wild. That is what happened with Piper, the eight-month-old black kitty belonging to Emily.

Piper was just one week old when Emily found her and nursed her back to health, and their bond has only grown and strengthened since that time. Piper is strictly an indoor cat, but when Emily's guests failed to close the door quickly enough as they were leaving early one morning, Piper escaped. Fortunately, Piper climbed a tree near the front door and got stuck there. How is it fortunate that Piper got stuck in a tree? Considering that many indoor cats that escape become lost and are not found for various periods of time ranging from hours to never, I think it is fortunate that Piper climbed this tree where she could easily be found and was unable to go anywhere else. Instead of searching everywhere for weeks on end for Piper and enduring the torture of not knowing where Piper was, Emily was lucky in that she knew where Piper was and knew she was not going anywhere. All she had to do was call me to bring Piper back down.

Piper is a sweetheart and is very comfortable with people, including strangers, so gaining her cooperation in the rescue was not a problem. After our introductions, I held a carrier up to her to see if she would walk inside. She had spent one night on tiny limbs, so I knew she was uncomfortable, and I expected her to welcome the sight of a relatively comfortable carrier. She was hesitant, however, so I opened a can of food and placed it in the back. She was still slow to go inside, and I was in a miserably uncomfortable position holding the carrier for her while I waited. Normally, I would have been more patient and given her time to decide to go inside, but, this time, I had to slowly pull the carrier away while her front feet were inside and her back feet were still on the limb. This slow stretching of her body forced her to decide which way to go, and she chose to go inside. I closed the door and brought her down.

Piper survived her wild adventure just fine this time, and she is safely back home renewing her bond with Emily while enjoying the comforts of the indoor life. Having your cat stuck in a tree is a very stressful situation to experience, and Emily will especially agree with that. But it is much worse when your cat is missing, and you don't know where it is. So, relatively speaking, Emily and Piper were lucky. You can be even luckier and avoid both of those situations by preventing your cat's escape in the first place. So stay vigilant out there. Know where your cats are when the door opens, especially when you have guests.