Isaac and Simba

Two rescues in two hot days for two very sweet kitties who each had been stuck in a tree in their backyard for one night. The first rescue was for Isaac, a sweet, six-year-old, gray-and-white tabby boy in Baton Rouge known to be quite sociable with everyone. His owner, Anthony, was very worried about him and desperate to help Isaac get down. Isaac was perched in the tree at the red circle in the picture when I arrived, but, when I installed my rope on that side of the tree to reach him easily, he got nervous and moved to the yellow circle where he was a bit out of reach from the rope. I climbed the rope anyway and installed another rope on the other side and used both of them to drop myself into position right in front of Isaac. Isaac is a friendly and trusting boy, so he was very comfortable with me and let me introduce myself and pet him. He was in an uncomfortable, tight crotch, so he was happy to move onto my comfortable lap where I had already spread the cat bag. I pulled the sides of the bag up around him and brought him down. Easy rescue.

The next morning, I went to Denham Springs to help Diana who was very distraught over her cat, Simba, who had darted out the door and got chased up a tree by another cat. Simba is a two-year-old, orange tabby boy who had never been outside before, and he, too, was quite unhappy being stuck in this tree. When I arrived, he was 40 feet high near the top of a narrow Sweetgum tree, and he stayed in that uncomfortable spot the entire time. Simba is a very friendly, docile boy, so I was not anticipating any trouble in rescuing him. When I climbed up to him, he was very receptive and happy to let me pet him. I held the carrier up to him expecting him to be very happy to go inside to get out of his uncomfortable position, but he wasn't sure about it. I reassured him and gave him another chance, and, this time, he calmly walked inside. I shut the door and brought him down to Diana who was very relieved and grateful to have her beloved boy down and safe. Once inside, Simba immediately got some water and plopped down on the cool floor where his little sister joined him and began playing with his tail.

I got very few pictures of both kitties: Isaac, because it was a quick rescue and I approached him from above with rare views of his face, and, Simba, because I forgot to turn my camera back on when I reached him.