Unknown Kitten and Kitty-Kitty

Chris was working in a gated, townhome community in Baton Rouge when he noticed three kittens up in a tree. His co-worker managed to get one of the kittens down, but the other two were too high to reach. Chris called me late in the day to see if I could help, and I went out there the next morning. When I arrived, I found one solid-black kitten still crying loudly in the tree and the solid-black mama cat on the ground below, but there was no sign of the second kitten. The tree was a small, dense Cypress with very little room for me to fit between the limbs, but, as I squeezed through the limbs up toward the kitten, he watched me carefully. Just as I got close to him, he became nervous and climbed a little higher. I chased him to a point near the top where he seemed to give up and let me touch him. He wasn't comfortable with me, but he wasn't terrified either. I scooped him up and gently slipped him inside the cat bag and brought him down. His mama was there waiting for me, and she watched me carefully while listening to her baby complain from inside the bag. The mama cat fussed at me once but, otherwise, waited patiently for me to get her kitten out of the bag. Once the kitten was free, he ran to his mama where they met nose-to-nose and spent a minute enjoying being together again before eating the food I put out for them.

That same afternoon, I got a call for another kitten, this time in Livingston, who had been stuck in a tree for two nights. I was told the kitten was ten weeks old, but he appeared older than that to me. He had been chased up the tree by a dog, and the owner was emotionally attached to her sweet cat and very worried about him. She calls him simply Kitty-Kitty, and he was very sweet and calm when I climbed up to him. I pulled my lap up level with him so he could step on it, but, when he didn't do so, I picked him up and placed him on my lap. I petted him there for a short time and then pulled the cat bag up around him and took him down. The owner was very relieved and happy to have her cat back down and safe, and, after she took him inside, she ran back out to hug me and thank me. It was an easy rescue for me, but for her it was a powerful and meaningful gift. It sure does feel good to be able to do that.