Wendy

The severe cold wave that has invaded my area -- and is still holding us in a freezing chokehold as I write -- caused a flurry of rescue calls for cats who were stuck in a tree. The first call was for Wendy, a cat that I rescued in Baton Rouge just a few hours before the cold wave invasion. More about her below. Later that evening, as the rain was beginning to freeze, I got two calls within one minute of each other. One was in Walker, and the other was in New Orleans. Travel was beginning to become dangerous, but, fortunately, both rescues resolved on their own before I could do anything but think about it. One cat came down on its own, and the other was rescued by someone local. During the night, I got a message about another cat in Napoleonville, but, luckily, they were able to get the cat down on their own, though I never learned how. So I feel very lucky to have avoided three rescues in miserable cold, and I also feel lucky that I was able to rescue a sweet cat like Wendy.

Wendy is a one-year-old kitty who had been stuck in the next-door neighbor's tree for two near-freezing nights, and if she had still been in the tree for the third night, she would have suffered freezing rain and a low temperature of 19 degrees. Wendy was a joy to rescue. She was relaxed the entire time, happy to see me, friendly, and mostly cooperative. I thought I would have no trouble getting her to step on my lap, and I was mostly correct. Wendy readily stepped on my lap with her front feet just fine, but she would not move her back legs off the limb onto my lap at all, even when I held treats off to the side forcing her to stretch to reach them. She was fun, and I enjoyed trying, but I had to abandon the idea of a lap bag rescue. Instead, I placed the carrier on her limb, and she found it instantly interesting. She sniffed the front of it thoroughly, slowly moved her head inside and sniffed the interior thoroughly, slowly moved her front legs inside to sniff farther back, and, after what seemed like an excessively long time, finally moved her back legs inside. After pushing her fluffy tail completely inside, I closed the door and took her down. Wendy is doing fine now and enjoying the good life in a warm home, and that is something I wish for every cat.