It was five years ago that Meadow first appeared at Kenny and Tiffany's door in Denham Springs, Louisiana and decided to move in with them, so she is probably six or seven years old now. She is a sweet, friendly girl, so it wasn't hard to convince them to let her stay. Now, for the first time in her life, she has found herself stuck 25 feet high in a Pine tree behind their house, and she was stuck there for three nights before Kenny and Tiffany found me and asked me to rescue her.
Meadow was happy to see me climb up to her, and she lived up to her friendly reputation by greeting me and letting me pet her. Now, the only remaining issue was deciding how to bring her down. She is not a lap-sitter, so getting her on my lap and pulling a lap bag up around her was unlikely. However, she has no history of being traumatized by a carrier, so I thought that would be her best option.
Many people are surprised to see me use a carrier to secure a cat in a tree, because their general expectation is that cats are terrified of carriers and will run away from them. These people will then be astounded to watch as the cat voluntarily and calmly walks into the carrier as I hold it in front of him. This happens often, and it's not because I have some kind of magical power over cats. Rather, I simply know that a cat who has been uncomfortable and miserable in a tree for a long time will see the carrier as a wonderful, luxurious relief from his misery. It's all relative. While this was probably true in Meadow's case, she had an additional reason to welcome the carrier. As I was bringing it up to her, she lost her balance and almost fell off the thin limb where she was standing. She righted herself, but it's a very scary feeling, and it's hard to feel secure especially in a Pine tree with loosely-attached bark chipping off under her feet. As soon as Meadow regained her footing, I held the carrier in front of her, and, as you can see in the video, she didn't need to think about it long before stepping inside where she felt much safer. Secure footing, broad floor where she can lie and stretch out, sides to prevent her from falling, a roof to shade her from the sun, comfort and safety -- these are very attractive features to a cat who has been stuck on a thin limb for days, especially when she has almost fallen.
Meadow is safe at home now where she is enjoying even more comfort and safety, and now the carrier is not as appealing as it was before. It's all relative.
