Frank and Ramone

I have been very lucky to have several super-sweet cats to rescue lately. I know my luck will not last forever, but I am certainly enjoying myself in the meantime, and these last two rescues continued the trend.

Frank, a beautiful Siamese kitty in Slidell, Louisiana, was stuck in his neighbor's oak tree for two nights. He wasn't very high, and a bolder cat would have found a way down this leaning trunk, but Frank is not a bold boy. When I began to install my rope above him, he became scared and climbed down to a point where he could be reached with the 10-foot ladder that was already there. When I climbed the ladder up to him, he began to purr and was very friendly with me. I tried to lift him with my hand under his chest, but he wasn't comfortable with that. I spent a little more time with him and then tried it again. Like a young couple's first kiss, it was awkward, but we made it work, and I held him in one hand against my body while I carefully stepped down the ladder. I set him down on the ground, and we all walked back home together. I have no pictures or video.

The day before that, I was asked to rescue a friendly, neighborhood Russian Blue kitty who had been visiting several houses in a Baton Rouge neighborhood for the past few weeks. He was chased up a tree by some dogs in Angela's backyard. No one knew if the cat had an owner, but all the neighbors loved him because he was such a friendly and affectionate boy. My rope installation process frightened him much more than most cats, and he walked farther out the long limb and cried. I continued preparations slowly and gave him plenty of time to recover before I began climbing up to him. Once I climbed up to his limb, all was forgotten, and he began to walk straight toward me. He came to me, sniffed my hand, enjoyed some petting, and then came closer and demanded more attention. Every time I stopped petting him, he pushed and rubbed his head into my arm. I could not get him to even think about stepping on my lap, so I dropped the bag all around him and then lifted him up into the bag while securing him inside. Once we were back on the ground, I checked him for a microchip and then turned him loose. I wasn't worried about him running away. He liked it here and wanted to stay to visit with everyone. 

I found a microchip on him, but all attempts to find the owner failed. The chip was last updated in 2017, so that is not a good sign. I learned that he is almost nine years old, and his name is Ramone. His chip was implanted in a shelter in northwest Louisiana, but they could not give me any useful information about the owner either. The microchip company and shelter have both tried to contact the owner using the contact information they have on file, but at least two of those phone numbers are no longer in service, and I have not had a response from the owner through any other communication method. I also have not found any notices posted for a lost cat matching this one. Given these circumstances, I am not optimistic about finding the owner, but I am happy to know that Angela and her daughter are in love with this sweet, little guy, and they will keep him if his owner is never found.