Tonjiro

It was a pleasant day for a stroll, so a certain one-year-old, black-and-white kitty named Tonjiro wandered away from his home in Walker, Louisiana and began to explore in a neighbor's yard. Tonjiro is a friendly, trusting boy, so he was a bit naively surprised when he found himself in the presence of seven dogs who, not only did not show the polite, southern courtesy of inviting him over for coffee and a friendly chat, but instead rudely took offense at his mere presence there and even began to protest in a very threatening manner. Tonjiro was taken aback, but he did not hesitate to see the seriousness of this encounter, so he discarded the book of etiquette and used his instinct instead to run for his life. He ran to a nearby tree and climbed it until he was out of reach of the dogs jumping up for him, and then he climbed some more just to be sure he was safe. He came to rest on a limb about forty feet high and settled there safe, at least for the moment, and with all his bold white whiskers intact. The only problem now was how to get down and back home.

Taylor quickly noticed Tonjiro's absence and searched for him thoroughly and repeatedly. She called for him knowing that he would certainly respond if he could, but she never heard a response. What she didn't know was that Tonjiro heard her and was responding to her, but she just could not hear him. He was close enough to home that she would have heard him if he had a normal voice like most cats, but his voice is a tiny, high-pitched sound that simply does not project very far at all. He was even close enough that she could have seen him, but he had perched on a limb where he was well hidden by the surrounding foliage. Tonjiro was missing for five days before she finally found him, and she called me right away. The neighbors were very gracious and cooperative to allow me in their backyard and to contain their dogs while I did the rescue.

I love rescuing cats like Tonjiro. While I had some trouble getting my rope installed in the tree, I had no trouble at all with Tonjiro. He was out on a limb, and when he saw me climbing up to him, he came back toward the trunk knowing he would meet me there. He was waiting for me when I reached his level, and he greeted me happily even though, as you can see in the video below, he was still wet from the small, but severe, storm that passed over us in the minutes immediately before I arrived. He energetically rubbed his head on the tree, on my rope, on my hands, and on every thing I touched. I spread the bottom of the cat bag over my lap, and he knew what to do. He stepped on my lap but was so energized that he could not sit still long enough for me to secure him in the bag. He stepped back on the limb, and I knew he would be back. I had more luck the second time pulling the sides of the bag up around him, and I secured him inside and took him back down to the ground where Taylor was waiting. She took him back home where he is recovering just fine from his experience, but he is suffering with serious disillusionment concerning his neighbor's manners.