Dum Dum

What happened to Dum Dum after he escaped his house in Baton Rouge, Louisiana is a mystery. We don't know where he went or what he did. We know only that he was gone for a total of eleven days and ended up a few houses down the street where he was stuck in a tree for at least three nights. It's possible he was stuck in the tree the entire eleven days, but three nights is all that we can verify for sure, and it seems likely that he would have been noticed sooner if he had been there longer. Only Dum Dum knows the answer, and this eight-month-old part Ragdoll kitty isn't saying a word about it.

When Tyson discovered Dum Dum about thirty feet high in a Sweetgum tree in his backyard, he and his family then realized that this must be the cat they thought they had been hearing faintly crying the past three nights. Tyson immediately began to take responsibility for the cat and find a way to help him. When a friend of his told him about me, he called me and explained the situation. Whenever I am called to rescue an unknown cat who had never been seen in the neighborhood before, I want to know what to do with the cat once I bring him down. If this is a lost cat, I don't want to turn him loose where he is still lost and miss a chance to return him to the owner. I asked Tyson to see if he could find the owner by posting online and knocking on a few doors nearby, and I was delighted to hear him sound so willing to do just that. I was even more delighted when I arrived and Tyson told me he had already found the owner. The owner, Nicolette, lived a few doors down and was on her way. By the time I was ready to climb, Nicolette had arrived, and I was able to learn all about her cat before the rescue.

Dum Dum is normally a friendly and docile boy, but this was not a normal situation, and I made him more nervous with the commotion and noise I created as I struggled past some limbs to reach him. He walked out his limb a bit to put a safe distance between us, but I was pretty sure I could eventually lure him back to me. He turned out to be surprisingly difficult to convince, and he stayed out there refusing to come closer to me. While it usually does not work, I decided to open a can of food for him, and like flipping a switch, he suddenly started coming toward me on a mission to get that food, and he didn't care if I was trustworthy or not. I held the food out for him, and he took the biggest gulp I have ever seen a cat take. He was trying to eat the entire contents of the can in one bite. I pulled the food away from him and closer to me, and he followed along. It was soon clear that he would readily step on my lap to reach the food, so I prepared the cat bag over my lap. He had no hesitation in stepping on my lap for more food, so I let him eat there as I gradually pulled the bag up around him and secured him inside.

I took him back down to the ground and transferred him to Nicolette's carrier, and she and her family took Dum Dum back home and celebrated his return. Months earlier, Nicolette originally intended to foster him until he could be adopted, but the family fell in love with him and decided to keep him. They had been worried about him the past eleven days, but that was all over now, and they were happy to have their sweet boy home again.

It feels great to rescue a cat in a tree, and it feels even better to reunite a lost cat with his family. That reunion was made possible by Tyson who took charge and cared enough to go to the trouble of finding both me and the owner of this lost cat, and that is commendable and admirable. Thank you, Tyson. You made a big difference in the life and happiness of a cat and his family. Well done.