Louie

Louie puzzled me. He is a sweet, friendly kitty who happens to be stuck in a tree in his backyard, and he was friendly with me when I approached him in the tree and petted him, but he occasionally made some growling noises which let me know that something was wrong. The first growl came when I reached for the carrier which was behind and below him and out of his sight. It made a little noise when I began to move it, but it wasn't anything drastic. Maybe that was a coincidence. Maybe he is growling because of his discomfort, or he felt like he was losing his footing, or feeling some kind of pain. I didn't know.

Louie was perched in a fork of the stem and had been there for two nights already, so I know he must have been uncomfortable and tired of being there. Because of his position and the way in which I had to approach him, the best way to bring him down was to hold a carrier up to him so he could walk into it. That is why I was reaching for the carrier, but his growl gave me pause. Since I didn't think the carrier could have been the cause, I reached for it again and brought it slowly and gently into his view well below him. He growled again. This surprised me because Matilda told me she didn't think he had ever been in a carrier. He was first discovered as a lone kitten and taken to the vet and neutered at a very young age, but that was almost two years ago, and Matilda did not think a carrier was involved then.

I put the carrier away, and Louie was still friendly with me. I could still pet him, and he even surprised me by licking my finger at one point, but his voice still continued to have a little tinge of anger mixed in with the usual distress from being in the tree. His cries were sustained a little longer than usual, but not enough to alarm me. I was still not sure what was bothering him or if it had anything to do with the carrier at all, but I was not going to try the carrier again.

I didn't want to pull him out of the fork by the scruff and bag him, but I had decided that is what I needed to do to be sure I got him while I could. As I prepared the cat bag on my arm, Louie decided to turn around to face me. Up to this point, he had his back to me the whole time, and turning around was not an easy maneuver in this small fork. He seemed calmer, and since he was now facing me, I thought there was a good chance he would step on my lap if I could get a little higher. I used a couple ropes to get myself in a better position, and he was now showing interest in my lap. I spread the bottom of the cat bag over my lap, and Louie calmly stepped on my lap. Room was tight with the two ropes holding me in position there, but we made it work, and I pulled the sides of the bag up around him and took him down.

Louie is fine and safe at home now, and I did not do any more tests with the carrier to see if that was the reason for his growling, but I sure would like to know.