Bailey

When a three-week-old torby kitten hid in the undercarriage of someone's car and was unknowingly driven from Denham Springs, Louisiana to Baton Rouge, a distance of at least 20 miles, Suni felt compelled to adopt her. Suni named the kitten Bailey, and these two have both bonded with each other very strongly over the past years. Bailey is four years old now, and when she got stuck in a tree in her yard near Zachary, Louisiana, she and Suni were both very distraught. Bailey cried almost constantly from the tree, and Suni sat agonizing on the ground below through two long nights before she finally discovered my rescue service.

Bailey is normally a friendly girl, but she felt very frightened being stuck in the tree. She was sensitive to the slightest noise and commotion I created as I prepared to climb the tree, and the intensity of her voice would change dramatically with each disturbance. I was getting worried that she would be too afraid of me to allow me to get close, but I gave her plenty of time to calm down before I began to climb up to her, and that appeared to make a difference. I climbed up to her slowly and found her relaxed and ready to greet me. After a sniff of my hand and a few pets on her head, she was ready to step on my lap. I spread the bottom of the cat bag over my lap and encouraged her to step on it. That sweet girl stepped on my lap, plopped down, and curled up there trustingly as if we do this everyday.

I had originally planned to pull the bag up around her to secure her inside for the trip back down to the ground, but when I saw her there so trusting and relieved, I reconsidered. It seemed almost cruel to contain her in a dark bag when she could easily just ride down comfortably on my lap in the most natural way. I went through my mental checklist of conditions that must be met before I take a cat down on my lap, and she checked all the boxes. We were only 20 feet high, the route down was simple and unobstructed, she was in her own home territory, she was now relaxed enough that there was little chance that she would jump, and there were no threats on the ground. So I left the bag alone and let Bailey calmly watch as we rode gently down all the way to the ground. Bailey handled it perfectly, and it wasn't long before she was resting peacefully in Suni's arms again.