Violet and Max

My favorite way to bring a cat down from a tree is on my lap. I will usually have a hand on him ready to restrain him from jumping down too soon if needed, but, otherwise, he is not contained in a bag or carrier, he can see exactly what is happening, and he feels more of a sense of control over his situation. Of course, I don't do this very often because certain requirements must be met before it can be considered a safe and appropriate option, yet, despite its uncommon occurrence, I have already done two of these just within the first week of the new year.

The first was for Violet, a sweet, six-month-old black kitty who was stuck about 20 feet high in a dying tree in her yard in Walker, Louisiana. Violet is one sibling in an orphaned litter of kittens who Claudia has been raising with great care since they were all extremely tiny. Violet and her siblings are all well socialized, so I had no trouble making friends with her in the tree. After we got acquainted with each other, I picked her up and placed her on my lap for a short ride back down to the ground. As expected, she jumped off my lap once we were on the ground, and she ran back home looking for food even though her total time in the tree was only 16 hours. Our time together was short, so I failed to get many pictures of her.

Three days later, I got a call from Mike in Denham Springs to see if I could rescue their eight-month-old family cat, Max. It was already close to sunset time, and I could hear the disappointment in his voice when I told him that I could not get there until morning. The family was hoping I could go right away, and Mike explained that his daughter was especially bonded with Max and was likely to stay out all night with him. Max had sneaked out the door the night before and immediately got stuck in a neighbor's tree, and he had been stuck in the tree for about 32 hours by the time I arrived the next morning. Max was not the least bit disturbed by my rope installation, and he came straight to me when I climbed up to him. This cute boy stepped on my lap, and I let him stay there as I gently brought him down to the ground, a distance less than 20 feet. Once I was on the ground, Mike's daughter came over, picked up Max off my lap, and held him tightly to her face with a look of great relief and love. Most cats are in no mood for that restraint once they reach the ground. They just want to be free to walk and run and be in control of where they go, but Max was perfectly content being pressed against her face. I think that is what he wanted too. He made no effort to escape her grasp, and he remained relaxed while she carried him back home. It was a touching scene, and I wish I could show it to you on video, but when I returned home, I discovered that I had picked up the wrong camera to use during the rescue. The camera I used had a dead battery, so I recorded nothing of the entire rescue. All I have is this single picture of Max once he got back home.