Boots and Ponyo

Boots and Ponyo were both rescued on the same day, but, otherwise, these two kitties are not related. Boots is in Covington, Louisiana, and Ponyo is thirty minutes down the road in Ponchatoula. Both were stuck in a tree for two nights, both were about 50 feet high, and both were sweet, cooperative kitties who stepped on my lap for a lap-bag rescue. They are also both victims of a camera malfunction -- most likely operator error -- that resulted in very few pictures of the rescue.

Boots is four years old, and he was stuck high in a Pine tree at the edge of the wooded area behind his house. He was very unhappy about being stuck there, and he complained about it constantly and loudly. He didn't stop fussing until I climbed up there with him, and he sure was glad to see me. As I sat with him a minute and prepared for his rescue, he walked along the limb next to my head and rubbed his face against mine. Boots is a very affectionate boy. When I spread the bottom of the cat bag over my lap, he knew exactly what to do. He stepped on my lap, and I secured him inside the bag. At that point, he began fussing again. It seems he did not like being trapped inside that bag, but it wasn't for long. He was soon back inside enjoying a life of freedom and comfort with his big family.

Ponyo is a one-year-old orange tabby boy with a very laid-back personality. The tree he was in gave me only one good place to set my rope, and he was very close to that. To get my rope in that spot, I had to aim a giant sling-shot very carefully to shoot a weight attached to a string over that crotch without hitting Ponyo. I succeeded, but laid-back Ponyo noticed the weight and string whizzing through the air by him, and he got a little upset. It was actually a good thing that it took me a long time to finish getting my rope in the tree because that gave Ponyo time to settle down. By the time I climbed up to him, he was laid-back again. He was actually a little too laid-back. He didn't seem to have much interest in me. He didn't know me and could not imagine that I might actually be useful to him. When he caught the scent of a squeeze-tube treat, however, he began to get interested. He stepped on my lap, and I secured him inside the bag for the long ride back down to the ground. Unlike Boots, Ponyo was cool and calm the entire time in the bag, but he showed signs of relief and excitement once he was back home where the food and love are. After being stuck in a tree for two nights, you would think that he would want to stay close to the ground, but when he was ready for a nap, he settled in the top of his cat tree.