Milo

Milo is a seven-month-old kitty in Walker, Louisiana who always runs away from strangers, and that is exactly what I expected from him when I started climbing up to him in the tall Pine tree in his next-door neighbor's yard where he had already spent one night. Milo didn't wait for me to get close. He started climbing higher as soon as it was clear that I was headed in his direction. I felt lucky when I saw him go out on a short limb because he would be trapped there once I climbed up level with him. However, when I got close enough to see that his limb was very dead, I became worried that it could break at any moment without warning, and that is where the video (below) begins.

I spent several minutes there with Milo trying to calm him down and prove my friendly intentions, and while he did calm down and come to accept me somewhat, I could not get him to come any closer to me. I wanted him closer, not only so that I could reach him, but also to reduce the stress on the limb. The farther out he went on the limb, the greater the chance that it would break. The limb was on the opposite side of the trunk from where my rope was installed, so my rope was pulling me away from him, and I was having a difficult time getting in a position where I could reach out to Milo without touching the delicate, dead limb.

I tried to lure him to me with a squeeze-tube treat, and he liked that very much but would not come any closer to me to get it. I reassured him with some gentle pets on top of his head, but, again, he would not come closer. There were a few tense moments when his back end slipped off the limb, but he managed to catch himself and get back up on the limb safely. Each time that happened, I heard a small cracking sound in the limb, and the last time that happened, the sound was louder and even more alarming. I placed a hand under the limb to support it and tried to get my cat bag prepared with the other hand. It is very difficult to get the cat bag ready with only one hand, and it was taking too long. In the meantime, Milo slipped once again, and this time, I reached out as far as I could and grabbed him by the scruff with one hand and lifted him under his chest with the other. I placed him on my lap expecting him to be too nervous to be this close to me, so my intention was to get him in the bag before he had a chance to escape. To my surprise, however, he settled very calmly there on my lap, so I decided not to stir the pot by trying to contain him in the bag which was now in disarray. I held him there for a minute, and he remained calm and relaxed.

I don't normally like to take a cat down to the ground on my lap from this height, but, otherwise, all my requirements for a lap rescue were met. He was an indoor/outdoor cat who knew the territory and was very close to home, and there were no threats to him on the ground. I began to descend, but I kept an eye on him and was prepared to stop to bag him if the need arose. The need never arose. He stayed still and calm all the way down until the ground was close enough that he was ready to jump off my lap. He jumped to the ground and ran toward home, and within minutes, he was safe at home eating and ready to resume his routine.