Simba and Milky

It has been rather quiet here lately in what I assume is the beginning of the Summer Season Slowdown, but there happened to be two local kitties, Simba and Milky, who boldly defied the seasonal norms and got stuck in a tree anyway. Simba, a sweet orange tabby in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, spent one night about 30 feet high in a narrow Sweetgum tree in his backyard. Even though he is normally timid with strangers, he appeared to overcome that quite easily with me. He came to me and seemed very comfortable with my petting him, but he didn't see how I could be of any use to him. He repeatedly came to me to say hello, and then he would turn around and go back out a short distance on his limb. I could not convince him to step on my lap, so I decided to just grab him by the scruff and bag him. I always aim to be as gentle as possible, but I mishandled the bagging, and had to be less gentle than usual to ensure that I secured him inside the bag. Once he was secured, I reassured him there on my lap, and he forgave me and sat patiently there while we went back down to the ground. He is safe at home again where he is very fortunate to have a family who adores him.

Milky is a ten-month-old tortie who lives with her three litter-mates in nearby Central, Louisiana. She and her litter-mates all escaped the house recently, and the family rushed to get them all back inside. They recovered all her litter-mates, but they could not find Milky until two days later when they heard her in a neighbor's Pine tree. Of all the kitties in her litter, Milky is the one who is most fearful of strangers. She was only 20 feet high on the lowest limb of the tree, but the tree was large, and she had a lot more tree to climb if she became frightened of me. I climbed up to her slowly and carefully, but my caution seemed to be unnecessary as she seemed to be very receptive as I approached. She stayed on her short limb even while I was almost level with her, but I could also sense that she was not completely sure of me. She kept wavering between trusting me and not trusting me. It took some gentle pets over several minutes before she finally decided I was at least trustworthy enough. At that point, I placed my hands under her chest and lifted her off her limb and placed her on my lap where I had already spread the bottom of the cat bag. She settled very comfortably there, and after a few reassuring pets, I lifted the sides of the cat bag all around her and secured her inside. Milky is safe at home again with her litter-mates and a loving family who had been very worried about her.