Cleo, Izzy, Sonny and Jaimie

This is supposed to be the slow season in this area for cats in trees, but the cats don't seem to know that. I have done four rescues in three days, and I also had calls for two other rescues that resolved on their own. I don't know why the cats have been so busy lately, but I know that I don't want to leave them in the tree very long during this July heatwave. While I certainly do enjoy the end result of rescuing these cats in this heat, I must confess that I do not enjoy the process of getting them there. I'm not much to look at even when I'm all cleaned up, but after all the sweating I do in one of these rescues in this heat, I look like I have been standing in a  heavy rain storm and rolling in mud puddles. It's not a pretty picture, and the stink is even worse, but it is all worth it to bring an end to the suffering of these cats and their owners.

The first rescue was for Cleo, a sweet nine-month-old tabby boy who was stuck in a tree next to his house in Springfield, Louisiana. When he escaped his house and got chased by another cat, his family went out to look for him but could not find him. It is worth noting that they were right by the tree he was in but could not see him, and Cleo did not respond to their calls because he was too afraid to reveal his presence to the other cat or any other predators who might be out there. It was not until the next day that he felt safe enough to cry and help them find him, so he spent two nights in the tree before I arrived to rescue him. Cleo was sweet and ready to be rescued, and he easily stepped on my lap where I had spread the bottom of the cat bag. I pulled the sides of the bag up around him and took him home where he was greeted with joy and relief. Honest, it was not my fault this time, but I have very few pictures to show because the tree turned off my camera when I bumped into a big limb early in the rescue.

Later that day, I rescued Izzy, a super sweet and trusting six-month-old kitty who had been stuck in a tree in Denham Springs for one night. Izzy trusted me from the start and could not imagine that my intentions were anything but good. She stayed relaxed as I climbed up to her, and she calmly stepped on my lap for a lap-bag rescue as I had done before with Cleo. She wasn't very high, so it was a short trip back down to the ground where she was reunited with her family.

The next day, I got a call for an unknown orange tabby cat in a tree in Denham Springs. They didn't recognize the cat or know how long it had been in their tree, but they were worried about it. After I arrived and talked with a few neighbors, we learned that the cat belongs to a neighbor across the street, and, since they saw the cat early that morning, he had not been in the tree but twelve hours at the most. His name is Sonny, and he is a very sweet, friendly, ten-month-old boy. He was wary of me at first, but I quickly reassured him, and he stepped on my lap for another lap-bag rescue. As I was climbing up to him, I reached to turn on my camera only to discover I forgot it, so I have no pictures of him.

The next day, I was off to Ponchatoula to rescue Jaimie, another sweet orange tabby boy who is almost three years old. I could tell by the tension in his body and the swishing tail that he had some concerns about me as he watched me climb up to him, so I stopped and reassured him before advancing any higher. He eventually let me get close, and he sniffed my hand, but he didn't fully relax until I petted him gently a few times. After that, we were buddies, and I thought it would be easy to get him to step on my lap. I was wrong. Yes, he placed his front legs on my lap, but nothing I did worked to get him to place his back legs on my lap. Even the squeeze-tube treat which he loved could not lure him fully on my lap. When I tried to pick him up to place him on my lap, he held onto the tree so tightly that I thought it best to let him go. After several minutes, he got bored with me, turned his back to me, and settled down as if to take a nap. It was time to bring this drama to an end, so I got the cat bag ready, dropped it around him from above, and lifted him up into it to secure him inside. He registered a mild complaint but otherwise handled it very well. It was all quickly forgotten once he was back inside where his family, food and comfort were found.