Reggie

It is very common these days to see videos of people taking their cat on some kind of outdoor adventure whether it is a walk in the park, hiking in the wilderness, camping, boating, cycling or just about any other kind of activity. These videos can be very fun to watch, and I often marvel and delight in the stimulation and experience that the cat is getting. I even feel quite envious and would love to have my own cat accompany me on such outings. At the same time, I cringe and feel very tense at the risk they are taking with their cat, and I want to shout, "NO! Don't do that! And especially don't encourage others to do that!"

I understand. It looks like great fun for both you and the cat, but rare is the cat who can go into unfamiliar territory and feel unbothered by it. I know everyone thinks that their cat is that rare one, but it almost certainly is not. Maybe you have done this a few times before without any problem, but, if so, you have been lucky. All cats who are displaced into unfamiliar territory are going to be at a heightened state of alertness for any sign of a threat, and it does not take much to spook them into a panic. Once they panic, you will be helpless to stop them from running for safety, and having them tethered to a harness and leash will give you a false sense of security. Cats have been known to bolt while dragging their leash behind them, and they have been known to squirm out of their harness in magical Houdini-like fashion. It takes only a few seconds, and I have seen it happen.

When a cat flees in a panic, he is looking for safety and will go to where he either can't be seen or can't be reached. He is in prey mode, and he will not make a sound that reveals his location to a predator. He won't respond even to his owner, so finding his hiding place can be extremely challenging. This can lead to very stressful and torturous hours, days, weeks or months of searching for a lost cat, and it is possible that you may never see your cat again and never know what happened to him. If you're lucky, however, he will climb a tree and get stuck there. I call that lucky because then you know where he is and that he won't likely go anywhere else. Plus, it is much easier to recover a cat in a tree than a cat on the ground in an unknown location.

Samantha was lucky. Her cat, Reggie, climbed a tree. As she has done a few times before, Samantha was taking Reggie out for a pleasant, morning stroll in a new, mostly quiet area when someone in a golf cart quickly passed harmlessly by them. That was all it took to spook Reggie, and she ran up a nearby Cypress tree and settled on a limb about 20 feet high. Reggie is a cool cat. She is friendly and docile with everyone and normally not easily spooked, but she was in new territory, and no one has control over all the unpredictable events that may occur there.

As a group, displaced cats are the trickiest and most difficult to rescue in a tree. First, these are cats who must be secured, that is, they must not be allowed to come down on their own where they can run off and become lost. That means that it is usually best not to leave them in the tree overnight when they are most likely to go down. Since they need to be rescued sooner rather than later, they often have not been in the tree long enough to feel safe and calm down, so, when a rescuer goes into the tree with them, they are more likely to view the rescuer as a predator. Not only does that make the rescue more difficult, it also makes the tree not a safe place to be anymore. Now the cat feels more motivated to escape both the rescuer and the tree itself.

When Samantha called me, I explained the risks and difficulties with her, but everything she told me about Reggie reassured me that this rescue was more likely to succeed. Reggie is normally friendly with everyone, including strangers, and though she had been in the tree only 45 minutes up to that point, she appeared to be calm and relaxed. When I arrived, I was pleased to see that Reggie did indeed appear calm, and she looked friendly as well. I climbed up to her slowly while creating as little commotion as possible, and Reggie appeared to be perfectly comfortable with my approach. Once I was within reach, I held my hand out to her, and she sniffed it and nodded her approval. I came up a little higher, and she remained perfectly relaxed and welcomed my touch on her head and back. Since I knew that she was comfortable with her carrier, I slowly lifted my carrier up to her while watching her closely for any negative reaction. She did not react to it with anything other than curiosity. I held it in front of her while she inspected it and sniffed it thoroughly. Once it passed inspection, she calmly stepped inside, and I closed the door. Sweet cat, easy rescue.

Once we were back on the ground, Samantha took Reggie inside her car and smoothly transferred her to her own carrier. All ended well this time, and I was delighted for this easy and successful resolution to a situation that could have potentially ended badly. It is the cat's disposition at the time of the rescue that makes the biggest difference in the outcome, and we were all lucky this time that it was a sweet, calm, friendly cat named Reggie.