Cat Rescue Guy

I have had two rescues in the past three days, both of which were disappointing. They were both successful in the sense that they ended with the cat on the ground and doing well, but how they got there is another matter. First, was an unknown cat that was 50 feet high in a Pine tree in Denham Springs.  She appeared to be a young torbie, but I never got a good look at her to verify that. She was afraid of me and went out near the end of her limb. All my coaxing, food bribes, charm and patience had no effect on her, and she went out to the extreme end of the limb where the tiny twigs could not hold her. She fell 50 feet to the ground and ran off out of sight. She appeared to be fine, but it is a very unsatisfying feeling for me that I could not bring her down safely. The second rescue was for Bojangles, a large black-and-white, four-year-old boy who got stuck in a leaning Tallow tree in his own backyard. He had been there only eight hours or so when I arrived, but he was stress...

The weather forecast was not good. Tropical storm Barry was in the Gulf and expected to strengthen and come ashore sometime during the night. In advance of the storm, heavy rain showers had been forecast for my area in the late afternoon, but they did not appear to be materializing as predicted. Still, they could begin to form at any time, and the winds were picking up a bit. This would be a terrible time for a cat to get stuck in a tree, and I was glad that I did not have a cat rescue to do. Then the phone rang. The caller, Lauren, had just found my number when someone on Facebook recommended me to her in response to her post about her cat being stuck in a tree. Lauren had already suffered through the jokes, indifference, bad advice and platitudes that always rear their ugly heads in this situation, so she was relieved when I not only took the matter seriously but also said I would get her cat down. We just needed for the weather to hold off a little while. I feared that th...

It is always a challenge for the children of a blended family to learn to get along. Such was the case when Mandy introduced her dogs to Tony's cat, Penelope. The dogs liked Penelope very much -- a little too much -- but the feelings were not mutual. The backyard, which formerly was Penelope's undisputed domain, was now suddenly going to the dogs, and Penelope was increasingly finding it necessary to hide under the shed. This time, however, they caught her by surprise, and she had to climb up the tree to escape their enthusiasm. Tony was there when his mama cat gave birth to Penelope and two other kittens. Tony found good homes for the other two kittens and kept Penelope and the mama for himself.  Penelope has been with Tony for five years now, and their bond has grown very deep, so when  Penelope became stuck in the tree, Tony did everything he could to get her down. Despite his determination and efforts, however,  nothing was working. The thirty feet of vertical dist...

A young and friendly tortie just showed up at Ashley and Dom's door, and their 10-year-old daughter, Landry, quickly became attached to her and named her Peanut Butter. The cat was a bit of a mystery. The neighbors did not recognize the cat, and no one else has responded to the Found Cat posts on social media. They are an animal-friendly family, so they continued to feed and care for Peanut Butter while they waited for the owner to be found. Just a few days later, the family took a short trip and returned to find Peanut Butter up in a tree across the street in the neighbor's yard. Peanut Butter was about 30 feet high on a large limb of a tall oak tree. Despite all their efforts, they were unable to coax Peanut Butter down, so Ashley began to search the internet for ideas. That is when she found me and gave me a call. This sounded like it would be a quick and easy rescue. They were located only 10 minutes from me, and the cat sounded very friendly with strangers. If al...

He was due. Simba, my record-holder for most rescues, has not been stuck in a tree for more than eight months, so I figured it was about time to hear from him again. Today, I did. Simba did it again and got stuck in a tree in his front yard, and this is the eighth time I have rescued him. If you think that I find his habitual behavior annoying, you would be terribly mistaken. Simba is among my most favorite cats to rescue, and when he does not get stuck in a tree for a while, I miss him terribly. I am actually happy to learn that he is stuck again and that I have another opportunity to go visit with him. He is always cooperative, and the rescue is usually quite easy. Not only is he relaxed and friendly, he is also beautiful. Finding him in the tree was easy this time. He was only 20 feet high in the tree and crying out to us below. I picked out a large limb about 10 feet above him and installed my rope there. He calmly watched me as I climbed up to him and greeted me with his butt ...