Must-Read cat rescue tips

[pantheraba]

Good point....if you are smart enough to get the cat down without having to climb the tree you still need to get paid.

Silly owners...I got to one treed cat site and it looked like a war zone...for water balloons. They had been throwing water balloons at the cat for three days to scare it down.

THAT was one pissed off cat. When I reached the pine limb it was on at 30 feet height it went to the end of the limb...and jumped! Luckily there was some thick brush below it...after crashing thru the brush I saw a streak of tawny yellow head for the deep scrub. The cat returned to the owner the next day or so...she called to let me know he was OK. I had felt pretty bad the cat might have killed himself but he was too pissed off to die, I think.

The owner still paid me $100 for trying...nice girl. Considering I already had 45 minutes driving time and 30 minutes getting setup I accepted the dough.

 

[bstewert]

I wonder what they used to launch a water balloon 30' into the air?!

Cats are amazing. I've had about 1/2 dz jumpers. One even hit the asphalt from 40', took off and showed up at the house 2 hrs later. I definitely tell the owner about the jump possibility ahead of time. Just looks bad when the cat jumps, even when it's not your fault.

This little guy went out to the end of a branch about 60' up. Had him in my pole net for a moment, but he managed to wiggle out and fell, and hit the garage roof with a big splat. Nobody on the ground saw him, and he wasn't on the roof when I got down there. Someone saw it cruising the neighborhood the following day. I told the lady no charge, since it wasn't even her cat. But she paid me anyway.

 

[Jack]

The last few rescues I have done I haven't had to touch the cat. I climb past it (or over from another tree) and descend towards the creature from above...kinda like death from above, I guess...'cause they see me coming with gear clanking and carrying a big black plastic trashcan with ropes hanging off it and they decide they DO know how to climb down.

Which is fine with me...I don't like messing with pissed off cats in trees.

And I have increased my fee enough that folks get all incredulous and decide they really don't love kitty as much as they thought they did.

Gary, that's the best cat 'rescue' post I've ever read. As Butch said; "interesting technique" ... most interesting indeed!

 

[pantheraba]

I did another cat rescue last Sunday. The initial call came in about 1:30....I was planning on just chillin' that day...resting a tweaked shoulder. I routed the caller to another climber nearer her area...no good. The other climber didn't return her call so she called me back and said, "Come on!!" The cat had been in the tree 5 days; owner unknown.

My wife went along and was a great help to make things go smoothly. Worst part was the cat briar...LOTS of nasty vines in the only decent access area to the tree. We had a good time bantering with the soon-to-be owner of the cat. They still don't know who it belongs to, no missing posters, etc. No-Name was well mannered (didn't try to kill me ) and acted the perfect lady ever since her rescue. The new owner sent me an email the next day which I thought was a nice touch:

Hey Gary,

Just wanted to thank you again for getting the cat from the tree on Sunday. Wanted to update you a little.

She's still eating and drinking like there's no tomorrow - thought it is slowing down. We weighed her Sunday night and she was about 6.2lbs. By the next morning, at the vets, she was 6.7 pounds. She was cleared of everything. No worms or parasites, and negative for Feline Aids and Leukemia. No fleas, ticks, abnormalities and only a small scratch on the bottom of her chin.

We've posted on a few sites saying we found a cat - but if no one claims her by next Sunday, she's already found a home. And she will be an indoor cat.

As you can tell from the picture - she was clearly traumatized by the experience.

Thank you once again, you literally save lives.

TJ​

You have to choose HD in settings to get best quality (1080p)

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[bstewert]

X-cell-lentay!

 

[FireFighterZero]

That branch looked entirely too small.

Nice work, sure was a nice cat too!

 

[pantheraba]

Ha! I was one meow and two laid back ears away from cutting the branch down with the cat on it.

 

[gf beranek]

I never found a cat skeleton in a tree. They must all get down on their own eventually.