Cat Rescue... kinda sporty

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Blinky

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I think I've admitted this before but... I rescue cats in trees. I realize it's a personality disorder and all but I don't take anything for it. Compared to day rate work it pays damn good, it's gratifying to hand someone their cat that they've been stressing out over and mainly, most cat rescue customers are women. So that's my reasoning in the debate over whether cats even need to be gotten out of trees. I get between one and three of these a month these days, and they all go pretty easy, but every once in a while they get interesting...

So there was this average sized cat, waay the hell up in the fine tips of the top this marginal 60' sweetgum. This is the only picture I took.

CatRescue_0733.jpg


He was upside down just before the picture was taken. He wasn't upside down when I got there though, he did that as I was trying reach him on a higher branch... it wasn't the first time he was hanging there 50' up, ass over tea kettle.

There were some big pines kinda close by that I could've put a line in to get a high TIP but it would've been a big production and this was a little, easy to climb tree. I figured I could stay near the stem at the top and he would just magically come in to me from those tips cuz I'm such a handsome and charming guy. I got up there and set a TIP around a couple 2-1/2" stems and almost even with this cat... which I was already disliking for some reason. He was not charmed, in fact, he didn't like me either and he wasn't coming in, he was going out further. I said some bad words, got my bag ready and tried to stretch out to him but the wood was just too thin. I would get to a point where I had to fully weight the limb he was on and when I did, it would bend way down and he would just go further out. Until he went too far where he would flip upside down and say bad words in cat language I guess. Then I would back up and then he would get his ass back upright, kinda. It was weird though, he was very un-cat like, straddling the limbs like in the picture, not at all agile. I guess being in a tree over a couple of sub-zero nights will do that to you.

We did that a few times until one of the twigs he was on snapped and he barely caught himself with his front paws. I actually hesitated a second as it went through my head that this would be a great photograph. This cat was obviously about to free fall 50', I could get 6 or so frames with a good DSLR. But then I realized I should be freaking out because this cat was gonna free fall 50', pretty much at the owner's feet. So I walked out on the limb enough to make it bend into the tips of the limb below, the one in the picture. Pretty good idea I thought... but it wasn't happening because the stupid cat wouldn't let go of the limb he was barely hanging on to. Then it broke. I was good and everything, my part didn't move all that much but the noise was enough to make him move. Of course when he did, it was into more tips and he flipped upside down again. The owner had to have been wigging at this point because I counted seven of his nine lives used up in about 10 minutes.

I knew once I got down on the lower limb I'd have a better rope angle so I could ease out, scruff his ass and bag him. He seemed to to think I was trying to kill him or something though and went out further again... until he flipped again. He was way the hell out there now and my rope angle wasn't that good, but I did stop and shoot that picture. He'd been upside down and flopped over so many times at this point I figured I could spare a shot with the phone.

After that I just stretched way out and nabbed him. I was pissed, he was pissed and right away I realized I had a pointy, agitated, biting critter in my left hand, my rope in my right hand and some dodgy maneuvering to do before I could put a bag on him. And he got more pissed every time I moved until there was a brief moment when I'm pretty certain I was more afraid than he was. I know landscaper whose hand was grossly dis-figured from infection from a severe cat bite... and this little guy definitely intended me harm.

For a few seconds I entertained the idea of throwing him out of the tree and telling the customer it was on the house but around here that would probably make the papers. Save a cat, no story, throw a cat out of a 50' tree, story. Instead I just put him down on the tree side of the limb and he immediately climbed a dead stub on the other side. Perfect, I had him cold at that point, he was easy to bag but he kicked around inside for a while, a lot more than usual. That's it, everything else went normal, end of story.
 
For a few seconds I entertained the idea of throwing him out of the tree and telling the customer it was on the house but around here that would probably make the papers. Save a cat, no story, throw a cat out of a 50' tree, story

crackin me up blinky:lol:
 
I was bustin reading this.. Ummmmm Blink.... Maybe a rope snare on a pole might help.... It's how I do raccoons ... LOL
Really ... seriously it works :)
 
Nice job and nice story. I tell folks that one time out five the cat is afraid of me and jumps. I also tell them they are usually fine, in fact the higher they fall from the better off they are according to one study done in NYC.

Haley and I got called on a cat rescue a few days ago. That kitten started to come out of the tree on its own just as I was getting ready to set a line with the big shot.
 
Do cat treats work at all? Or maybe some tuna. I've only done 2 cat recues and they were last minute type deals. No prep time whatsoever.
 
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I had one jump a couple of months ago, right after I set a throwline. It was pretty far, at least 30', and that cat wasn't anything but hungry when it got home.

Kirsten's been on a few and Bryce has been on a few. They love cat jobs because we always eat out afterwords.
 
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Do cat treats work at all? Or maybe some tuna. I've only done 2 cat recues and they were last minute type deals. No prep time whatsoever.

I know people have tried catfood and stuff but I don't want it around my gear... might make it smell bad. The only thing I carry extra for cats is a pillowcase.

I figure if they're up there for a few days they can't be tempted by food or they would have already come down. Usually they will come to you if you go slow and talk to them... this one just happened to be a moron of a cat.
 
The food trick hasn't worked well for me. I had one cat walk over to me before I had redone my tie in and was ready for it. That cat was nothing but affection and appreciation. It sat on my shoulders as I rappelled out of the tree. Other cats have been little demon spawns.
 
Nice work Blinky, so do you ever get lucky for your troubles??:lol:I always try to get a few people with a sheet. Had one jump 60 feet last summer and the ground crew(cats owner +neighbour) made a pefect catch, cat was fine:)
 
I've only done one cat rescue ever, but it was a good one.
I got a call from the lady who owns the little place in the pictures. Her sisters cat had been missing for 6 days and had just been found way up in a douglas fir.
They had called the local firebrigade/rescue outfit, but since they wanted 600$ for every ½ hr. she thought of calling me. I did some logging for them in their 2500 acre forest.I was right next door and not doing anything, that couldn't be postponed, so I headed straight over.
The doug fir was sceduled for falling, so I could spur up,set a line, grab the cat and rappel down. Just for fun I send them a bill for 1 hour climbing time and nothing else.
They sent me a pair of tickets to a concert at the castle as a thank you, and best of all. I have had all treework around the place since.
 

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Nice Chip.......my last one did not go so well, but I still got paid.

Did the cats foul language sound like this?

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Cats are not really stupid,they just need training .

I would say the average cat could equate the results of a running chainsaw near the base of a tree in about two or less lessons .:)
 
Good stuff, Blinky and Stig. The few I have done there are usually very concerned kids around that really appreciate the help, too.
 
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Now we just need to find a way to spread jelly on a cat, while up in a tree. Do you suppose, one could maybe spray it on?
 
You hang with royalty, Stig! That is darn cool. Would you mind asking them if they need any woodwork done :)
 
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  • #24
Now we just need to find a way to spread jelly on a cat, while up in a tree. Do you suppose, one could maybe spray it on?

How about jelly packets and a bigshot, do it from the ground.

With that cat in the doug fir you should've just walked up with a chainsaw and told'em you'd have the cat down in a jiffy... kind of a two for one thing.

Cat skeletons have been found in trees, I've seen pictures of two examples, both were wedged in crotches... but that whole argument is mute because you are actually rescuing the cat owner's peace of mind, not the cat. I've left my own cat up a few times, he always came down after a day or two. He was a badass though, plucking him out of a tree would've been suicide.

And yeah John, you know that really pissed sound right at the end of the video? I distinctly remember one of those sounds. It was the only time I've ever been afraid of a damn cat.

I worked for a vet for a while once and he showed me how to immobilize a domestic cat by scruffing the back of it's neck, grabbing both hind feet with a finger between them, and then stretching it. Works every time but it takes two hands. I only had one hand on this one and he was flipping out... I honestly thought about tossing his wiry ass.
 
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  • #25
Doc just dropped $800 for a spayed Bengal kitten. That's one cool looking cat!

You mean a Bengal Tiger kitten? Or is that some kind of domestic breed?

I think I might charge more if the cat in a tree was a frikkin tiger.
 
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