Cat Rescue Guy (2025)

22/04/2025

Hannah contacted me to see if I could help with a cat stuck in a tree behind her parent's house in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. They had been hearing a cat crying off and on for five days, and they just discovered it in a very large oak tree just behind their backyard fence on the bank of a creek. They didn't recognize the cat, so I gave them my usual instructions about asking their neighbors, checking for Lost Cat signs and online posts, and posting notices on the local Nextdoor and Lost Pets sites. It is usually to the finder's advantage to locate the owner so the problem and responsibility can be given to them, and sometimes, the owner may be able to coax the cat down when no one else can. I agreed to go there in the morning, and I hoped that the owner could be found by the time I arrived there.

It so happened that there was a Lost Cat flyer that had been placed at all the intersections of the neighborhood, and it was possible this cat could be a match. They called the number on the flyer, and when the possible owners went there to see the cat, they all clearly recognized each other and were very excited. Their cat had been missing for thirty-one days, and they had just about given up hope of finding him again. His name is Kuaitiao, and he has been a part of the family since they adopted him as a kitten four years ago. The name, pronounced KWAH-tee-ou (ou as in out), is Thai and means "noodle soup," and, yes, I had to practice it several times and kept getting it wrong in spite of that.

Kuaitiao is normally a friendly boy at home even with strangers, but that was before he became lost. After spending a month in the wild, he could be expected to be at least very cautious with me in the tree with him, but I was hoping for better. Unfortunately, things got off to a bad start when he became frightened by the installation of my rope in the tree. The commotion I created in the tree was pretty minimal, but it was enough to make him nervous and move around to a short dead stub on the back side of the tree. I climbed up the center of the tree between the major stems thinking that would put me in a good position no matter where he went, but the stems were very large, and Kuaitiao moved to the opposite side of the stem where we could not see each other. While I tried to let him know I was climbing up toward him, he was still surprised when he first saw me poke my head around the trunk. He became very frightened then and started looking for an escape route. He was looking intently at a smaller stem that angled away from us, and he was clearly thinking about jumping to it despite the distance and danger, so I backed off to give him time to calm down. This rescue could turn into a very difficult and lengthy one if he jumps over there and climbs higher, because this is a very large tree with lots of room for him to roam.

I spent several minutes there just being calm and letting him know that I was not a threat. Occasionally, I would reach my hand around the stem so he could sniff it if he wanted. The first few times, he was not interested in sniffing my hand. He just wanted me to go away. Eventually, however, he sniffed, and while that usually settles most cats down somewhat, I couldn't see much difference in Kuaitiao. After some more time and a couple more sniffs, he seemed to be relaxing more. When I reached my hand out to him and he pushed his head into my hand, then I knew everything was going to be fine. I just needed to get around this big stem to get closer to him.

I was preparing an extra rope to help me move to the other side of the stem when I accidentally dropped one end of the rope, and it fell almost twenty feet down. The other end of the rope was attached to me, so I was not concerned about losing it, but I mention it only because something spooked Kuaitiao at that moment, and that is the only thing I noticed that could have had that effect even though it was on the opposite side of the stem from him. Kuaitiao suddenly sprang into action and started climbing down. I saw him only briefly when he came into view below me, and then he went to the opposite side of the stem out of my view. I went down as quickly as I could to follow him, and I didn't even take the time to reel in my loose rope. Kuaitiao had settled on another limb, but when he saw me approaching him from above, he went back toward the trunk and started working his way down. He was going down backward, and I thought he would go all the way, but he stopped and then climbed back up into the junction of all the large stems. There he wedged himself into the tight forks and settled there.

I came down some more where I could reach him, and I touched his back and petted him gently to calm him. The only way I could get him out of this tight spot was to grab him by the scruff and lift him out, so I quickly prepared the cat bag on my arm and did just that. I inverted the bag around him and secured him inside, and this baby's month-long, suffering adventure was now over.

Kuaitiao's super-nice family is enjoying the enormous relief of having him safe at home again, and Kuaitiao is enjoying the comfort and security of sleeping fear-free on a warm lap. It's a great feeling to be able to rescue a cat who is stuck in a tree. It's even better when I can also reunite a lost cat with his family. When the cat has been missing for thirty-one days, it's even more special. You should try it.

15/04/2025

I was naively expecting an easy rescue when I arrived at Kamryn's house in Livingston, Louisiana that morning, but I was surprised by what I found. Yes, Kamryn told me that her cat was very high, but that is what everyone says, and "high" does not necessarily mean it will be difficult. This kind of "high," however, is different. The cat, Alphie, was in a wooded area at the top of a tall, skinny, and floppy Tallow tree that had no limbs until the top. The height at 60 feet was not a problem, but my weight at the top of a tall, flimsy stick like this would be too much for it to hold without flopping me over until it snapped in two.

When trees grow in a wooded setting, they tend to grow tall and skinny in order to reach the sunlight they need. When a cat is stuck in one of these trees, often there are other larger and taller trees nearby that I can climb instead and still be within reach of the cat. That was not the case this time. All the trees were roughly the same height. I knew I could climb Alphie's tree pretty high, but I didn't know exactly how high I could safely go. Perhaps I could get close enough to reach her with the catch-pole. I wouldn't know until I climbed it to see how it responded to my weight, so up I went.

Alphie is seven months old and had been stuck in the tree for three nights. She was in a miserable and uncomfortable spot. There was no way to rest on that skinny limb where she was perched, so she must have been extremely tired of standing and balancing there that long. To make it worse, she was spayed just a few days prior to climbing the tree, so that surely added to her discomfort.

She appeared to be excited to see me coming up toward her, but she was not making an effort to come down toward me to make it easier. As I climbed, I noted how much the tree was swaying due to my weight, and I found that it started swaying more than I wanted sooner than I expected. I had not yet reached the lowest limb, and it was clear that I was well out of range to reach Alphie even with the fully-extended catch-pole. I went as high as I dared, but it was not going to be enough. I stopped there and pondered other options for a while.

Behind me was a Pine tree that, while not much taller than Alphie's tree, was much sturdier, and it would allow me to climb almost to Alphie's height. From there I might be able to reach Alphie by pulling her flimsy tree to me. I wasn't positive it would work, but it was the only option I had. I needed to attach a rope up high in Alphie's tree to use to pull it toward the Pine tree, and if I had had the extra rope with me, I could have placed it while I was up there. I had not planned for this, however, so I had to go back down to the ground to retrieve it and climb back up again.

When I climbed back up Alphie's tree again, I noticed she had come down to the next limb. Suddenly, I had hope that she might come down far enough where I could reach her. I have noticed in other rescues before that some cats won't make a move to come toward me when I first climb up toward them, presumably because they are expecting me to come all the way to them. Once I go back down, however, they seem to get worried that they are getting left behind, and then they make a more determined effort to come down. Even when I have no need to go back down again, I will do so in some cases just to see if that makes a difference in the cat's response, and it often does. That appears to be what happened here, because Alphie was now more motivated to come down. As you will see in the video (link in first comment), she precariously worked her way down head-first to the next limb. It was scary, but she did it and was happy to see that she was that much closer. After a short rest, she did it again to the next limb. That brave little girl came down all the way to the lowest limb. It wasn't easy, but she did it.

To reach Alphie on that lowest limb, I had to go up a little higher than I wanted, but I kept most of my weight on a rope attached lower on the stem and used another rope on the lowest limb just to help hold me upright. From there I was able to pull her off the limb and hold her in my arms. I petted and reassured her for a while and then I wrapped the cat bag all around her until she was secured inside.

Kamryn was very relieved to have her sweet girl safe on the ground again, and Alphie is now enjoying some recovery time in the comforts of home.

Link to video in first comment

14/04/2025

How am I supposed to rescue a three-year-old cat who is skittish with strangers and doesn't like anyone to touch her or pick her up? Well, if it's Millie, the long-hair princess kitty in Hammond, Louisiana, the answer is simply to let her step on my lap. Of course, I spread the bottom of the cat bag over my lap first. I wasn't expecting it to be that easy, and I had been planning for all kinds of other options, but I approached Millie gently and slowly, and she responded with trust. That, and she desperately wanted to get down out of that tree after spending one long miserable night there. To be fair, she was certainly nervous when I first approached her, and at one point I could see her looking upward for an escape path even though she really didn't want to go there, but in the end, gentle patience won the game.

Millie was slow about getting on my lap. First, she placed only her front legs on my lap and then stepped back on the limb. She did that two more times and eventually crouched down on my lap but with her back end still on the limb. I think it was on the fifth attempt that she finally brought her back legs on my lap, and I was then able to pull the bag up around her. Throughout the rescue, I resisted the urge to touch her, but there were at least two times when she actually pushed her head into my hand. I rubbed the top of her head for a second on one of those occasions but dared not do any more. It helps to learn about the cat before attempting a rescue, and I got good information from her loving owners. They were also generous about giving me some excellent pictures of the rescue and Millie afterward.

10/04/2025

Is this a coincidence? That was my first response when Latonya gave me the address where she found an unknown cat stuck in a tree. The address was only two houses down from the address in Zachary, Louisiana where I rescued a cat for one of her neighbors just one week ago. Latonya did not know the cat or its owner, but I had to wonder if this was the same cat. It's black and white, and it appears friendly, so I thought it could be TT, the sweet cat I rescued before. I contacted TT's owner, Lillian, and learned that she was out of town, but her daughter went over there to check, and, yes, sure enough, it's TT. He did it again.

TT's first rescue was very easy. He was in a clean, accessible, front-yard Oak tree, and, after he got over his initial fear of my rope which he thought might be a snake, he was very friendly, came straight to me, and stepped into the carrier. I was expecting the same this second time, so, when Latonya led me to the tree, I was a bit dismayed to see that it was just inside a wooded area, and TT was 50 feet high and 30 feet out on a very long limb. While I still expected TT to be friendly and cooperative, somehow I knew that this was not going to be a quick rescue. After stepping over a low spot in the fence which was otherwise blocking my access to the woods, I found the ground was covered with a uniformly thick blanket of poison ivy, and there were numerous shrubs and small trees blocking my climbing path.

I installed my rope where it would place me on TT's long limb but much closer to the trunk. Since the limb was not steeply sloped, I knew TT would come to me once he saw me there, and there would be no need for me to go out the limb to him. Unfortunately, I was wrong. TT did indeed want to come to me, and he tried to do so, but he could not get past those first few steps which felt too slippery and steep. He tried, but it was too scary to attempt, so he retreated each time. I went out toward him a little bit, but I was limited in how far I could go using the rope where I had installed it. I went back down to the ground, repositioned my rope, climbed back up, and began carefully working my way out toward him.

After going about two-thirds of the way out to him, I reached a point where I needed to place a rope in the fork where TT was resting. He had been spending some of his excited energy by occasionally walking farther out the limb and returning, and I knew he would do so again. I didn't have to wait long for him to walk away, and I used that opportunity to place my rope there in his perch. At his first rescue, when he first saw my rope around his limb, he thought it was a snake and was a bit fearful of it. I hated to scare him with another rope so close to him again this time, but it was necessary, and I knew he would get over it after a few minutes. As I expected, and as the video will show (link in first comment), when he returned and saw the rope, he was concerned, and he cautiously swatted at it and investigated it further. After a few minutes, he relaxed with it, and I began to use the rope to pull myself closer to him. Once I was close enough to place a carrier on the limb in front of him, he readily stepped inside, and I closed the door and secured him for the long ride back down to the ground.

Lillian was still out of town, but she told me that I could place TT in the large cage on her carport. Her daughter would be there just a few minutes later to take TT inside the house. I opened a can of food and placed it inside the cage with TT. After being stuck in the tree for two nights, he was very hungry, and he fully focused his attention on the food until he had finished every last morsel. After that, he was very affectionate with me. He thanked me repeatedly for getting him out of that tree and taking him back home. I enjoyed visiting with that sweet boy and hated to leave him there, but I knew the daughter was on her way, and he would soon be safe and comfortable inside.

Link to rescue video in first comment.

04/04/2025

Two-Face was very distressed at being stuck in that tree in her neighbor's yard in rural Jackson, Louisiana. This energetic, nine-month-old kitty had been stuck for one night, and she was desperate to get down and back home. She loudly begged everyone to help her down, but no one seemed to be doing anything. When I arrived, she pleaded with me to help her, but I, too, seemed no more useful than everyone else until I was eventually ready to climb the tree. She was so happy and energized to see me coming up to her that she started walking far out the limb. At first, I thought she was scared, but she was just so energized that she had to do something. She came right back and was there to greet me when I reached her height.

After our easy introductions, she was ready to go home, and she wanted to be sure she didn't miss this ride home. She stepped on my lap before I could get ready for her. As you will hear on the video (link in first comment), the wind that day was very strong and constant, but after she stepped on my lap, the wind strangely calmed down along with her spirit as if they were both somehow connected. I tried to spread the cat bag over my lap and slip it under her, but that wasn't working very well. Fortunately, she stepped back up on the limb for a few seconds and then stepped back down on my lap as I finished spreading the bag under her. I pulled the sides of the bag up around her and took her back down to the ground just as the winds picked up again. I handed her over to Houston who was just as desperate as Two-Face to get her back down and safe at home again. The wind continued to blow outside, but it was, at last, calm and peaceful on the inside.

03/04/2025

Lillian had been searching for her cat, TT, for five days when she finally found him in a neighbor's large Oak tree. She called me right away, but I was busy with another rescue and could not get there until the next morning. One-year-old TT spent a total of five nights in that tree in Zachary, Louisiana, but at least he was on large branches and wasn't nearly as uncomfortable as he would have been in most other trees. Even so, he was mighty desperate to get down, and his pleading cries for help were heart-breaking to hear when I arrived.

Even from the ground, I could tell that TT was going to be friendly and cooperative, and I was right. His rescue was easy. I simply held an open carrier in front of him, and he stepped inside for an easy ride back down to the ground where Lillian was waiting to carry him back home. What made the rescue interesting and worthy of a video (link in first comment), however, was his initial reluctance to come to me when it was clear he wanted to do so. He kept looking off to the side as if there were some danger there that he didn't want to approach. It took me a few minutes to figure out what was concerning him so much, and it became clear when he began to raise his paw to swat at my rope which was circled around the branch. I am guessing he thought it was a snake, and he was wisely cautious about it. As he was preparing to swat it, he appears to understand that it isn't a snake after all, and then he relaxed a bit more and was ready for a rescue. I have never seen that reaction to the rope before, or perhaps I just never recognized it, but I found it very cute.

Link to video in first comment.

01/04/2025

Poor little Benson. He had such a rough and traumatic day. This one-year-old kitty belonging to Lisa near Loranger, Louisiana went outside, got stuck in an exposed spot in a pitiful Tallow tree, got tossed around during a long, violent, drenching storm, and then suffered the terrifying experience of being picked up by a catch-pole.

I don't like using the catch-pole, but I had no other choices in this situation. The unhealthy, slender tree was one-sided and leaning, and Benson went up near the top of the stem where I could not go without breaking the entire stem. A bolder cat would have come down closer to me, but Benson is not a bold boy, and he sat stubbornly there waiting passively for me to come to him. He is a friendly, gentle boy and would have welcomed me if I had come to him, but we were at an impasse.

I expected him to handle the catch-pole in a docile manner as most tame cats do, but he hated it and fought it. He grabbed the limb so tightly that I could not pull him away. When I finally managed to pull him loose, the extra momentum of the release of his heavy weight at the end of the nine-foot pole was more than I could handle, and I lost control of the pole and had to let it hang down vertically and let him rest on a tiny limb below me. I decided to let him go there since I knew he could not move anywhere on that small limb. He stayed there terrified and crying loudly while I spent some time getting myself reorganized and ready to descend to him, but he had calmed down once I got near him. I expected him to hate me and be violent with me, but he wasn't. He hated that pole, but he didn't associate it with me. He actually let me pet him, and I was very relieved to see that. The best thing at this point was to drop the cat bag over him and pull him off that limb while securing him inside the bag, so that is what I did, and he handled it very well. I took him down, handed him to Lisa, and she took him inside. His long, traumatic day was finally over, and he was happy to be home where he could finally find some peace, safety, and comfort. Rest well, little Benson. You need it and deserve it.

22/03/2025

My recent quiet rescue period ended abruptly with two, similar cases in one day. Both cases were for black cats in the top fork of a small tree which I could not climb in the traditional manner, and during both rescues, I unknowingly turned the camera off when I thought I was turning it on and vice versa. Consequently, I have plenty video of the boring parts of the rescue and no video of the important parts, so I have very few pictures to share.

First was Baby, a two-year-old, one-eyed, sweet kitty who spent two nights in the tree in a wooded area next to her house in Gonzales, Louisiana. She was very anxious to get help up there in the tree and was very cooperative with me with one exception: she refused to walk into the carrier. I really wanted her in the carrier because of my limited positioning options in this tree. I could not get into a position where I could get my lap nearly level with her, but I could hold a carrier up to her for easy entry. Since she refused to go inside the carrier, I had to lift her off her limb and bag her. She didn't struggle or fuss, but she grabbed the limb tightly and managed to get all her claws stuck in the bag. I eventually freed all her claws and got her settled and comfortable in the bag for a safe ride back down to the ground. Debbie carried her back home, and they are both happy girls again.

Just as I was finishing Baby's rescue, Pamela and Cara contacted me about an unknown cat they discovered in a tree in their backyard in Baton Rouge. The cat had been stuck there at least one night. They didn't recognize the cat, but it appeared tame and was wearing a collar. I arrived to find the cat in the top fork of a small tree which I would have to climb the hard way just as I did with Baby earlier. The cat appeared to be friendly, and when I climbed up to him, he proved to be exceptionally friendly and cooperative. He was happy to have some company and help. I managed to work my way up high enough where I could place my lap just below him, and he knew exactly what to do. He did not hesitate to step on my lap, and I enjoyed visiting with him there for a short time. I had already spread the bottom of the cat bag over my lap, so all I had to do was pull the sides of the bag up around him and secure him inside.

Once we were back on the ground, I left him in the bag so I could check him for a microchip. I found a microchip, so I began the process of finding his owner. In the meantime, we transferred him to Cara's carrier, and Cara had already planned to keep him inside her home until we found the owner. I called the microchip company but, instead of talking with a live agent, I could only leave a recorded message and wait for them to return the call. Cara took the cat inside for food, and I packed my gear and left. A few minutes later, Cara told me she found the owner. I didn't recognize it, but the cat had an Apple AirTag on his collar which Cara used to get the owner's phone number. The owner lived very close and came to retrieve the cat, so this super sweet kitty is now safely back home.

12/03/2025

UPDATE:
I don't know who it was, but someone called the fire department, and, to my shock, they actually went out there this morning. The cat was scared, ran from them, and jumped to the ground. (That is why I wanted to set a trap.) I am told the cat appears to be fine. So the crisis is over now, but I want to thank all of you who referred capable people to me, and I am very grateful for all the many offers of help. It is heart-warming to know that there are good people out there who are willing to help. All you have to do is ask. Thank you!

ORIGINAL POST:
I need help. There is a cat stuck on the roof of a two-story apartment building here in Baton Rouge. This kind of thing happens often, and it is usually a case where the cat climbs a tree, jumps onto the roof, and can't get back to the tree. I would typically climb the same tree the cat used and either lure the cat to me or set a trap on the roof. In this case, however, the tree the cat used is not suitable for me to climb and there are no others. Instead, I thought I could use a ladder to reach the lower roof and then move the ladder on top of the roof to use to reach the upper roof where I would set a trap. Folks, I can't do that. It's not safe for this old man to do. I'm no good on sloping roofs, especially when trying to lift a heavy ladder up there with me. Roofers do this all the time and have no trouble with it, so I need the help of a roofer or someone who is super experienced and comfortable with ladders and roofs and is professionally safety-minded. I need someone who can place and set the trap I provide on the upper roof, and then I will need them again to retrieve it, hopefully with the cat inside. It would be best to set the trap in place late in the day shortly before sunset and retrieved the next morning, since the cat simply hides under the overhang all day to avoid the hot roof and sun. If there is anyone out there who is willing to do this, I will meet you there on your schedule. We have authorization from the property manager. Tonight, Tuesday night, is at least the third night the cat has been stuck on the roof as far as we know. The cat is unknown. Call me at 225-573-7715.

10/03/2025

Louie puzzled me. He is a sweet, friendly kitty who happens to be stuck in a tree in his backyard, and he was friendly with me when I approached him in the tree and petted him, but he occasionally made some growling noises which let me know that something was wrong. The first growl came when I reached for the carrier which was behind and below him and out of his sight. It made a little noise when I began to move it, but it wasn't anything drastic. Maybe that was a coincidence. Maybe he is growling because of his discomfort, or he felt like he was losing his footing, or feeling some kind of pain. I didn't know.

Louie was perched in a fork of the stem and had been there for two nights already, so I know he must have been uncomfortable and tired of being there. Because of his position and the way in which I had to approach him, the best way to bring him down was to hold a carrier up to him so he could walk into it. That is why I was reaching for the carrier, but his growl gave me pause. Since I didn't think the carrier could have been the cause, I reached for it again and brought it slowly and gently into his view well below him. He growled again. This surprised me because Matilda told me she didn't think he had ever been in a carrier. He was first discovered as a lone kitten and taken to the vet and neutered at a very young age, but that was almost two years ago, and Matilda did not think a carrier was involved then.

I put the carrier away, and Louie was still friendly with me. I could still pet him, and he even surprised me by licking my finger at one point, but his voice still continued to have a little tinge of anger mixed in with the usual distress from being in the tree. His cries were sustained a little longer than usual, but not enough to alarm me. I was still not sure what was bothering him or if it had anything to do with the carrier at all, but I was not going to try the carrier again.

I didn't want to pull him out of the fork by the scruff and bag him, but I had decided that is what I needed to do to be sure I got him while I could. As I prepared the cat bag on my arm, Louie decided to turn around to face me. Up to this point, he had his back to me the whole time, and turning around was not an easy maneuver in this small fork. He seemed calmer, and since he was now facing me, I thought there was a good chance he would step on my lap if I could get a little higher. I used a couple ropes to get myself in a better position, and he was now showing interest in my lap. I spread the bottom of the cat bag over my lap, and Louie calmly stepped on my lap. Room was tight with the two ropes holding me in position there, but we made it work, and I pulled the sides of the bag up around him and took him down.

Louie is fine and safe at home now, and I did not do any more tests with the carrier to see if that was the reason for his growling, but I sure would like to know.

07/03/2025

We had some severe weather roll through our area recently, and that was the day that Fynn chose to get stuck in a tree in his next door neighbor's backyard. He hung on tightly as the wind and rain thrashed him about, and it broke Kristy's heart to watch him suffering up there and to be unable to help him. Kristy did her best to coax him down, but he was 45 feet high in a Sweetgum tree, and Fynn was just too scared to try. She called various people and services for help but failed until Animal Control referred her to me, and by that time, Fynn had spent two nights in the tree.

Fynn is a sweet and friendly boy, but I was worried about my rope installation scaring him out to the end of his limb where I would not likely be able to reach him. To prevent that, I chose to install my rope below him and work my way up to him gently and quietly. That was the plan, but I struggled clumsily and noisily like an amateur climber to reach him, and Fynn was concerned enough to walk out his limb. Fortunately, he went only half way out and was still at a point where he could easily return. Once I settled down, he came back to me and introduced himself. I was still in a very awkward spot, but I was able to earn his trust and friendship before making a little more commotion to get myself in a better position to rescue him. I had to work at it, but I was able to get myself high enough where he could step on my lap, and that is exactly what he did. I already had the cat bag prepared over my lap, so all I had to do was pull the sides of the bag up around him and secure him inside. Fynn was very quiet and patient inside the bag even though it took me a long time to get him back down to the ground.

I could sense Kristy's love and concern for Fynn from the first moment she contacted me, and it was even more evident when I handed Fynn safely back to her to take home. It is at that moment when all the fear, stress, and worry of the past few days are finally relieved. This is serious stuff here, and sometimes even I need to be reminded how important and meaningful it is. It feels wonderful to be able to do this, and I desperately hope there will be others to take my place when I am no longer able.

Cat Rescue Guy

22/04/2025

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