Cats | Pet Lover Blog

Not long ago, our cat climbed the tall trees around our house and refused to come down.

We tried all the tricks:

• Opening a can of tuna and putting it at the base of the tree.
• Standing below and sweet talking it.
• Leaving it alone till it figured out how to come down on its own.

Nothing worked. She cried all day and all night.

It was pitiful.

The first time she did this, I was traveling for the week. My wife called and said, “What do I do?”

“She got herself up there. She’ll come down when she’s ready,” I said.

That advice was filed in the “no-help” category. She called the volunteer fire department. They really didn’t want to call out the boys to come drag the cat out of the tree either.

At the end of the second day, I called her back and told her that according to resources on the web, cat’s (almost) always come down between the third and fifth day when they get hungry enough.

“FIVE DAYS!?” came roaring through the phone line. “I’m not waiting five days. She’ll be dead!”

She was overreacting of course. The cat came down, hungry and tired, and extremely affectionate for an otherwise crabby cat.

“See,” I said. “You just have to let nature take care of itself. We didn’t have to worry about her. She knew how to solve her own problem.”

Two weeks later, I was working from home. The cat went up another tree - all the way to the top! All day, while my wife was at school teaching and I was home, tapping my computer at the kitchen table, while the cat cried outside the window.

On the second day, I stood at the base of the tree and talked to the cat trying to coax her down. With her big eyes locked into mine, she talked back to me as if she were pleading for help. After breakfast I put the little bit of yogurt that remained my bowl under the tree and clanged the spoon against the side of the dish. That sound always draws her.

She looked at me crying even harder. If I could talk CAT, I’m sure she was saying, “Of course, I want that yogurt, you idiot. But do you see me - I’m 50 feet in the air in this huge tree!”

I was feeling pretty helpless.

After lunch, I dragged the 40-foot extension ladder to the tree and precariously positioned it on a slanting hillside so I could get a little higher in the tree. Then, donning a long sleeve shirt and leather gloves, up I went, one shaky step at a time.

The cat went higher.

I stepped on the top rung - right on the yellow sign warning me not to use the top rung as a step - and climbed another 7 or 8 feet up the tree.

As I looked down, I realized I’m a 52-year old seditary man, 20 pounds overweight (on a good day) and about 50 feet off the ground coaxing a scared cat to come a little closer so I can grab her - or worse - so she can grab me.

“This is a disaster in the making,” I remember thinking.

Latching onto the cat by scruff of the neck, I held her at arm’s length so that her horizontal paws, flailing at me like a small windmill with claws attached, couldn’t get me. I shinnied down the big oak leaving deposits of flesh from my one arm wrapped tightly around the bark while peeling the cat off of every limb within paw-reach.

Slowly, and sweating off most of that 20 pounds, we made it to the ground.

When my wife came home, she looked at the tree where the ladder still leaned and said, “Tell me you didn’t climb that tree.”

I confessed.

“I couldn’t take it anymore. The cat needed our help and somebody had to rescue her. She gets scared of something, runs up the tree and can’t come down by herself.”

She thought for moment, looked at me, and said, “That’s Ryan, too, you know.”

My youngest son, scared for the moment, climbs a metaphorical tree and can’t come down. So, for years I, or another member of his family, climbed up to rescue him.

I hate it when she’s right!

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OUR CAT GOT OUT

One night our “indoor only” cat, Julian, got out through an open second-story window and wandered off. We quickly learned the next morning how little we really knew about what he would do and how to get him back. Julian is the sweetest, most adorable cat, but he’s dumb as a box of rocks, and we knew he would have no idea how to get home. We hadn’t thought he needed a collar, being an indoor cat, nor did he have a microchip implant with our information should he be found and taken to the local humane association or vet’s office.

For two days my husband and I walked our neighborhood for five blocks in each direction, asking everyone on the street if they had seen him. We put up fliers with his picture and enlisted the eager help of young neighbor children. We called his name over and over as we walked with a bag of food that we would shake. One of our friends brought a dog to sniff him out. Julian never answered and was nowhere to be found. It was like he has simply vanished.

Finally we found him about fifty feet from his point of escape, hiding in a neighbor’s garage. The garage door had been open most of the time he was missing and we had walked right by him numerous times, calling his name. In spite of that he didn’t meow and he didn’t come home. We figured it was because the home had two large dogs and he was frozen with fear. Don’t overlook a home or yard just because it has dogs that live there! Our cat was right under the nose of two so-called retrievers who never noticed him. We went back around the neighborhood and told everyone that we had found him. By that point they cared too!

DON’T FREEZE UP

Don’t fall into the trap of GRIEF AVOIDANCE where you tell yourself the cat is already gone for good; you won’t be able to avoid the pain of loss by saying it’s just a cat. Your cat is probably within a five block radius and can most likely be found!

We learned from the shelters and vets that any cat can become “displaced” when moved, chased or otherwise dislocated from its territory, like jumping out a window. For indoor cats, the inside of its home is its territory, so it will quickly feel displaced once outside.

WHAT DO CATS DO?

Disoriented and afraid, most “indoor only” cats will NOT come to you even if they know your voice, recognize you or your scent, or hear the sound of food being shaken. Their instinct is to hunker down in a concealed place, USUALLY NEAR THE POINT OF ESCAPE. They will NOT MEOW because that would tell predators where they are. This is not because the cat does not love you; rather, silence is a scared cat’s survival instinct.

SO WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?

Your best technique for finding the cat is to GO HOUSE TO HOUSE in your neighborhood, checking every area in which a cat could conceal itself, such as under porches, in bushes, under decks, up trees, anywhere small enough for a cat to fit. Ask your neighbors if you can search their property. All of ours said yes and most got out and helped. Call a few friends to help you. More people can cover a wider area and the moral support will help you. If it is nighttime, use flashlights as they will reflect the cat’s eyes. Remember: cats do not run away; they are waiting to be found.

You can also rent a HUMANE TRAP from most humane associations for about ten dollars. These are also sold at home stores like Fleet Farm or Home Depot. The traps look like long cages. Set one up near your home by a door and put kitty’s food inside. Once the cat gets inside to chow down, the back of the trap drops and he’s safely inside.

You should also contact the police and let them know your cat is missing. They are the ones who pick up injured and dead animals from roadways and can let you know if a cat matching yours has been found. Also contact the local humane association and give them a description of your cat so they can identify him if someone brings him in. Call them daily and make friends with the people who answer the phone. Write their numbers down in one place so if you need to call the next day you won’t have to look it up each time.

Of course, putting up fliers and placing an ad in the newspaper might help as well, but these methods are far less immediate than GOING THROUGH THE NEIGHBORHOOD WITH A FIND TOOTH COMB, ESPECIALLY NEAR THE POINT OF ESCAPE, AS SOON AS YOU FIND THE CAT IS MISSING.

Finally, don’t lose heart! While it’s hard to stay focused when you are emotionally distraught, remember that most cats get lost during their lives and most are found and return home. Unfortunately, lost cats need YOU to find THEM, not the reverse. You have to be persistent and determined. A methodical strategy is your best chance of getting him back. Our vet heard of a cat that was missing for 54 days, and due to the owner’s persistence returned home safely. Don’t give up!

Diana Rivers lives in Appleton, Wisconsin with her husband Michael and three cats: Marcus, Julian, and Ella. As soon as GPS locators get small enough, each family member will have one.

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