
Trucker is a Bengal cat who had been stuck in a tree for 7 days. Apparently,
a neighbor’s dog had chased Trucker (he’s named after a country music band, the
Drive By Truckers) into the tree. His human tried various things to get Trucker
to come down -- extension ladders, the canned tuna trick, and, of course, hours
of loving coaching from below, but all was in vain -- Trucker was not coming
down on his own.
I went out the morning after I got the call to see if I could help. As I got
there Trucker was mewing and whining – the poor thing hadn’t had anything to
eat or drink except rain water and bugs (maybe) since 8 days before. Trucker
was holed up in a gash in the tree about 35 feet up.

At one point as my rope dangled in front of Trucker he playfully reached out
and batted at the line. That made his owner happy since it showed her that he
still had a bit of spunk left. When I got close to Trucker it was obvious
that he didn’t understand my intentions and he started to climb higher.
Fortunately he wasn’t feeling too adventurous and the spot he climbed to was
actually better for making the grab.
I lowered Trucker to his human who happily opened the bundle and presented a
much-relieved Trucker with his first kibble in 8 days. It felt like Christmas
morning for both of us.