What would you do you if you woke up one morning, walked out on your 2nd story back porch and saw an unfamiliar cat looking back at you from in a tree just 15 feet away? That's what Rachel and her family woke up to on a recent Tuesday morning. They waited and watched until Wednesday evening to see if the cat could make its way down, but it just kept crying for help. As they waited they tried to find the owner by knocking on neighbors doors, calling around, and posting to the neighborhood news blog. Nothing.
I came out Thursday morning and as I arrived at the house there were two young girls (one with a can of wet cat food) who correctly guessed that I was there to save the cat. They had seen the neighborhood post and wanted to lend a hand. A moment later a man walking his dog stopped and offered to help after seeing the post as well. This community was really interested in this poor kitty's plight!
Rachel showed me to the back porch and pointed out the kitty's blue collar, but we couldn't tell if there was a name plate on it - just a cute little bell. The blue collar prompted us to stop calling him a girl! I climbed up to the kitty using a high line in an adjacent tree and confirmed that there was no contact information on his collar. The cat was friendly and in due time let me stuff him into the rescue bag. Back on the ground we let him into a waiting cat carrier and the kids eagerly provided a bowl of water and the fresh can of wet food, which he happily gobbled down.
One of the neighbor girls eagerly volunteered to care for the cat in her room until the owners were found and they headed off while I gathered up the gear. As I was walking back to the car with my gear a woman came down the driveway. "Did you guys save the cat", she asked? Turns out she was the owner and lived right next door! I called the temporary foster sister and asked if she could bring the cat back over, which she did. There was a happy reunion and we found out the big boy is named TK. Gotta love a happy ending!
