Zibby's Rescue

Zibby is an outdoor cat who has been stuck in trees before, but could always come down on her own. This time her owners called me on day 5 when it seemed Zibby was unable to come down on her own.  Zibby is particular about who can touch her, which is usually a sign that the rescue will require a lot of patience.  Such was the case this time.

Zibby was about 70 feet up when I arrived and as I placed my rope in an adjacent tree and climbed toward her she climbed another 6-8 feet higher.   She wouldn't come back down to me and with darkness falling and no headlamp with me, I had to climb up to her and scruff her quickly despite her (weak) protests.  Sorry for the poor video quality.  That is due to the low light conditions at the time of the actual rescue.

Even though Zibby always stays outside, her family released her from the rescue bag into their garage to be sure she was ok and that she could build up her strength before going outside again.

I packed up my gear in almost total darkness with the help of a loaned flashlight (thank you!).  As I talked with the family (who lives 45 minutes away from me) we found out that we had met in passing at a church function previously.  It's a small world for cat lovers!