Cat rescue... Ideas please!

tomthetreeman

tomthetreeman

Participating member
Location
Rhode Island
So, last night I got a call at 8:10 PM to go rescue a cat. Long story short, I got to 'Twix' at the end of a giant oak leader after a couple hours of talking to her and getting familiar. It was pitch black, and my rope was almost horizontal, so I needed one hand on my rope for balance. I got her by the scruff of the neck and brought her to my chest, but she was very distraught, and she attacked me, scratching my face, arm, and biting into my finger (through the glove) right to the bone. I had to drop the cat, because I was in a very compromised position, and there was no place to lanyard in or to get a better TIP. The cat took off, and may have sustained some injury from the fall. If I had a second hand, I would have been able to control the situation, but alas, I was 30' horizontally from my TIP without a better option. The cat had been there for six days, so I felt like I needed to get her down, but I am really bummed that this happened. I have done maybe ten rescues before this, and this was the first time this happened. I have always gotten them down safely before, without this much trouble.

Does anyone have a tried and true system for getting a cat into a safe, controlled situation for descending? Has anyone been in an uncomfortable spot like this and had some success? I know I should have had thicker gloves, but I dont think I could have grabbed her with them... And how do you get the cat into a safe situation for descent with one hand?

I would appreciate any ideas, and no cat-hater BB gun posts. Folks with experience please respond. Thanks!

-Tom
 
Seems like I read on here before about stitching a bag onto a thick glove. SO you grab the cat then just pull the bag over and pull the drawstring.

Cat bites can be nasty. My wife had a bad bite a while back and it got infected and was quite painful.
 
A wiry little tortoise shell looking thing bit me with serious intent. Same situation but in a pine near the top so my TIP was like that with no lanyard... didn't get me nearly as bad though. I had it coming, she started to go out beyond my reach and I grabbed at her, got mostly tail and she turned and bit me and I let her go.

You know the thing about scruffing them with a pillowcase reversed over your arm right?
 
Jesse's idea seems like the best for a one handed situation like I had... I just can't imagine how I would secure the bag, let alone anything else with one free hand. I am thinking about a collar-stick thing like the animal control folks use. Thoughts on that? Will it work on a cat or will it choke it?

-Tom
 
This video on google video is not working for me right now...maybe it will for you...in case it doesn't, I use a plastic garbage can rigged to contain the cat in the tree and I lower it down once I have it in the can.

I have used this method at least 5 times now...I basically don't touch the cat...I don't grab it for sure. I have had to push the cat's bottom to bump it into the bucket once it get interested in the tuna in the bottom of the bucket.

I have redundant safeties on the garbage can so that if one fails the other one catches the load. I make sure to tie the top down securely once the cat is in...I attach the rig to my lowering line with a biner...the groundie, usually the owner unclips. I tell them to open the bucket/garbage can in the house so the cat doesn't take off up another tree.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8209831677872406800#
 
how about a butterfly net and a rope bag, or a rope bag and a welding glove, the zip tie will secure the top of the pillow case to your saddle and keep it closed give the pillow case and cat in one package to the cats owner. i think a cheap pillow case cost about a buck, .05 for the zip tie welding glove 10 a pair, so $6.05 for the set up per cat n no bites trying to get the cat out of the rope bag or butterfly net.
 
Jeff, I definitely thought of the net idea. Seems like there are lots of variables with that, but it also seems like a good, low impact way to get kitty out of a tree.

Gary, I like your idea, but I doubt it could have been employed last night. Pitch black, no overhead lowering point, climber (me) horizontal to TIP with no good lanyard point. Add to this that the cat was spooked by every little move I made, and I just can't see rigging all that gear up there at 10:30 last night. It was a challenge just getting me to the cat. Did I mention that the tree was wet?

-Tom
 
The part about 30' out horizontal from your TIP concerns me...unless you had some intermediate safety set you were set to take a 30' fall/pendulum...easy to do in a dark, wet tree.

Is a cat worth your injury/death?
 
I posted about midwest tongs on another thread. They also have some animal control gloves, incredably bulky and spendy. One of my passions is that I'm a reptile nerd. With rattlesnakes we use a set of tongs (trash picker sytle) and a pillow case. Getting them into a bag is hard, but once it's done we give the bag a few twists and tie a over hand.. I havent done any cat rescue's. But if I had to I would give the midwest tongs "bagger" thing a try.
 
Tom, IF your going to get the GLORY, sometimes ya gotta deal with the guts.

Like pantherabra said WHAT were you thinking?

Sounds like your ego your writting checks your skills couldn't cash!
 
Well, I was there, and the fact that the cat was there six days was a factor. You're right, I probably should have bailed and gone back in the daylight. I would have been able to tie in differently, and probably set a redirect. It's not so much my skillz not being able to cash the check, but the fact that it was dark and late.

Panther, there were some limbs and such along the way, and I made sure I kept my weight to one side of the leader, so if I fell, I would not have fallen all the way back. That being said, in retrospect, it was still a bad idea. I think I will stick to cat rescues in the light of day.

-Tom
 
I applaud your common sense and not getting your feathers all ruffled...I promise I (and truly all of us) have done borderline safe or just dangerous things we got away with...I am glad you only got clawed, scratched, bit and mauled...hahaha. Stay safe...I hope we still get some good ideas for rescue from your thread.
 
Tom,

it seems like the dark was rushing you.

I got a parot one time.

once I got up there, I spent about 20 to 30 minutes just hanging out getting it to calm down.

I hoisted the cage up and it crawled in.

maybe you should have left it for the night and let it get a little hungry (the parot was there for 2 days before I got there so it was really hungry).

then bring up a big fat tuna. (smile)

I know it was a different animal, but it is just a thought.

slower is better.
 
For what it is worth, this happens to be the topic this month in TCIA's Treeworker. Here is what I wrote:

Cat Rescues

I want to talk about cat, or other pet, rescues this month. I received 3 calls last week, 1 the week before when I was out of town and 2 the week before that. The more of these I do, the more it has gotten me to think about them.

First, I think that it is great experience to be able return a pet to a very frightened, and finally, relieved, person. Especially the last few I did with a few 7-8 year-olds waiting for their kitty to be saved. Second, to dispel the myth that “you’ll never see a cat skeleton in a tree.” I have seen one and heard of a few others. There is a small bit of truth to the statement though; usually the cat either gets fatigued and falls or attempts to jump to a nearby tree or building and falls.

If you are planning on doing them, there are a few things to consider:

1. Safety. From some recent experiences, I would have to say that not everyone should be doing cat rescues. Especially climbing ones. (I even doubt that some that I have seen should be doing tree work at all!) You should not be putting yourself, or the cat, at unnecessary risk.

I did one a few months ago where a local “tree cutter” spiked up the back side of a pine tree which was within proximity to a power line. I am fairly confident he was not qualified to be that close to an overhead energized conductor. (Plus, I had to ascend up that side of the tree and get covered in the river of pitch that he left from his spikes!)

2. Marketing. I am finding that very people knew how to find someone to do this. Many of them stumbled across Dan Kraus’s website, “Cat in a Tree Rescue” www.catinatreerescue.com by accident. If you want to do them, I would make sure that all of the local animal shelters, vets, even the police and fire departments know about you or about the website.

3. Insurance. I know that there are a lot of people out there that do rescues, kind of like a side job. Many of them do not carry their own liability or Workers Compensation Insurance. People think it is good money, but they are putting themselves, and the pet owners, and their employers, at risk. (I don’t charge for the service, but have started accepting donations for gas money, 3 calls in one week!)

4. Animal Handling Skills. Just because you can climb, does not mean you can safely do a cat rescue. I have seen a few “dog” people try to do rescues, it usually doesn’t work. You can’t climb the tree and order to cat to come to you, like you would do on the ground with most dogs.

Most of my rescues, the cat is really ready to come down. They have often been in the tree for more than 4 days, it has been hot, or rainy or windy, or all of the above. A few times I have had the cat rescue itself. One of them jumped into my Newtribe rope bag as I was opening it, another one crawled down my arm.

A few times, the only way I could get the cat close enough to put it in my rope bag, was by ignoring it. Nothing attracts a cat quicker than being ignored. Sometimes rattling a plastic container with hard food works. Other people use different tools and techniques. I am owned by a pride of cats so I know them pretty well. It has made all of my rescues pretty easy (except for the pine pitch climb).

So think seriously if you want to offer this service. Like everything else; do your homework, look at all of the risks, protect yourself and your family and do it if it makes sense.
 
Tom,

Don't know if this would work in your Oak tree, but I once did a cat rescue in a topped Doug Fir. (I didn't top it, and that's another thread...)

My whole climb up, cat waited for me sitting on the 5" diameter topping cut, I'm talking to it by name as I climb, thinking this will be easy. As soon as I popped my head up to her level, cat bolted right out to the end of a limb.

With no tree left to climb on to get a TIP higher than the cat, I came up with a cunning plan...

I secured the limb with a couple of slings, then got out my handsaw and started slowly cutting the limb a foot or so out with no undercut. It peeled down nicely, cat hung on like only a cat can.

With the cat below me, I was able to come down to it, slowly chased it down the tree to the last couple limbs, pausing to give the cat a chance to calm down, bagged her and took her to the ground.

Of course then it was back up the tree to release the cut limb and make a finishing cut.


Northwind
 
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