I am one of those rare people on TCS who actually lets my cats outside, on purpose. They have been indoors ever since we got them at 6 weeks of age, until about a month ago when I started letting them explore around the yard a bit. We live on a quite country road in a wooded area, so it is a pretty safe place for them to roam. I usually let them out for about an hour or two every day, and they just wander around the yard or play in the trees. When I want them to come in, all I have to do is shake a bag of treats and call them. Then they come running to me...except for today.
I fixed their lunch, and Maggie could hear the food bowls through the open window. Needless to say, I didn't have to call her to come inside. I called Max, and he dashed out from the trees and into the house. But Molly was nowhere to be seen...and she is not shy when it comes to food! So I put down Max and Maggie's bowls and went to find Molly. As soon as I got outside, I heard her mewing from somewhere in the trees. I knew something must be wrong if she was mewing when I called but not coming to me. So I followed her voice, and found her about 15 ft. up a skinny old tree within sight of the house. She was balancing on a branch that was only 2 inches in diameter, and I could tell she wanted to come down but couldn't muster up the courage to figure out how. At first I thought maybe I could get high enough with our step ladder to coax her down to my arms, but it was too short to get anywhere near her. So I finally decided I'd set her food under the tree and wait to see what she would do. I was okay with her being in the tree as long as it was daylight, and I also remembered seeing our neighbor on an extension ladder recently...so I figured if worse came to worse, we could ask him if we could borrow it to get Molly down.
I kept checking on her every 15 minutes or so to make sure she was okay. Once I went out and found she had climbed up about 2 feet higher! Grrr...silly cat! But I was able to coax her back down to her original perch, once she figured out that the branch she was trying to sit on was even smaller than the first! Finally, I decided to take a can of tuna outside and see if that would help a little. Molly loves to eat, so I thought this would be my best tactic. I guess I was right because this time she started making an effort to come down. She crept down to a larger, lower limb, but she didn't have the courage to climb the rest of the way (about 13 ft.) down to me. But then it was as if we both saw it at the same time--a small evergreen tree bent over with its topmost branches intersecting the branch Molly was on! With some more coaxing from me, she was able to reach across and get onto the old evergreen. Since it was at almost a 45 degree angle with the ground, all Molly had to do was weave through its tiny branches as she walked along the trunk all the way to the ground!
You can imagine my relief when she was finally safely down again! It was only about 2 hours, but I was worried she might be up there all night! Of course, I let her have some of the tuna along with her food once we were inside. Now she is resting happily in my arms. I'm sure that was a tiring experience for her! Hopefully, next time she decides to go tree-climbing, she won't go quite so high!
I fixed their lunch, and Maggie could hear the food bowls through the open window. Needless to say, I didn't have to call her to come inside. I called Max, and he dashed out from the trees and into the house. But Molly was nowhere to be seen...and she is not shy when it comes to food! So I put down Max and Maggie's bowls and went to find Molly. As soon as I got outside, I heard her mewing from somewhere in the trees. I knew something must be wrong if she was mewing when I called but not coming to me. So I followed her voice, and found her about 15 ft. up a skinny old tree within sight of the house. She was balancing on a branch that was only 2 inches in diameter, and I could tell she wanted to come down but couldn't muster up the courage to figure out how. At first I thought maybe I could get high enough with our step ladder to coax her down to my arms, but it was too short to get anywhere near her. So I finally decided I'd set her food under the tree and wait to see what she would do. I was okay with her being in the tree as long as it was daylight, and I also remembered seeing our neighbor on an extension ladder recently...so I figured if worse came to worse, we could ask him if we could borrow it to get Molly down.
I kept checking on her every 15 minutes or so to make sure she was okay. Once I went out and found she had climbed up about 2 feet higher! Grrr...silly cat! But I was able to coax her back down to her original perch, once she figured out that the branch she was trying to sit on was even smaller than the first! Finally, I decided to take a can of tuna outside and see if that would help a little. Molly loves to eat, so I thought this would be my best tactic. I guess I was right because this time she started making an effort to come down. She crept down to a larger, lower limb, but she didn't have the courage to climb the rest of the way (about 13 ft.) down to me. But then it was as if we both saw it at the same time--a small evergreen tree bent over with its topmost branches intersecting the branch Molly was on! With some more coaxing from me, she was able to reach across and get onto the old evergreen. Since it was at almost a 45 degree angle with the ground, all Molly had to do was weave through its tiny branches as she walked along the trunk all the way to the ground!
You can imagine my relief when she was finally safely down again! It was only about 2 hours, but I was worried she might be up there all night! Of course, I let her have some of the tuna along with her food once we were inside. Now she is resting happily in my arms. I'm sure that was a tiring experience for her! Hopefully, next time she decides to go tree-climbing, she won't go quite so high!
