Mission: Rescue Dennis

Friday night started like it normally does. After I got home from work, I fed the cats then we went out to eat.
Dennis wasn't at his feeding station which was unusual. I thought I heard him crying then decided it was one of the other cats.

When we got back home, he still wasn't there. I went out around 10 p.m. and called for him. I could here him crying but didn't see him. So I went inside and got the hh and flashlights and we began our search. We looked for him for an hour. Finally, I located him way, way up in a tree.

The next morning he was still there. Our vet tech told us not to worry about us he'd come down. That was Saturday.

By Sunday we were getting concerned. He was way way up. Note the three prongs at the top of the tree. Yup that's where he was.

The hh went to Lowes and bought hardware and 2 x 4s with the idea of making a ramp for him to come down on. We worked on it a couple of hours but he was just too far up for our makeshift cat ladder. So Dennis spent another night in the tree.

By Monday (today) we were all freaked out.

I called the fire department. Nope, they don't do cats in trees.

So I called the animal shelter. Nope, liability issues, but they did put me in touch with a gentleman whose business was critter control. He kindly agreed to come out and get the kitty down.

When he got to the house, he put a long extension ladder up against the tree and began to climb. I very helpfully stood at the bottom of the ladder ringing my hands and begging him not to fall.

Dennis took it all in stride. Like a true gentleman, he didn't scratch or bite, even though he wasn't quite sure what to make of the stranger looking him in the eye in the tree top. The man scruffed Dennis and comes down the ladder from the top of the tree, one hand on the rung, one hand on Dennis' ruff, Dennis dangling in midair.

About ten feet from the ground, our critter control man starts yelling 'my hand's going numb',with Dennis swinging back and forth in the air, but he made it far enough down for me to grab Dennis.

Mr. Dennis was quite happy to see 'terra firma' after 4 days and 3 nights in a tree. And the hubby and I were pretty happy too.

A big thank you to our 'critter control' man. His job is not for the faint hearted. Thank you, J.

~*~

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