"PeyTon"-- A tortie in Trouble

Details

It was near noon when I noticed a voice mail on the Kat Fone. It was from an emotional Chrissy who lives in Saltillo MS; her indoor kitty "Peyton" had been chased up a tree by some stray dogs the previous day and could I help in getting Peyton down? I called Chrissy back and arranged to be there later that afternoon. Chrissy texted some pictures of the tree to me and I became concerned at the number of vines on the tree; it did not look like an easy climb.

When I arrived, Chrissy and her young daughter Savannah led me to the tree. Peyton was about 30 feet up, laying in a large union cushioned by a nest of dead leaves. The tree was covered in vines and had three primary stems, but fortunately there was a clear shot to a union at 40 feet on the same stem as Peyton. I was lucky and hit the union on the first shot. It then took me about 20 more minutes to isolate the line about the union in way that I felt comfortable climbing it. The base of the tree had large bushes around it but fortunately there was a cleared area a couple of feet wide around the base that allowed me access. I anchored the rope to the tree base, and then started up. I was unable to see Peyton until I had nearly reached her as she was hunched down in the union. When I was about 3 feet below her, Peyton lifted her head and looked at me, seeming happy to see me -- she immediately began rubbing her head against the trunk and made happy motions with her paws. I took a minute to clear some vines, then climbed up even with Peyton. I put the Kat bag on my hand, and reached out to Peyton. She cautiously sniffed my fingers, then allowed me to give her some kitty scritches. I started to scruff her, but found that I could not achieve a good grip as her fur was tight. I finally settled on using both hands to pull her off the union and into my lap. Manipulating Peyton into the Kat Bag was made more difficult since I did not have a firm grip on her scuff. Peyton did not complain much, and eventually I was able to get all of her into the bag. After a quick trip to the ground, I handed Peyton off to Chrissy and Savannah, who took her inside for food, water, and loving. Fortunately, Peyton did not seem to have any injuries from the dogs. The post-rescue picture below is courtesy of Chrissy.