"Kit" - A Rescue GonE Wrong

Executive Summary

Sometimes, a rescue goes wrong. This was one of those times. "Kit" was stuck overnight about 30 feet up a pecan tree in Florence. He is a young kitty that Neil and Susan rescued as a kitten. He was crying loudly as we approached the tree. Neil said that he would probably be skittish of me. I told Neil and Susan that I was not worried about him falling or jumping as it was not that high and the ground was soft. I have had many cats jump from higher up and be fine. Neil and Susan held a tarp underneath Kit as I tried to set a rope. My throwbag became tangled, and I freed it by jerking only to get it tangled again. All of this limb jerking scared Kit and he decided to jump, purposefully avoiding the tarp as many kitties do. He hit a limb on the way down, throwing off his balance and he landed heavily on his side. Neil rushed to him and pulled Kit into his lap. Kit lay there limply, meowing in a repetitive soft manner. Both Neil and I stroked Kit, hoping that he would start moving. After a minute or so, his meows faded away, and his tongue drooped from his mouth. For a few horrifying moments, I thought that Kit had passed away. But then Neil said that he could feel Kit's claws tightening on his leg, and Kit's limbs began moving again - weakly at first, then much stronger, and then frantically. I scruffed Kit so that he could not get away and trapped him in a foldable laundry basket I use for throwline. We then took him to the house and transferred him to a carrier. Susan found a vet that was open on Sunday and took him immediately in. The vet report later that afternoon was no broken bones, and a sonagram on his internals looked good. The vet gave some pain meds for Kit. The next night, Neil sent me a video of Kit playfully chasing a stick, so it seems that Kit is ok, but probably down to only 8 lives left. Kit, please stay out of trees! Neil and Susan, many thanks for your generous donation to the Oktibbeha County Humane Society!