Some cats see an open back door, yawn, and go back to sleep.
Some cats bolt at the speed of light.
Our Boss Cat would bolt—and then stop in the center of the patio. She’d look back at the human in the doorway, tail twitching. If no chicken bribe appeared within 30 seconds, Boss Cat would climb a tree and disappear over the fence.
Her hapless humans would then circle the block with chicken, calling, “Here, kitty-kitty! C’mon, Boss!”
The speed with which we found Boss Cat was inversely proportional to the time since her last meal. If she’d just eaten or already gorged on a chicken bribe, she couldn’t be lured home. Instead, I’d walk around, checking in with dog walkers.
Boss Cat liked dogs. She liked to play with them. She especially liked to hit them in the face. While out hunting for Boss with our dogs, I once ran into one outraged neighbor and his prized Basset hound show dogs.
“Look out,” he warned me. “There’s a cat back there that’s followed us half a block and keeps trying to attack my dogs! I think it might be rabid!”
I sighed. “She’s not rabid. She’s mine. She likes to beat up dogs.”
The neighbor stared at ninety-pound Woofie and seventy-pound Fey. “Even those big dogs?”
“These dogs are her personal punching bags. She’s clearly bored and hoping for new targets.”
A neighbor across the street, one who didn’t have a fence but who trained her Labrador retrievers to stay on her property (mostly), flagged me down during another hunt for Boss.
“Your cat was sitting in your front yard a little while ago. My six-month-old puppy saw her and went on alert. I told puppy to leave it, but she charged across the street and straight up to your cat.”
“Uh-oh.”
“Your cat didn’t even MOVE until puppy got close. Then she smacked puppy right across the muzzle. It was so hard I heard it, clear across the street. Puppy ran back to me as fast as she could. I don’t think she’ll be leaving the yard to chase cats again,” the neighbor laughed.
Boss could clearly take care of herself, but I still worried. All it would take was a car or a coyote, and we’d have no more Boss Cat. Baby D would be devastated. I would be devastated. Even Andy would be devastated (maybe).
One evening, when my ExStepmother was visiting, I circled the block repeatedly, unable to find the cat—until a neighbor over the back fence finally pointed up.
Boss Cat was lying across the telephone wire above our backyard, a foot or two from the telephone pole. Maybe she got there while in hot pursuit of a squirrel (telephone wires are the squirrel highways of the neighborhood). Her perch was precarious, at best, with her belly straddling the wire and one front claw snagged on the wire.
I could see the problem. If Boss yanked hard enough to pull her claw out, she’d lose her balance and fall. She might even wind up hanging by that one claw.
Baby D turned to me, face full of alarm. “Mommy! You have to save her!”
“That’s twenty feet up!” exclaimed my ExStepmother. “Mommy needs to call the fire department!”
I shook my head and went to get the ladder, telling her, “I read recently that fire departments don’t do that anymore. At least not in big cities.” (ExStepmother is from a small town in New Hampshire.)
Now, no one knows better than I do that even if Boss Cat fell, she would probably be fine. Cats are built to land from great heights. Humans…not so much.
I climbed the ladder anyway. I couldn’t stand to see Boss Cat stuck like that, especially not as nightfall approached. And I couldn’t let my cat or my kid down.
At the top of the ladder, I was still about 10 feet shy of the cat. I moved to the telephone pole, continuing upwards using the metal rods driven into the pole that utility workers use to access electrical and phone lines.
Which was when I discovered why utility workers always wear heavy clothing and gloves, even in summer. Those telephone poles are not smooth. They are splinter fucking central.
It was like climbing a porcupine–and I was wearing light cotton clothing. I collected slinters on my stomach, chest, and hands. I gritted my teeth, continuing until I was high enough to reach the cat.
This was the part that worried me. Cats are not the most rational or trusting creatures. Boss might fight me, or try and flee. And how was I going to carry her back down? I had not thought this rescue through.
I was an idiot.
Luckily, my cat was not an idiot. Boss Cat didn’t fight as I unhooked her claw. She immediately crept across the wire and my arm, settling herself smoothly across my shoulders. Like she’d totally thought this through while I was climbing. Or like she rode human elevators daily. The cat stayed put until we were about 8 feet off the ground. Then Boss Cat jumped down and went straight to Baby D, who carried her inside and fed her chicken.
I put away the ladder and spent the following week removing splinters.
The next time Baby D’s Cub Scout troop visited the local fire department, I did ask one of the firemen, “You guys don’t get cats out of trees anymore, do you?”
The nice young fireman said, “Actually, we will if we aren’t too busy.”
SONUVABITCH.
Author’s Note: If your cat ever does get stuck in a tree, who you gonna call? An arborist.
Hmm, that combines two of my favorite things: heights and electricity. I hope your cat knows you’re a hero 😀
LOL, I think she believes me an obedient servant/ elevator.
Never had to rescue from a pole but from a tree many times. When I was a kid we had indoor/outdoor cats that either didn’t think out their climbing strategy or enjoying watching humans scurry up a tree to the rescue. They are little devils.
How did you manage the cat and climbing down the tree? I found out later there are all kinds of strategies, from a laundry basket to a bag, for getting the cat down. All involve heavy clothing.
Since I was a kid, there was always an adult (who was too chicken to climb the dang tree) helping me. Most of the time it wasn’t all that high and I could almost hand down the cat.
As I get older myself, I wonder how many adults were chicken…and how many were like, “Nope. No way my knees can handle that!”
A lot I suspect. As a child, you didn’t realize you couldn’t do something.
Oh you were brave aka stupid, but mostly brave. I had a cat growing up who’d torment dogs without a care. But to climb up as high as you did, you are a hero. I wonder if Boss Cat is grateful or just figures that’s what humans do to keep their bosses safe?
Well, I am fairly certain that Boss thinks the entire world exists solely for her benefit–human elevators included. I am afraid my heroics have done nothing to convince her otherwise.
There are so many beings that we can’t save in this world that we jump at the chance to be heroes when we can–especially when our kid expects it of us. Splinters be damned.
You are far braver than I. I would not have been braver enough to scale the pole.
Or stupid enough, which is to your credit. 🙂
And here I thought fire departments rescuing cats was a cliche, kinda like cops and donuts. I’ll file that in the back of my mind, though I highly doubt Sydney will be climbing telephone poles anytime soon given her advanced age.
I think most fire departments are EMTs now. There just aren’t that many house fires anymore. Wildfires, on the other hand…
Wow boss cat truly is a boss cat!!! Does she slap them with her paw?? Wow that is so badass haha. Hopefully no dog has ever given her trouble?
Yep. Paw to muzzle and HARD. Once she smacked Fey and Fey kind of snapped at her. Most cats would run, but Boss just got mad and hit Fey’s muzzle even harder. Fey visibly winced and then slunk away.
Rarely does Boss have to use her claws. But she did give one giant asshole of a dog a bloody nose.
That was a heroic save. Glad it worked out. Sorry about the splinters.
Last week I cat sat for my daughter’s two cats–the fat lazy one and the lean, naughty one. My neighborhood believes in housecats. My daughter believes in allowing her cats some freedom, so they’re used to exploring the great out-of-doors, and they come home when it suits them. Even though I’m in a city, we have a creek and some woods across the street that attracts coyotes. The ones I’ve seen look well fed, but who knows when they might feel hungry. I’d have hated to lose one of my daughter’s cats, so I tried to keep them inside most of the time. But the naughty one became unbearably naughty when he didn’t get his way, so I gave in a few times let him out with a warning to be careful. The fat, lazy cat also found ways to slip out. Now my daughter is back, and all is well. Successful cat sitting.
Anytime you can hand the cays back healthy, that’s success! Naughty kitty sounds a lot like Boss, though she harasses us for food, rather than the great outdoors.
Wow. I can totally imagine myself doing this exact same thing. I don’t think Trixie would allow herself to be saved quite as easily as Boss Cat did though. (I mean not that she made it easy for you getting up there in the first place.) Anyway I’m really glad you both survived — my heart was pounding as I read this!
Yep, we would do anything for our little fur monsters! And our herculean efforts will forever remain unappreciated, of course.
Yay, a successful rescue! I’m glad you and the cat were ok, except for the splinters.
I’m always a sucker for successful rescues. Even if it meant the tweezers and I were very close friends for a week.
Oh yeah, had similar experience with my beloved black cat who cried when he got to the top of his first tall, thin tree. I, however, explained that I would not be able to climb the tree, but I did talk him down, branch by branch – you know, just let you left back paw go down a couple of inches, there you are… all the way down. Leapt into my arms from about the 8 foot height (yes, ouch, but something I got used to over time). Then climbed straight back up 😀 Still the best cat ever. I’m loving the sound of Boss cat keeping the neighbourhood dogs in order. Mine was a bit of a chicken and kept getting bites on his fore left elbow joint from doing hand-offs. We didn’t even watch American football, so no idea where he got the idea!
That’s some good tree descent coaching. I’ve done that with Bossy before, as well as other cats. But with with that claw snagged, well, it didn’t seem like an option. Of course, neither did the fire department, and I was wrong about that!
Yup, no way to ignore that you’d need to get hands on with that scenario. Don’t get me wrong, I was admiring of you while thinking how grateful I am that I wasn’t in your position. That said, there were many years of hanging out of windows and climbing onto roofs for past much loved cats. We’re mad I tell you, mad!
Mad as a…catter?
😀 😀