Conference misery::feline_v1

      Hmmm...tie a concrete block around her tail????(just kiddin'...just
    kiddin'....JUST KIDDIN'!!)
    
      Actually, there probably ISN'T much you can do...but the Fire
    Department in a midwest town...Cincinatti I think...has a standard
    answer now for anyone who calls to "get my kitty out of the tree"...
    They refuse, and as a reason they ask the owner. "Have you ever seen
    the skeleton of any cats hanging in a tree? No?? Guess that proves that
    when they get hungry enough they'll come down on their own"
    
      That doens't do a lot of good with the howling though...
    
    
      I used to walk my Siamese on a leash like any dog...and his little
    trick was to climb trees while on lead...it never became a problem
    cause I knew what he was up to and would get close enough to prevent
    any slips, but the little dickens was as cute as anything with his
    antics..
    
      JM

    Would clipping the claws to provide less traction going up help
    to remind the kitty about getting down again?
    

    When Henrietta was staying at her granny's one weekend she got stuck up
    a ROOF of a neighbours house at about 11 o'clock at night!  The fire
    brigade did come (although not altogether enthusiastically), and much
    to my mother's surprise, their solution was simply to blast her with
    water from one of their powerful hoses!!  Poor Henri found her way 
    down VERY QUICKLY, and she hasn't done it again since.
    
    So maybe if you spray her with water she'll come down quickly and
    associate it with tree-climbing.  They do say that cats associate water
    not with you, but as a natural consequence of whatever they were doing at 
    the time.....
    
    [Ruth, Sophie and Henri]

    After reading these notes, I have to share a story with you all that
    happened this past weekend.
    
    I was visiting at my parents house and a fire truck went down the
    street.  As we looked around the corner we could see the fireman
    spraying water up into a tree, so we went to see what was happening. 
    Sure enough there was a young kitty way, way up a spindly old pine tree
    and the fireman was squirting water at the poor little thing.  But...
    to no avail, the kitty wouldn't budge.  The next thing we see is the
    ladder truck pulling up.  And sure enough they put the ladder up to the
    tree and another fireman climbed up and brought the little kitty down.
    
    Apparently the cat was right near a blue jays nest and the birds were
    really attacking this poor pitiful thing so the family called the fire
    department and they actually came out!!!  I was amazed -- I didn't
    think they did that sort of thing anymore.. (especially since the cat
    was only in the tree for about 2 hours)
    
    Anyway we all cheered and clapped when kitty was handed over the young
    girl that owned him!!!!!
    
    Sure was a cute incident!
    
    Judie
                                      

    We have figured out why Mags gets in the trees in the first place.
    There is a neighborhood bully cat (the only male around) who chases
    everyone and poor Mags is the only one who can't get back down! 
    
    I was out in the yard Saturday with the girls and the neighbors cat,
    Coco-Moco came charging in with the Bully close behind. She ran behind
    me and he was burning rubber to stop when he saw me. (We've had run-ins
    before) So he sits on the other side of the fence and tries to be
    intimidating while all us "girls" lounged safely in the yard. I don't
    believe he is a stray, he looks quite healthy, but don't know where he
    lives.  
    
    Any suggestions for dealing with this guy???

    Try spraying water at HIM!  That'll soon show him who's boss...
    
    [Ruth - the fastest water pistol in the west]