So many people say we shouldn’t help cats in trees because cats will always come down - the most common comments are “they got up there, they can get down” and “did you ever see a cat skeleton in a tree?” - but that just isn’t true!

This five-month-old kitten had been 40 feet up in the cypress tree for two days, crying pitifully the whole time. The whole reason the neighbors gathered to figure out how to help is it was clearly in distress, and had already been up there for a long time (they thought it was a stray). Coaxing hadn’t helped, nor had Animal Control at that time.

For the record, Scott did not fall because “branches snapped” and so forth; he actually lost consciousness as he climbed back down, with the kitten secured in a backpack. Scott was being treated for severe back spasms; witnesses said he seemed to faint, then fell limply, not calling out or grabbing for the tree. He also was killed instantly.

There’s another lesson in this for me: don’t always believe everything you read! Once the AP picked up the story and sent it out on the wire (the original newspaper article got the incorrect facts from an interview with a police spokesman), there was little chance of putting the record straight.

Scott wasn’t careless: he took precautions (wearing boots, a helmet and heavy gloves), and was capable of this rescue - his last entry on his MySpace page is “PickAxe88’s back is feeling better” - but it just wasn’t meant to be, and His plan was fulfilled.

Please feel free to check out Scott’s MySpace page; and share his memorial video at the website listed (www.krystalia.org/scott). Thank you.

My heart goes out to his family. May he rest in peace.

I’m so glad the cat’s family got him/her back after all of that. At least he didn’t die in vain. :(

~The Lioness