A Tale of Two Cat Rescues

 

My Facebook feed is full of animal rescue videos.

I’m a sucker for a good rescue story,

Although I admit that some of them make me sad.

I don’t understand what part of someone thinks that throwing animals in dumpsters is at all okay.

But that’s not my point.

My point is that I watch a lot of animal rescue videos 😊.

 

Recently, I saw two different cat rescues,

Both from trees.

 

In one of the videos,

The cat gets so scared of the rescuer

That he decides he would rather just jump out of the tree!

I think it was a 20-foot drop,

Limbs flailing in the air,

But the cat was okay!

 

In the other video,

The cat was 50-feet high,

Literally shaking from exhaustion,

And completely relieved when his rescuer showed up.

He immediately climbed into the rescuer’s arms,

Began purring,

And happily let the rescuer put him into a mesh sack so that he could safely make the descent.

 

Two cats stuck in similar situations;

Two very different reactions to someone coming to help.

 

It makes me wonder:

Am I the first cat who was afraid to, or simply didn’t, accept help when it was offered?

Or am I the second cat who embraced help when it came?

Both cats were okay in the end,

But it seems to me that the second cat had a slightly safer journey than the first,

Who went on a great adventure!

 

I’m pretty sure that Annie the Cat would jump if someone came to rescue her from a tree.

She’s not a stranger-truster.

It would be ugly.

I would cry and scream and deem her dead.

Because I am her opposite.

Vulnerable. Trusting. Always putting safety first.

 

What about you?

Do you accept help? Or do you remain independent?

Do fall into safe arms? Or do you try to do things yourself?

 

Oh God: Help us to know who we are and then to be willing to try something different if needed. Help us to know when to accept help and when to go at it alone. Help us to know when to leap and when to fall into open arms. And help us, God, not to let fear lead to make bad decisions. Amen.