Cat Advice....NEED HELP PLEASE!

lmahoney79

Hi, we are trying to catch a feral cat that feeds from us to get her neutered as the local Tom is sniffing around her as she has already had a litter on our doorstep! We have spent the entire day since 8am trying to get her to go into the cat basket but she only goes in half way and then runs out again ao we cant close the door. She is wild so no way of picking her up.....PLEASE HELP.....what can we do to catch her!

muppet_man

I've seen similar threads on with people on here suggesting contacting a local vet/shelter/spca and ask if they can help or if they have a cage to catch her you can lend.
Hope this helps.

lmahoney79

yeah i just seen someone said the SPCA might rent one out. We will try again tonight but if not i think thats what we will have to do.

Tryst

try contacting cats aid they usually lend out cages to help trap ferals, especially if people want them neutered.

Spangles

Feral cats are practically impossible to catch by hand. A baited cage from the local SPCA would be your best bet. Whatever you do don't try to touch it as they are normally fluffy bundles of teeth and nails !

I hope it is neutered and returned to its habitat as it would be sad if it were put to sleep. I realise many people hate cats but ferals have come about originally as result of their owners neglect and abandonment. They have a very difficult existence. With the introduction of wheelie bins one of the main sources of food has been cut off. I have in the past managed to catch and tame feral kittens which were regularly left in my garden by the mother, and they were able to be caught and rehomed by the DSPCA but ultimately neutering is the answer.

Fair play to you for going to the trouble as most don't care.

Sue85

I think your best option is to contact your local spca and hire a trap cage .. Ive also heard of some people going to there vet for some tablets to knock the cats out so they can be caught ( put them in her food) but you would have to get her in a shed to do this as it would be dangerous if she wandered off.

Good Luck

Spangles

Sue85 wrote: »

Ive also heard of some people going to there vet for some tablets to knock the cats out so they can be caught ( put them in her food) but you would have to get her in a shed to do this as it would be dangerous if she wandered off.

I have never heard of this method of capture and would suggest it is definitely not the way to catch a feral.

No offence to Sue85 as I'm sure her advice was well intended.

sandra3

no i dont think drugging the ct is a good idea...your putting the poor thing at risk. Our cat was bitten by a feral cat two years ago and became ver sick, we had to capture the feral cat to get it tested. The animal welfare or spca rent out cages plus deposit....it works with time.

Shewhomustbe...

If you can't get hold of a trap my vet nurse told me one way is to put some food at the back of the carrier, it may take a few times for them to get comfortable enough for you to close it, worked for me!

lmahoney79

Thanks to all for the advice, I have emailed Cats Aid and they said they will call me so hopefully will be able to rent a cat trap from them and get her done next week.......next job......catch and tame her 3 kittens so we can re-home them!

The Sweeper

Usually with a truly feral cat, the best way is as follows:

Rent the trap.

Bait the trap - the trap will probably be a long, narrow cage with a pressure plate two thirds of the way down the cage. You put some smelly food on the floor of the cage at the far end, beyond the pressure plate. You rig the door open so that when the cat enters the cage and steps on the pressure plate to get the food, the plate releases the trigger holding the door and the door drops shut. There will be some mechanism that drops to hold the door closed, preventing the cat from pushing its way out of the trap.

Don't use a plate or tin can for the food - it's just something for the cat to break or cut themselves on while they thrash about in the cage.

A feral cat does not want to be your friend. Once you catch the cat, it is incredibly threatening for you to approach the cage and sit looking at the cat. Take an old towel and approach the cage with the towel held in front of you. Do not make slow and direct eye contact with the cat, just briskly and gently drop the towel over the cage, masking the cat from the outside world. This will also help protect your fingers - some cages have wire that a very desperate cat can squeeze a paw through and they'll sink their claws into your hand.

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO REMOVE THE FERAL CAT FROM THE CAT CAGE.

...in case anyone reading this, trapping a cat, missed that the first time, again:

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO REMOVE THE FERAL CAT FROM THE CAT CAGE.


Take the cat to the vet in the cage. The vet will sedate the cat in the cage. The sedated cat will be removed from the cage when sedated, and will then be operated on to be neutered. The vet should use dissolving stitches. The cat will be returned to the cage, post-operatively, still sedated. (If you want to re-use the cage you could provide a carry crate for the cat, but whatever happens, the cat will be put in the crate while still sedated, and you'll only get one chance to open the crate, so make sure it's where you want to release the cat.)

Whenever you collect the cat, you should continue to keep it calm and covered with a towel. A sedated cat cannot regulate its own body temperature, so it's important to keep the cat somewhere warm and quiet until it's fully awake. Allow it to regain full consciousness before you attempt to release it. You can try putting food and water out for it where you release it, but don't try poking food through the bars - this could be extremely distressing for the cat.

Be warned that upon release the cat will probably take off like it's been scalded. It can be easier to release a cat from a crate calmly than from a cage (cages are a little more fiddly to open). Place the crate, still covered by a towel, on the ground somewhere quiet, a couple of feet from and facing a natural escape route, e.g the bushes at the end of the garden. Stand behind the crate with the exit facing away from you and release the cat.

If it doesn't bolt straight away, all the better - please stand and walk slowly away from the crate. Watch from a distance, or better still from inside the house. When the cat does get the guts to run, it'll take off quickly.

I just say it's best for the release to be as calm as possible because the poor animal's just had a surgery and it would be kinder if you could do whatever you could to prevent it bolting. You can try putting food and water outside the crate, but it will most probably ignore them in favour of running away. If you want, put food and water out a bit later.

There's a comprehensive thread on taming feral kittens in the Animal Welfare subforum. Taming the mother would be quite a task and she's unlikely to come around in just a couple of days inside your house, hence the recommendation to release her as soon as she's fully conscious and warmed up - a short term imprisonment of a couple of days inside is only likely to increase her stress and lower her immune system before releasing her.

Amalgam

My Mum got bit by a Feral cat by trying to be 'friendly' with it. Her arm ballooned out like a Ham shoulder, due to an infection at the bite site. Lesson learnt.

There's a risk of infection with any bites and or scratches. Don't expose yourself to that risk.

cotton

Where are you based? I might be able to loan you a trap.

lmahoney79

I am in Donabate......where are you? maybe we could meet halfway if possible? you can pm if you like. thanks

cotton

I'm in Wicklow - Greystones.

lmahoney79

ah a bit too far........thanks anyway.