Trapping Tips

The Trapping and Recovery Guidelines in this document are provided by The Contra Costa County Animal Welfare with special thanks to Feral Cat Foundation and the Contra Costa Humane Society Coalition

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the world of animal rescue, and thank you for choosing the humane solution of trapping, neutering and lifetime maintenance of the abandoned, stray or feral feline(s) in your neighborhood, workplace or local community.

Your decision to trap a cat must be synchronized with:

Veterinary appointment

You will have made an leukemia, neutered, and vaccinated. (Leukemia positive cats should be euthanized if they are to be released back into the outside world.) You might also request that the cat be checked for ear mites and that a flea treatments such as Advantage, be applied. You must request that dissolvable stitches be used on females.

You will have informed the veterinarian that you will be bringing in a feral cat (unless you know, for sure, that it is not) and will have given its gender (if known). If you think the cat is pregnant, you will tell the vet. If you are unsuccessful in trapping the cat, you will advise the veterinarian's office that you cannot keep the appointment.

Recovery arrangements for the animal

You will have arrangements in place for the animal's recovery. Males should have 3-4 days to recover from surgery, although they can be released 24 hours after surgery. Females must be given at least 6 and preferably 7 days to recover before being released.

You will need to have a recovery cage. Borrow or buy one and take it with you to the veterinarian. Ask that the it be placed in the cage after surgery. Or else take a pet carrier with you and ask that the cat be placed in the carrier after surgery.

Your commitment to continue feeding the cat

You will have resolved to continue feeding the cat to maintain the cat for its lifetime after releasing it by making sure it has enough food and water every day of its life, if possible. (The cat fed and watered 5 out of every 7 days.) You will make arrangements for a substitute feeder when you are on vacation or are unable to feed.

Preparation and Suggestions for Trapping

Feeding prior to trapping

If possible, get the cat used to being fed at the same place and time of day. You might try leaving the trap unset and covered with a large towel during routine feeding so that the animal will get used to seeing and smelling it in the area. Take the trap home with you after each feeding.

Getting the cat used to eating inside the unset trap - takes 3 or more days

One method of making the cat feel comfortable around the trap is to put some food on a piece of waxed paper or shallow lid right by the entry to the unset trap.

Depending on the type of trap, you can either leave it unset and open by removing the sliding back door or, if it is a one-door trap, wire open the entry. (Use twist ties or other easy, cheap method to do the latter.)

On each succeeding night's feeding put the food a little farther into the trap until the cat is comfortable eating at the very back. (On the actual trapping night, the cat will have to go far enough into the set trap to trip the metal plate which will spring the door shut.)

Placing a folded piece of newspaper just far enough into the trap to cover the trip plate will encourage the cat to enter. It will prefer to walk on newspaper rather than on the wire of the trap. The newspaper will help disguise the slightly elevated trip plate on the evening the trap is actually set.

No feeding the evening before the trapping day

Do not feed the cat on the day or evening you plan to trap. It is more likely to enter the trap quickly if it is hungry. For a particularly wary cat, you might not want to feed it for two days/evenings prior to trapping. (If others are also feeding cats in the area, ask them not to leave out any food the day or two before you trap.)

Feeding on the day you want to trap

If trapping has to be expedited, and you don't have time to wait for 2-3 nights, then of leaving a short trail little bits of food just outside and leading into the back of the trap encourage the cat to go far enough inside to trip the mechanism the first time you try. Likewise, a little strong-smelling food (such as mackerel or chicken) placed on a piece of waxed paper or small shallow lid at the back of the trap might get the cat trapped on the very first attempt. Cats should not eat 12 hours prior to surgery.

Alternatively, you can soak a small piece of newspaper in mackerel juice, spoon a little food onto this paper, and put paper on the ground where you plan to place the trap. Put the back end of the trap on top of this paper so food squishes through the wire.

Preparing/setting the trap

• You will have been shown how to and will have practiced setting the trap several times before trapping day.
• You will have with you a dark piece of material (blanket, old curtain, beach/bath towel) large enough to cover the trap - top, back end and both sides.
• You will have a folded piece of newspaper just long enough to fit over the trip plate. (On windy evenings the paper will likely just be blown around and will scare the cat, so you might not want to try the paper cover up if there's a wind blowing.)
• If possible, you will place the trap on a level surface close to where you normally feed the cat,
• You will follow the suggestions for placing food in the trap as outlined in these guidelines.

Common sense basics of trapping

• Plan to trap the cat the evening before your veterinary appointment so that the animal has to be in the trap only overnight.
• Bring a flashlight with you if you are trapping in a poorly lit area.
• Don't trap in the heat of day.
• Set the trap at the cat's normal feeding time.
• Stay in the vicinity, keep watch and listen for the sound of the trap snapping shut.
• Check the trap at least every hour to see if it has been sprung.
• If you are trying to keep a veterinary appointment and have to trap on a rainy evening, put an old plastic shower curtain or waterproof material under the towel or other cover that the cat is used to seeing over the trap. (You do not want the cat to get soaked in the trap if you are checking on it only every 30-60 minutes.)
• Traps must not be left unattended and certainly not left out overnight.
• Cats are vulnerable in traps - they can be attacked by raccoons or other animals, be released or harmed by someone, or suffer from exposure to the elements.

Considerations and Suggestions for trapping Pregenant Cats or Mothers with Young Kittens

• If a cat is pregnant, the sooner you can trap her the better. You must alert the veterinarian that you will be bringing in a pregnant female. Some veterinarians will not abort if pregnancy has gone a certain length.
• If the cat you want to trap is a mother with young kittens, you must trap them all at the same time. The kittens will starve without their mother.
• Kittens up to 6-8 weeks of age should not be separated from their mother. Kittens can be kept at your home until you get their mother back from the vet.
• A mother cat needs to be resumed to her nursing kittens within 12 hours.
• A spayed mother cat can still nurse, but should not be spayed until kittens are at least 6 weeks old.
• It is easier to tame (handle) kittens when they are 6 weeks or younger.

Suggestions for trapping kittens and mother cats:

• Borrow two traps - one should be a small kitten-size trap.
• Bring a cat carrier with you when you try to trap.
• Bring someone to help you with the kittens.
• Bring a thick towel to grab very young kittens with.

If you catch the mother first, keep the trap covered except for the entry which you will place up against the second kitten-trap. Then you will pull the cover to extend over the kitten trap also - or add a cover if the first one is not long enough to cover both traps.

You want the kittens to be able to peer into the trap and see their mother at the far end in her trap.

The kittens will have scattered when they heard the first trap closing and their mother thrashing around initially, but they wukk return when she quiets down and will go into the trap looking for her and for food.

If you catch a kitten first, you should remove it from the trap into the carrier so that you can re-use the trap to get the other kittens. (If only one kitten, then leave it in the trap and place it against the larger trap, as detailed above, to trap the mother cat next.)

If the kittens are fairly young, 4-5 weeks approximately, you can use the help of the person you brought with you to transfer them into the cat carrier (that's when you need the thick towel).

Following are steps to take to get older kittens from the trap into the carrier, also using the help of another person:

• Place the front of the empty carrier, with door open, right up against the door of the trap with the kittens(s) in it.
• Your helper must hold the carrier firmly against the trap.
• You will slide open the door of the trap and bang against the trap so that the kitten will move out of the trap away from the noise into the carrier.
• Then, you must be very quick and careful to close the carrier door on the kitten(s).

Once you have the kitten or kittens in the carrier and the door closed, you can set the trap for the mother right up against the carrier and she will go in very quickly to get close to her kittens. The trap will have to be covered, of course.

Arrangements for Recover and Release

Holding/recovery area - preparation:

• Prepare the vehicle in which you will transport the cat.
• Before you put the trap in the vehicle, put plastic down with several layers of newspaper on top to absorb any urine, feces etc.
• Prepare the area where you will keep the cat prior to surgery and for recovery after.
• On the evening you plan to trap the cat and bring it home, place two pieces of wood (2 x 4) on top of several layers of newspapers.
• Placing the trap on the wood elevated above the newspapers allows the inevitable mess of food, urine, and stool to fall through the wire and keep the cat a little cleaner.
• In summer, unless yours is an air-conditioned one, a garage is too hot a place to leave a cat in daytime.
• Late evenings in summer, a garage would be okay for an overnight only stay.
• A small, air-conditioned or well-ventilated bathroom or a well-ventilates shed that is in the shade of a tree would be suitable to keep a cat in while it recovers from surgery.
• Spraying a garage or shed area ahead of time with a cat-safe flea spray (Adams or Ovitrol) might be helpful in discouraging ants.

Be careful

• You should exercise caution and consider the cat a wild animal - unless you know it to be a recently discarded or stray pet.
• Do not try to pet the cat or get your fingers near it.
• Do not let the cat out of the trap - you will likely never get it back in again.

When you have trapped the cat and have brought it to a safe place for the night prior to surgery, If you think you can raise the door of the trap just enough to put a tiny dish of water inside, do so, but if you are at all unsure then do not even attempt this.

Recovery cage

You will have left a recovery cage or a cat carrier with a clean towel in it at the vet's to put the cat in after surgery. It is awkward to put a cat back in a narrow trap, although this can be done. If the cat is a male and you plan to release him within 24 hours, then you might as well keep him in the trap.

Larger cage with room for carrier inside

• If you have recovery cage large enough to accommodate the necessary food/water dishes and litter pan, as well as a cat carrier, you might want to put one inside.
• A cat carrier with its door open and tied back onto the wires inside the cage gives the cat a place to retreat and feel safe.
• When you bring the groggy cat home, you can shake it gently out of its trap or carrier into the recovery cage.
• It will go right into the carrier that's tied inside the cage to seek the security of the darkness and small space.
• (You will not have covered up the cage until the cat is inside the carrier so that it will automatically seek the darkness of the pet carrier) A frightened cat will normally retreat into the carrier when you have to remove and replace litter tray, food and water dishes.
• When it is time to return the cat to where you will be feeding her, remove the cover from the entire cage and bang on the cage to get her to go Inside the pet carrier if she's not already hiding in it.
• You will have previously released (from the outside) the carrier door's attachments to the cage, so that you may quickly close this door when she enters the carrier.
• You can then take the cat in the carrier to the place of release.
• If you happen to need a return visit to the vet with the cat before it is ready for release, the cat carrier method is somewhat easier than handling her in a cage.

Small cage - no room for carrier inside

• If the recovery cage is not large enough to house an inside pet carrier as well as the food/water dishes and litter tray, cover up the cage to make it a dark secure place for the cat to enter when you bring it home from the veterinarian's.
• When removing litter tray for cleaning or replenishing food and water dishes, you should fold back the cover so that the front half of the cage is uncovered.
• The cat will retreat to the back of the cage - under the covered part - allowing you space and time to quickly remove the litter tray and food/water dishes.
• When the cat has had enough time to recover from surgery (it's a tough world out there for feral felines, remember), take the cage to the place of release and leavethe door open for it to exit in its own time - could take several minutes or a split second.

Some observations of cats in captivity:

• Often they will not eat for 2 or more days even though food is right there for them.
• Remove the food after an hour if it is untouched and replace with fresh food after a couple of hours.
• Often the cat will eat at night when all is still and nobody is around, so put fresh food in the cage before you retire.
• Feral cats don't purr or meow but they will hiss and growl and spit.

Some hints on keeping cage cleaner:

• Place the cat carrier on top of an inverted litter tray if your cage is big enough to keep a carrier in. This will keep the litter and spilled water from going into the carrier.
• If you don't have a large cage, place a clean empty litter tray in the back of the cage with a towel in it for the cat to rest in. This will provide a dry bed for the cat in the event of water spills and it will also keep some of the scattered litter out.
• If you have a mother cat with young kittens, put the food dish for the mother on top of the carrier or else tie a feeding bowl a couple of inches up on the cage wires so the kittens don't end up in the food.

Releasing the cat:

After the suggested recovery period - or longer if you think you want to fatten up the cat - take it back to where you first trapped it. That's where it came from and where it has a chance to survive if you continue to feed it.

Release it in the evening - it will feel safer in the dark.

Face the door away from you and stand back when you open it for the cat to get out. A tap on the cage/carrier will usually send it out but it might take a minute or two to think about where it is.

Don't relocate the cat to another area - it will be disoriented. other cats in the vicinity will chase it away, and it could face many other hazards.

ABANDONED CATS AND KITTENS - TAMING

Given time and patience and care from a compassionate person, many feral cats can become loving companions. In fact, they can become the most devoted pets. If this is something you want to do, as rescue organizations such as CC4C for suggestions.

Kittens of feral mothers can be tamed quite quickly if they are handled when they are young enough. Kittens are generally adoptable more readily than friendly adult cats.