A First For Me In 20 Years Of Managing Ferals!

[supermax1943]

I was doing the night feeding which I do in the "feeding room" which is a part of the old garage when a feral came through the cat door and panicked when he/she realized he was inside!!!! That was last night. He scrambled up to a high cabinet where he has sat all day crying intermittently! I pushed some food up to him, which made him cry even more. He is frozen in terror, the poor little guy! I am guessing he is about 4 or 5 months old.

I have never had this happen before. Usually, if a feral comes in the house, it is a planned event on their part. They have thought through the whole idea and have watched as one of "my" cats go through the door.

I have a net I could get him with, but hate to do that, because it will terrify him even more and the position he is in makes it difficult to net him. I am sure if I climb to put the net over him he is going to run anyway. And he can get to other high places all around the room. It is also pretty high up, so I can't risk pushing him over the edge, since, in his terrified state, he might hurt himself.

Any ideas from all of you experts out there? I don't know how to fix this!!! He is crying so mournfully now, I think he must have a pal he is missing too.
Sally

 

[verna davies]

I have no experience with ferals, luckily we dont seem to have any where I live. You said it was an old garage, are there big doors you can open or is the cat door he came through tied open. I would leave some food by the opening and just dont go near him or be seen by him. Hopefully, if he is on his own he will find his way out.
Any ideas @shadowsrescue Sarthur2 @Kieka @kittychick

 

[Sarthur2]

Aww, so sad. And he is probably really hungry too. He may be someone’s pet whose curiosity got the best of him when he came through the cat door.

I agree with Verna, open a bigger door and leave it open. Hopefully he will come down and out. Poor little guy!

Keep us posted!

 

[catapault]

Not a cat, but I once had a hummingbird in my garage. It has a high ceiling. The poor thing kept trying to fly up to get out, which obviously did not work. It was becoming exhausted, perching on cables, covered with dust. I finally lured it out by setting a pot of vivid red flowers outside the door. It swooped down and out.

So for the panicked cat in your garage - set some boxes as steps down from his perch. And you know to avert your gaze while placing the boxes. Place a couple of saucers of food as a "trail" from the steps to the door. Although I suspect that once down he will be out with little encouragement needed.

I hope your next message will be "he's out!"

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

set some boxes as steps down from his perch. And you know to avert your gaze while placing the boxes. Place a couple of saucers of food as a "trail" from the steps to the door.

 

[Furballsmom]

How are things for the scared baby now?

 

[walli]

kitty should come down for food I suspect, any updates?

 

[supermax1943]

I should have let you all know sooner!! So sorry. I got busy! I got up really early and opened the cat door, then went back to bed. When I got up at 10:00 he was gone!!! Yea!! I am so happy for him. He was one of the ferals I had seen around. I guess he won't be coming in again. And yet, after thinking about it for a while, maybe he will decide it was great!! All that warmth and food! Thanks so much for responding everyone!

 

[Sarthur2]

Good to hear! Hopefully he filled his tummy before leaving, and with any luck will be back for more.