Argh!!!

EmersonandEvie

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We sill have one female cat from our small colony that needs to be fixed. I'm pretty sure she was in heat a few weeks ago (never heard any vocalizations but a strange male cat was hanging around, so...) and she is looking rather round, so time is of the essence. I have today off and was determined to catch her. Set up the trap...she circled it...then mama cat meowed for her and she took off. Shoot.

Reset the trap as she was sniffing around the deck. Heard it go of...caught her brother Handsome, who took off like a shot. I haven't seen poor guy since. I'm afraid I traumatized him- he was one of three that actually let me pet him. I hope that trust isn't broken. And we still haven't caught Tiny (female that needs to be spayed).

I'm trying to help you! Just let me love you, you stupid cat! :bawling2:
 

MoonstoneWolf

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If you read through my thread below this about a lot of newbie questions you'll see that I went through some very similar experiences (except the cages as all of my colony has been TNRd already). I've had so many ups and downs (even still) and although I still panic a lot some things I learned that the cats are still ok.
 

Jcatbird

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Don’t let it shake you. Handsome may have gotten scared but running is his survival mechanism. You are his survival too. He may need to calm down but he’ll be back. Keep working on getting Tiny while he is in hiding. You’ve been provided a good chance to get her instead while he is making himself scarce. Don’t give up, you’re doing a great thing.
 
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EmersonandEvie

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Handsome did come back and let me rub on him, so no hard feelings there!

Still no luck catching Tiny. I took the trap inside when she wandered off, lest I catch another cat while not meaning to. I can try again tomorrow. We just don't know what to do once we catch her and get her fixed- if she is pregnant, they will have to do a full hysterectomy vs. the keyhole spays that the other cats (mama and sister Streak) have gotten. Longer recovery time- we obviously don't want to release her immediately for various reasons. We also don't have a good place to keep her. Oh well, we will figure that out when the time comes.
 

Jcatbird

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I don’t know who does your spayed but maybe they could keep her a couple of days? I put some of the ones here in my bathroom after I kitty proofed it. Under the bathroom sink is a cabinet and I propped the door open so they could have a bed and place to hide. I have a small minnow net that I would use to guide them back out when needed.
That other thing I used is a large cage that you can now get at Walmart as well as many places online. I needed a lot of those and I also found some at garage sales. The cages fold for storage. A lrge crate would work too. Good luck! Hoping for you to have a non pregnant kitty.
 

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Maybe your vet can let you borrow a cage. It wouldn't have to be huge.
 
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EmersonandEvie

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A local vet does the spays for all TNRs. It's a free program, which is great, but they definitely wouldn't be able to stay at the clinic.

We have a dog cage from our old lab (RIP Summit, sweet boy), which is what we used when we got Mama and Streak fixed. We will make it work!
 

kittychick

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It sounds like you definitely will make it work! The kitties are lucky to have you!

That's too bad about that type of spay - - is that the only kind yours does? (I might have missed it somewhere above. But hard to look a free spay in the mouth! (to mix a few metaphors).

We put most of our TNR spays into a crate to recover. We use a very large dog crate (great dane sized). We cover it with sheets (a bit more air flow than covering with blankets or towels) during recovery ---leaving some openings in the sheets at the top of the crate (unless the recovering cat is a SUPER panicked one who will frantically jump at any light at all - - -we have had a few - very few luckily - of those!). We've worked out a transfer system over the years (I could go into that if you need it) - - but inside the cage we place a small litter box, a small cat carrier with the door open (but we use twist ties to tie the open door to the side of the cage so that we can untie it and shut the newly fixed kitty in the carrier if necessary). We line the bottom with newspaper, put a few pieces of soft fleece inside the carrier (we don't use towels - some panicky kitties get their claws stuck in the terry cloth loops and they really panic). We keep a small watering can close by to add water, along with telescoping forks to move food/water dishes closer, etc.

As far as luring her back in again - - have you baited with mackerel? It's like our miracle bait! It's canned, near the tuna in most grocery stores. Stinks to high heaven - - but kitties can rarely resist the siren call of stinky mackerel!

Don't know if that helps at all - - but keep us posted!
 
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EmersonandEvie

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The baiting isn't a problem, the bycatch is. Handsome is so food motivated I feel like I'd catch him 5 more times...I'm not even sure how Handsome got caught today, as Tiny was the only one on the deck and was circling the trap. Handsome may have come over, shoved her out of the way, and got trapped. All cats were here for dinner, so no one is worse for wear.

I don't know that they *only* do the keyhole spays. I had never even heard of such a thing before we took Mama and Streak in. If the cat is pregnant, they can't just do a keyhole because...well...decaying fetuses can't be good for a cat, so I assume in those situations a traditional spay must be done.
 

1 bruce 1

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We caught possoms, raccoons, tamer ferals (over and over again, who would patiently wait until we trap checked and let the out) so many times when trying to trap that rogue who was smarter than the trap.
One tamer barn cat would go in the trap. We would let her out, re-set the trap, and hear the snap sound before we were out of the barn and there she sat, bored and asking us to open the door :lol:
Are the others tame enough you could cage a few at feeding times to lessen the amount of traffic at the food bowls?
With one stubborn girl it came down to being the bowl police. We'd feed the colony, put food in the trap nearby, and when she approached we'd move her off by stepping towards her. She'd run off. She'd come back, we'd move her off again and try to herd her towards the trap with the smelliest food we could find.
It was diligence but we never left food out. We'd wait with the colony, move her to the trap and let her decide. When the colony was done eating, we'd pick the food up and be back in a few hours to try again.
It took about 4 days but we finally got her. I do think she was hungry. It's not the nicest way, but with very trap-smart cats that you need to catch ASAP, sometimes you have no choice.
 

Kflowers

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Maybe Handsome could stay in your bathroom for a few hours until you have a chance to catch her. I mean it should be easy since he jumps right in the trap. Is he trying to tell you something?
 
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EmersonandEvie

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He jumped right in initially! Now he is wary of it! I also don't think he would do well in the bathroom. He is still a little too wild.

I'll try that, bruce! (I can't tag for some reason, sorry)
 

Kflowers

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I see you think his protests from the bathroom would scare the rest of cats off the property. It's possible. I had one who could have done that. Fingers crossed.
 
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EmersonandEvie

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Ok. Wish me all the good luck kitty vibes in the world. We are going to try and catch Tiny tomorrow morning. I have the trap out but not set so she can get used to it. If I had to estimate, I'd say she is probably 4 or 5 weeks pregnant. Sigh.
 

ComeBackKitty

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Dog kennel with towels sewn on the top and sides as walls? use dental floss to sew them into place. Or cardboard fastened with twisty ties.

will keep sending good energy for this

I need some cover for my kennel. This idea is genius. Thanks for helping me out with my feral.
 
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