Catnip to attract ferals to the trap?

tnrmakessense

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UPDATE:

On Saturday morning I bought some sliced mortadella and along with the bottle of spray catnip off I went to my trapping adventure.
On my arrival on the spot I saw one of the cats that I would like to catch. I set up the trap with the mortadella after having sprayed the catnip on the cage.
Unfortunately the cat I saw on my arrival had disappeared by the time I was ready... I waited an hour, but I didn't see her again.
So I moved and saw another of the cats I have in my trap list. I spread some tiny pieces of mortadella around the cage so to entice her. After 30 minutes she came closer, ate all the pieces around and walked away. The trap and the bait, though, attracted several other cats that I don't need to trap because they were fixed already.

Three hours later I thought I was tired enough and decided to pack it up and go back home.
Temptations or Fortiflora probiotic powder. Kitties go wild for it. And some cats don't care for catnip, or it makes them kind of nutty.
 
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Antonio65

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Temptations or Fortiflora probiotic powder. Kitties go wild for it. And some cats don't care for catnip, or it makes them kind of nutty.
I'd rather think these last cats are way too smart and wary.
For instance, one of those cats won't come back to the same spot twice. I mean, I see her in one spot, so I place my trap nearby. She sees me, gets scared and moves away. I walk back and hide, she won't go back to the same spot. So, an hour later I move the trap to the new spot and she moves to another one. I could go on this way all day long.
Furthermore, she doesn't get attracted by any bait in the trap: chicken, ham, mortadella, tuna fish, whatever else, she just eats the bits I leave outside, then goes away. When she sees tha trap she acts like she saw a monster!
 

tnrmakessense

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I'd rather think these last cats are way too smart and wary.
For instance, one of those cats won't come back to the same spot twice. I mean, I see her in one spot, so I place my trap nearby. She sees me, gets scared and moves away. I walk back and hide, she won't go back to the same spot. So, an hour later I move the trap to the new spot and she moves to another one. I could go on this way all day long.
Furthermore, she doesn't get attracted by any bait in the trap: chicken, ham, mortadella, tuna fish, whatever else, she just eats the bits I leave outside, then goes away. When she sees tha trap she acts like she saw a monster!
Two things. 1) Can you leave the trap in one spot, propped open so that the cats can get used to it's presence and 2) While you're trying to trap, there's an edible cat birth control available through EBAY from Bulgaria called Nonovulin, and possibly much closer for you since you're in Europe. The central ingredient is megestrol acetate. I use a much smaller dose than the box recommends - the one the volunteers for a U.S. TNR group use. I've got my research and experience on floridacatnews.blogspot.com.
 
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Antonio65

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1) Can you leave the trap in one spot, propped open so that the cats can get used to it's presence
Unfortunately I cannot leave the trap for long times (I mean no longer than half a day in the weekend and no longer than a couple of hours in the weekdays), because the colony is at my workplace. A trap in the courtyard would attract nosy people for sure.

2) While you're trying to trap, there's an edible cat birth control available through EBAY from Bulgaria called Nonovulin, and possibly much closer for you since you're in Europe. The central ingredient is megestrol acetate. I use a much smaller dose than the box recommends - the one the volunteers for a U.S. TNR group use. I've got my research and experience on floridacatnews.blogspot.com.
I didn't know that.
It's available online on a few stores, as far as I have understood, a 50-pills pack is around €30.00, but one of the websites has directions for use and says I should administer the dose (5 mg) for 8 days in a row as soon as the cat shows the first signs of the heat. Apart from the latter one, I am not sure at all I can see the cat(s) I want to catch for a week in a row. And at the end of it, the cat wouldn't be spayed and if I miss a course, she could get pregnant anyway.
The blog you linked says a different thing and talks about two doses a week for a large colony, which, again, I couldn't control who eats what.

This thing will kill me!
 

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I just ordered the roundhouse trap from Tomahawk because I am hoping the different design will work for some of my wary cats. I will let you know how it works.
 
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Antonio65

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I just ordered the roundhouse trap from Tomahawk because I am hoping the different design will work for some of my wary cats. I will let you know how it works.
I just googled it and seems nice, though some reviews say that it's too small for a cat to move inside and reach the food.
Furthermore the price is a bit high!

I don't think I could be able to have it from a European seller, unless I order it from Tomahawk, which means I have to add shipping costs and VAT and customs fees. I think that at the end I would pay around US$200-250 :eek:
 

tnrmakessense

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Unfortunately I cannot leave the trap for long times (I mean no longer than half a day in the weekend and no longer than a couple of hours in the weekdays), because the colony is at my workplace. A trap in the courtyard would attract nosy people for sure.



I didn't know that.
It's available online on a few stores, as far as I have understood, a 50-pills pack is around €30.00, but one of the websites has directions for use and says I should administer the dose (5 mg) for 8 days in a row as soon as the cat shows the first signs of the heat. Apart from the latter one, I am not sure at all I can see the cat(s) I want to catch for a week in a row. And at the end of it, the cat wouldn't be spayed and if I miss a course, she could get pregnant anyway.
The blog you linked says a different thing and talks about two doses a week for a large colony, which, again, I couldn't control who eats what.

This thing will kill me!
It's a lesson in patience and anxiety management, that's for sure.
I just ordered a pack of 30 pills 10mg each for 16.00. I have 14 cats so I dose twice weekly.30 pills last 30 weeks - enough time for me to get everyone spayed/neutered, knock wood. Not trying to talk you in to anything - just wanted to reiterate about the dosage.

Dosage PER COLONY using Nonovulin 10 mg tablets

Total # of Cats Dosage (dry) per colony

< 5 cats 2.5 mg ONCE a week
5-7 cats 5 mg ONCE a week
8-11 cats 7.5 mg ONCE a week
12-15 cats 5 mg TWICE A WEEK
16-19 cats 7.5 mg TWICE A WEEK
20-23 cats 8 mg TWICE A WEEK
24-27 cats 10 mg TWICE A WEEK
28-31 cats 11 mg TWICE A WEEK
32-35 cats 12.5 mg TWICE A WEEKc
 
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Antonio65

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Not trying to talk you in to anything - just wanted to reiterate about the dosage.

Dosage PER COLONY using Nonovulin 10 mg tablets
20-23 cats 8 mg TWICE A WEEK
24-27 cats 10 mg TWICE A WEEK
These could be my case, but what if a cat eats twice a week and a cat eats nothing?
And what if a cat eats the whole 10 mg and all the rest eat nothing?
I mean, I won't ever be able to know which cat takes its med and how much of it. Too many cats in my colony, and they never show up regularly.
 

tnrmakessense

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Understood. It took about two weeks with my group of my doing a regular feeding at a specific time and place for them to all show up at the same time. If it has rained overnight sometimes only half are there but I've found that once you've dosed for a couple months, a dose can be missed and the females still won't go in to heat. As far as getting too much, the chart I posted is a fraction of the manufacturer's recommended dose. I did extensive research before using and even at much higher dosages, the incidence of side effects was rare. And like most things with feral care, it's a matter of choosing between two less than perfect options. All I can tell you is that it's been three months with my most recent colony and knock wood, no kittens.
 

tnrmakessense

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These could be my case, but what if a cat eats twice a week and a cat eats nothing?
And what if a cat eats the whole 10 mg and all the rest eat nothing?
I mean, I won't ever be able to know which cat takes its med and how much of it. Too many cats in my colony, and they never show up regularly.
Also, after watching my group for a while I noticed that most will share a large plate, but a couple others are shy, so I have one huge platter and two smaller bowls for the shy ones.
 
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