First Time Trapping- Tips And Tricks

[TTTTrickster]

Hey all Ttttrickster here hoping to get some advice from all you feral trapping experts!

I have two indoor babies, but I also have a colony of ferals at my office. One of my co-workers had been feeding the colony, but I have taken over the job as he is older can't keep up with the demands of caring for them. I've built two insulated cat shelters for them, and more recently a feeding station, the apartment building next door has two wooden houses ( which I don't have access to, but do provide shelter to them). They get both wet and dry food, and treats and catnip.

I have four regular kitties; Adult orange male, Adult gray male, Adult calico female and adolescent tabby male with no tail. There is also another adult orange male who I see only occasionally. There was another young cat, sister to the tabby, but I haven't seen her in a few months .

My goal is to TNR as many of them as I can. I've tried calling my local feral cat association to no answer, but the local ASPCA also does TNR for a small fee. I can rent traps from them as well.

I'm nervous about catching and keeping them overnight. I can't keep them at my office, although our ED knows I feed them and is all for them there (we haven't had any mouse problems since they moved in), so I have to bring them home with me. I will be keeping them in my garage overnight and to recover from their surgery.

Can anyone share tips and tricks to 1) catch as many as possible, 2) keep them comfortable and 3) not pass fleas/other diseases to my inside cats.

Thank you in advance.

 

[shadowsrescue]

A drop trap would allow you to catch more than one at once, but you still need them to go into individual traps. I would ask how many traps you can borrow at once. The cats that have then been previously trapped will not want to go back into the traps and also they should be ear tipped to identify that have been spayed/neutered.

They need to be kept in the traps overnight. I just cover them with a light sheet. Later in the evening, I offer a bit of food by using a paper coffee filter that I can squeeze through the bars. Never ever tray to open the trap to feed.

I keep mine in my basement away from my other cats. A warm garage is fine too. Yet the temperature needs to be above 60. Cats coming off anesthesia have trouble maintaining their body temperature. They need to stay warm.

I have never had a problem with fleas. You can ask the spay/neuter clinic to apply revolution that should quickly kill the fleas.

Here is a great video on trapping
Trapping Cats: How to Trap an Entire Colony

Thank you for wanting to help all of these kitties. TNR is absolutely necessary.

 

[di and bob]

Lots of good advise. Hope to get the girls first, since they add to the population. They will be very scared, so be ready for the emotions you are going to feel, but what you are doing is really saving them from a life of misery. Definitely keep the cages covered, especially in your car, it helps to calm them. Put a plastic tarp down first too, they will be so scared they will poop and pee. They can't have food or water for 12 hours before, so you are OK there, good tip about the coffee filter if you need to feed. Ask the ASPCA for help, it would definitely be worth it, they are very experienced. It will be a little pricey now, but WELL worth it! A hundred extra mouths to feed in a few years is much more expensive. Good luck and tell us how it goes!

 

[TTTTrickster]

Thank you all! I've made contact with the local feral cat place, so hopefully they can help me trap the female first. The boys will come in time. If not, I'm aiming to catch her by next week as the temps are going to go up ( 30 is still cold, but better than 3!) and in the meantime, hubby and I are making a nice warm dry place to keep her in the garage.

Will let you all know!

 

[dustydiamond1]

Thank you all! I've made contact with the local feral cat place, so hopefully they can help me trap the female first. The boys will come in time. If not, I'm aiming to catch her by next week as the temps are going to go up ( 30 is still cold, but better than 3!) and in the meantime, hubby and I are making a nice warm dry place to keep her in the garage.

Will let you all know!

 

[TTTTrickster]

Update: Have not been able to trap because of the cold weather, and the feral organization has been unreachable and unhelpful. I unfortunately lost one of my colony yesterday. Looking in to buying my own trap, as the weather seems to be getting better and just doing it myself.

 

[trudy1]

What about ASPCA? You mentioned they might trap for a small fee....might be cheaper than buying a cage? If you could explain your plans to spay and neuter, to eventually return them to the colony site they might help.
Sorry you lost one of your babies...it’s always hard...makes you want to take them all home!

It’s very hard to select out a single cat from a colony to trap. It can be done with drop trap but you need to read up and decide that’s your goal or not.

Multiple traps are always better and trap as many as you can, male and female. You need to find a vet who will do a standing appointment as you may not be successful initially. Be prepared for the fact some will disappear for a while after the “tutoring as we call it around the house “ but always seem to return to where the food is.

Sorry the rescue group let you down. They are always under staffed and overworked so you have to find the type A super cat person within the group to get much done.

Talk to your ed...maybe under the guise of “mouse control “ he/she would help with traps, etc?

 

[TTTTrickster]

What about ASPCA? You mentioned they might trap for a small fee....might be cheaper than buying a cage? If you could explain your plans to spay and neuter, to eventually return them to the colony site they might help.
Sorry you lost one of your babies...it’s always hard...makes you want to take them all home!

It’s very hard to select out a single cat from a colony to trap. It can be done with drop trap but you need to read up and decide that’s your goal or not.

Multiple traps are always better and trap as many as you can, male and female. You need to find a vet who will do a standing appointment as you may not be successful initially. Be prepared for the fact some will disappear for a while after the “tutoring as we call it around the house “ but always seem to return to where the food is.

Sorry the rescue group let you down. They are always under staffed and overworked so you have to find the type A super cat person within the group to get much done.

Talk to your ed...maybe under the guise of “mouse control “ he/she would help with traps, etc?

Unfortunately for me, my local ASPCA doesn't trap, they referred me to the Feral Cat Organization that I've been trying to reach for a couple months now. They do however do TNR on Fridays, and can have standing appointments so that works in my favor. I may also speak to them about the possibility about renting multiple traps, the only problem with that is space in my car/garage to transport.

My org is already leery about having the cats here, because they're worried about people getting bit, rabies etc, but the remaining cats aren't friendly and are very scared of people, so I don't think that's an issue. I want to be on the safe side and don't want more cats here, because it's in the middle of a city with busy roads and bad areas that may be harmful to the cats.

We will see how this goes. I'm going to the ASPCA this weekend again.