I can't trap a few cats - Advice needed

[Antonio65]

I thought I did a great job and had all my colony spayed and neutered last year. I spent dozens of days in trapping sessions, and sometimes they were unsuccessful and disappointing, but when at the end of the story I had all the cats fixed I was happy and relaxed.

Now a four new cats have joined the colony, and at least three of them are females.
I've been sitting in the cold for days, with the trap cage in front of me. I have wasted not fewer than 100 hours so far, and none of these cats would enter the trap. I tried with the usual bait, tuna fish, that had been working with all the 25 cats before, I changed to a different bait, I also sprayed the trap with catnip spray. The best thing I have accomplished is to have a couple of these cats eat the bait food outside the trap, but none of them has ever walked in. They seem to be scared by the trap, all the others I had trapped before didn't care about it, they just walked in. Even the cats that had been trapped before go in, not the ones I still have to trap, they are too smart, in my opinion.

I'm at my wit's end, it's getting an obsession, I even skip lunches on weekends so to be there and not miss a chance. I'm tired, this obsession will kill me. It's February already, it's warm over here, we didn't have the winter this year, so the cats might go into heat soon, if they aren't pregnant already.

What would you do in my place? Any advice?

 

[verna davies]

Try to relax Antonio, you are doing your very best, you cant do any more than that. You need to look after yourself, eat and sleep or you wont be able to help your colony at all. I know its difficult but maybe these four need a little more time to settle and trust. I have no experience with ferals so can't offer any advice in that area but I kniw you wont give up on them..ever. Be patient.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. It doesn't do anything to help you, but I am wondering if these cats are strays/abandoned given their leeriness of the traps. It's almost like they are familiar with carriers/traps. Maybe you will have to do some camouflaging to trick them into going inside? (And, on that note - again no help from me - but maybe they are already spayed.)

 

[fionasmom]

Yes, you need to take care of yourself. If you break down the cats have no one to count on; as you know from all your experiences you don't always win with ferals. It is getting into spring here in LA as well and while I do not see any unfamiliar cats coming around it is always necessary to be vigilant at this time of you, so I understand your frantic concern about getting them.

I agree with doing something different with the trap like camouflaging it. Depending on resources you have in that location a towel may do or even a different place for the trap by a few feet. Do you have access to any foliage? I think that you don't in that location from what I remember. Some groups out here use cheap artificial flowers and branches to hide a trap.

I have had cat refuse to go into a trap for tuna and my best bait has always been Kentucky Fried chicken or any type of deep fried and more or less greasy chicken. It is possible that they are strays and/or already TNRed. I have had previously TNRed cats show up, ear tip and all, and even last summer trapped a big fluffy female who had already been spayed but I never would have known it from her location and condition.

 

[walli]

You can try putting 2 traps together with the opening on opposite sides somehow they see the food
in one trap right by the opening so they may go in, It worked for my friend

also I had a difficult to trap cat and I had to use a drop trap, I seem to remember you don't have access to a drop trap?

 

[Antonio65]

Maybe you will have to do some camouflaging to trick them into going inside?

I thought about disguising the trap with something natural like leaves, grass, branches, something like that.
But my trap is remotely controlled, and I fear that if I disguise it too much, I won't be able to see if the cat is in the right position into the trap to trigger the door.

(And, on that note - again no help from me - but maybe they are already spayed.)

They might be, but I am rather sure they aren't. Two of them had kittens last summer. A total of 7 kittens, at least that is what I saw. I managed to catch 6 of them, 1 has been adopted, 5 are still at the shelter and they are not adoptable (though they have been fixed).
The one I didn't catch looks like a female. And I have spotted another young female in the last few weeks.

None of the adults have a clipped ear.

 

[FeebysOwner]

None of the adults have a clipped ear.

I was trying to be positive, but knew my comments probably weren't accurate. However, I do know that in my area a cat that goes through a trap and neuter program, but is planning to be set up for adoption, will not have an ear clipped unless requested. They are microchipped so if lost or abandoned they can be tracked back to at least the program they were initially affiliated with, for re-adoption attempts. This has happened on occasion where apparently someone adopted them, then either let them loose later or lost them and they ended up re-united with the original program. Of course, a far stretch in your case, especially now that you know there have been kittens involved.

 

[Antonio65]

It is getting into spring here in LA as well and while I do not see any unfamiliar cats coming around it is always necessary to be vigilant at this time of you, so I understand your frantic concern about getting them.

Yes, we have to be vigilant!
Colonies are dynamic entities, they are never stabilized, as soon as you think everything is alright, then some new cats join the group!

I agree with doing something different with the trap like camouflaging it. Depending on resources you have in that location a towel may do or even a different place for the trap by a few feet. Do you have access to any foliage? I think that you don't in that location from what I remember. Some groups out here use cheap artificial flowers and branches to hide a trap.

The colony is in an industrial area, but there's plenty of vegetation around that I could use to disguise the trap. And even if there wasn't any tree around there, I could bring something from home.
But, as I wrote above, the trap is triggered from remote, and if it's excessively hidden I could be not able to see the cat inside. I have to find a compromise.

It is possible that they are strays and/or already TNRed. I have had previously TNRed cats show up, ear tip and all, and even last summer trapped a big fluffy female who had already been spayed but I never would have known it from her location and condition.

The cats I would like to trap haven't been fixed yet, as far as I know. Their ears are fine and two of them were mothers last summer. The other two are very young and this season would their first one.

 

[Antonio65]

I had a difficult to trap cat and I had to use a drop trap, I seem to remember you don't have access to a drop trap?

You remember it right
I had tried to get hold of a drop trap, but couldn't find any and having one online from US is way too expensive.

 

[Antonio65]

However, I do know that in my area a cat that goes through a trap and neuter program, but is planning to be set up for adoption, will not have an ear clipped unless requested. They are microchipped so if lost or abandoned they can be tracked back to at least the program they were initially affiliated with, for re-adoption attempts.

In my colony only two or three cats had their ears clipped, and it was done on my request because there were cats that looked alike.
Over here, cats from registered colonies are fixed on the county council, they pay for the surgery, but the council requests that those cats have their ears clipped. I had to argue with the vets and the council in order to save those ears and they agreed. So most of my cats have whole ears.
I'm sure that in other colonies the council isn't that permissive. Furthermore, there aren't other registered colonies nearby the area where mine is, I would know that. If someone else is doing the same job as me, they're doing it on their own expense and I am rather sure that their vet would advise them to have those ears clipped.

So far, once it happened to me to see a new cat with a clipped ear. And on another occasion I trapped a cat that had been spayed already but not by me, and her ear ear was fine.
That's kind of a mistery.

I'm planning on asking around and see if someone is looking after some cats. Next week.

 

[walli]

Do you have 2 traps?

 

[Antonio65]

Do you have 2 traps?

No, unfortunately I don't.
I could borrow one, but it wouldn't be remotely controlled, the wrong cat might be trapped.

 

[shadowsrescue]

Have you thought of building your own drop trap? I have seen some videos on youtube.

 

[Antonio65]

Have you thought of building your own drop trap? I have seen some videos on youtube.

Yes, I thought of it.
As far as I know, a drop trap, to be effective, must be rather large (so the cat doesn't "see" it) and heavy (so the cat can't sneak from under it). Building something like this might be not that difficult, but it could get difficult to transport and move around.
As far as I know, it also requires that there are two persons to transfer the trapped cat into a carrier. And this might be the hardest part.

I had seen that wonderful foldable drop trap online, easy to transport, but it's too expensive, especially when I have to pay for the shipping and import taxes.
I keep wondering why that kind of trap isn't imported here.

 

[milktea]

I have the same problem... there are 2 cats that refuse to go near any trap. I’ve tried sardines, tuna, baby food, roast chicken, KFC.... nothing. As soon as they see something on the porch they keep running by. I can only leave a trap on my porch because every other area has people going by and it’s considered a common area in my community. Not supposed to leave stuff there. Plus the cats know to come to my porch for food.

Anyway, I’m tired of spending my days off trapping.

 

[Antonio65]

I understand your frustration and situation M milktea , it seems that some cats are much smarter than others. Those are likely to create troubles because they will give birth to more kittens soon.

The last bit of advice I got from a person I know is to leave my trap in a place where cats would go, but concealed from the sight of other people, and walk away. He said that it's likely that the cats sense my presence or anxiety even from a distance, even if I wait in the car 50 feet away. According to him I should leave the trap and go back and check it 4 or 5 hours later.
My trap has been modified to be controlled remotely, but it can be easily reversed to the normal function.

Pros:
I wouldn't waste my time on a pointless trapping, I would be comfortable elsewhere, I could do something useful meanwhile.
Cons:
I could trap the wrong cat and waste a chance for that day. The right cats could witness the trapping and get scared and would not go near the trap again.
The trapped cat could sit in the trap for hours before I go back. To avoid this I am thinking of modifying the trap to make it send a text message to my phone when it triggers and closes.

 

[milktea]

I’m actually not on the porch when I leave the trap. I go inside and tie a fishing line to the drop trap. I pull when I see a cat inside by watching our security camera. I have regular traps too, but I’ve already trapped most cats by our house, so I have to make sure I got the right cat.

But anyway, it’s a super long process and I end up staring at the security camera app on my phone all day. On my day off. These cats are too smart!

 

[Antonio65]

I end up staring at the security camera app on my phone all day. On my day off. These cats are too smart!

This can't go on for a long time, our spare time is precious, and we could use it for better things, even in the cats' interest

 

[milktea]

This can't go on for a long time, our spare time is precious, and we could use it for better things, even in the cats' interest

Agreed... I don’t know what else to do though because I hear these cats mating and screeching at night. I feed them daily from my porch. A neighbor found kittens in the bushes before. The last cat I caught turned out to be 3 weeks pregnant with 5 kittens...and they were terminated while spaying. Very depressing.

 

[Antonio65]

Agreed... I don’t know what else to do though because I hear these cats mating and screeching at night. I feed them daily from my porch. A neighbor found kittens in the bushes before. The last cat I caught turned out to be 3 weeks pregnant with 5 kittens...and they were terminated while spaying. Very depressing.

It happened to me three times last year.
Three female cats were trapped and were pregnant, but nobody could have told that by looking at them. The vets found that out when the opened them. In all three cases, the cats were about 2 weeks pregnant.
A total of 10 kittens were aborted. Yes, really depressing... For the vets too...