Live Trap Or Cat Carrier For Semi Feral Cat

gleason

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I have a cat that was a feral cat. I got her tamed so she will come to me but only me. She runs away from everyone else. She stays outside. She has an appt next month to get spayed at a clinic. They want feral cats to come in a live trap and pet cats can come in a carrier. She is kind of in between the two. She is a small cat. So I am wondering if I should take her in a live trap or a cat carrier? Any thoughts?
 

Willowy

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Probably a trap. It doesn't sound like she'll be very cooperative with the clinic employees, and it's easier to sedate a cat in a trap.
 

shadowsrescue

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I vote trap too. It will be much easier for the clinic to deal with her.
 
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gleason

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I'm not familiar with live traps. I was planning on putting her in a spare room over night with water and litter box. How do I get her in the live trap in the morning when she can't have any food?
 

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I'm not familiar with live traps. I was planning on putting her in a spare room over night with water and litter box. How do I get her in the live trap in the morning when she can't have any food?
A tiny little bit of food is OK. Try something really smelly like tuna juice from the can or a bit of KFC. Even the package that KFC was in would work. Or catnip, if she's the kind of cat that likes nip.

I think a trap would be much better than a carrier as the vet can sedate her before they have to take her out and handle her at all. Much less stressful for the cat.

A good tip when doing TNR is to weigh the empty trap and write the weight on the trap with a magic marker. If the vet can work out exactly how much the cat weighs they can give the correct amount of sedative, which makes everything much safer.
 

jcat

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There's an alternative called a squeeze cage that you might be able to borrow from a vet or shelter. If not, a live trap would probably be easier for both you and the vet.

 
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gleason

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I was able to get an appt on the same day for one of the kittens to be spayed. I would like to keep both mother and kitten in a spare room overnight. I can rent a couple of live traps from our Humane Society for in the morning. But my question is the kittens are still nursing occasionally. As they won't be getting any food during the night (only water) I am sure the kitten will nurse. Is that okay?
 

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I wouldn't think it was ok but you should ask the vet. Never feel bad about calling with questions. You are not bothering them, they want everything to go smoothly without complications just like you do.
 
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gleason

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Unfortunately I can't call the vet. This is being done thru a clinic with vets that come in from different areas.
 

Willowy

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I'm pretty sure that's fine as it's just liquids. As long as they can have water they should be able to have milk. If you can, try to keep her from nursing right before the surgery, but if she nurses at night that should be fine.
 
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gleason

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I thought I would share some info I received. I finally got a call back from the spay/neuter clinic. They would prefer the kitten not nurse at night if possible. If she does or if I think she did, they advised that I let the clinic know when I arrive. They will make sure her spay is not one of the first ones. As for the mother cat, I need to let them know that she is probably still nursing. They will do what is called a flank spay so they don't damage her mammary glands. Either way the spay for mama cat and kitten would not be denied. So all is good.
 

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That's good, they sound like they have plenty of experience with mother cats. Sending you vibes for a safe spay.

:vibes::vibes::vibes:
 
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gleason

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Momma (Cali) and kitty (Daisy) were spayed yesterday. Everything went well and both were returned outside this morning. Daisy acting like nothing happened. Glad to be back with her brother. Cali is a little more quiet but doing well. This non profit clinic did an awesome job with about 35 animals in one day. $40 included spay, rabies shot, nail trim, ear cleaning, ea tip, Revolution and a tattoo near the incision site indicating a fixed animal. Ear tip means he same thing. Also have to say the live traps worked well. No issues with getting kitties in or out or transport. I would definitely do again.
 
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gleason

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I meant ear tip not ea tip.
 

Norachan

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Good job.

:clap::clap::clap:

Is the little brother cat neutered too? It's a much simpler procedure for male cats to be fixed. You should't have any problems there at all.
 
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gleason

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Brother not fixed yet. Couldn't get him in this time. They were too booked up. They squeezed in Daisy as it was. Wait time is 2-3 months. That's why I wanted to get females in before they would of had a litter. I've had male house cats before and agree males are easier to fix.
 

Norachan

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Brother not fixed yet. Couldn't get him in this time. They were too booked up. They squeezed in Daisy as it was. Wait time is 2-3 months. That's why I wanted to get females in before they would of had a litter. I've had male house cats before and agree males are easier to fix.
Good idea, I started with getting all the girl cats fixed too. A couple of months wait shouldn't hurt. How old are the kittens?
 
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