Six (semi?) Ferals To Be Fixed...

[EmersonandEvie]

My mom has a small colony of cats (mom, dad, 4 kittens) and wants to take them all in to get TNR'd. I have been working with them for almost a month. I'm not entirely sure where the feral/semiferal line is crossed.

One of the kittens will readily come to you. Mama cat, dad cat, and one other kitten will let you touch them as long as they are eating. Mama will even rub all over you...but only if you have food in your hands! The other two kittens are incredibly skittish, although one will come onto the porch and meow at you like he wants to be pet but is too scared. Mom has already named everyone and is willing to keep feeding them but does not want anymore kittens.

How should we go about trapping them? I'm pretty sure that the kitten that will now come to us can be easily put into a cage. My parents have a Havehart trap, but only one. Should we just take them one at a time? Will the others lose trust in us? I have never dealt with ferals before and am asking a billion questions...

 

[Jcatbird]

If they are used to being fed and some human contact they are probably considered semi feral. I think it is fantastic you are going to get them Spayed/neutered. The chances are that you have a rescue group or a Humane Society near you that can help or at least make traps available. You can google the name of your town or county for resources to help you. A feral rescue group would probably be the best source. I suggest researching. I may know a little about your area if you need further help.
I can tell you that I have had great luck with getting Mom and babies all at once by using a large trap or carrier. To use a carrier they may need to be used to having someone nearby when they are eating to close the door once they are inside it. If you need more detailed information on that, I will be glad to help.
Getting the kitties early is best. The younger they are, the easier to tame or socialize them. Even older cats can be socialized but it is easier if they are kittens. I use meat baby food for any kitties I need to get socialized. It works very well. A little on a plate and then moving the plate closer to you with every feeding after that usually encourages trust. The skittish ones may take longer but patience is the key.
There is information here on the site if you do a search on trapping and you can look at the forum on feral cats for more help.
It’s great that you are doing this! You’re saving them from a very hard life. Thank you! Please keep us updated on what you find out or with any questions you have. So does your Mom!

 

[Norachan]

Thank you so much for helping these cats.



If you don't know for sure that you can pick any of them up and put them into a carrier I wouldn't risk trying to do that before you have to take them to be spayed. If the cat freaks out it could take ages to get their trust back, and you could get scratched or bitten.

As @jctabird says, TNR groups often have traps you can borrow. I suggest you try and get the traps about a week before your spay and neuter appointments. Wire the trap doors open and feed the cats in the traps every day so they are comfortable with going in and out of them. If the cats will let you stay close by you could even quietly close the trap doors by hand, rather than springing them. This will avoid scaring the cats with the loud noise of the trap door.

As soon as you have a cat trapped cover the trap with a blanket. The cats will stay calm if they are covered and feel safely hidden.

Get some of those puppy pee pads to stand the traps on while they are in your car, just in case.

If you can get appointments to have the whole family fixed at once, that's great, but the cats won't run off if they see their friends being trapped. I TNR'd my whole colony one or two cats at a time. By the time the next weekly clinic appointment came around they'd all forgotten about what happened the last time.

 

[kittyluv387]

I don’t know about those regular havehart traps. Sure you can catch one but if the others see that they won’t go near them again. The kitten you can touch, you can just have the carrier straight up and drop the kitten in there. For the rest you might want to use a drop trap. You can either buy one or borrow. If you borrow you should borrow some extra carriers too. Drop traps are nice because you can trap multiple at once.

 

[EmersonandEvie]

Thank you all for the suggestions! I think the kittens are 2 boys (orange tabby and a tuxedo) and 2 girls (both calico/possibly tortie). I think they are rapidly approaching 4 months old so I definitely want those females trapped and fixed. Much less worried about the boys. One of the females is a shy, timid one that I think was the runt. She stays glued to mama cat's side. So they should be easy to catch together.

The rescue near where my mom lives TNR's males for free and I think charge $10 or so for females. I will call and ask about drop cages. She has had the Havahart out for some time, held open with a stick, and they will easily go in it just exploring. It's for bigger animals like raccoons so it will easily hold two kittens or one adult cat.

 

[fionasmom]

I did successfully use two Havahart traps last summer, in case you need to go that route, although in your case I don't think it is the most preferable. I was faced with an entirely wild feral family who got about 20 feet near me at most. The odd thing was that once one cat was trapped, it seemed as if the others had not seen it happen, so someone would still come for the food in the remaining trap. I did feed in the traps for a couple of weeks first and used KFC for the bait which for me has always been the most successful bait.

 

[rubysmama]

I just wanted to post and thank you, and your mom, for caring for these cats and wanting to get them trapped and spayed/neutered. The members who've already posted have experience, so know what they're talking about. So you're getting good advice.

TCS also has some articles on ferals that may be helpful. Here are the links. Good luck. Keep us posted.

Everything You Need To Know About Tnr (trap-neuter-release)
Tnr And The Law: What Feral Caretakers Need To Know
Should You Try And Tame A Feral Cat?
Handling Feral Cats
A Feral Cat Or A Stray Cat? How To Tell The Difference

 

[EmersonandEvie]

KFC! That's hilarious. Maybe their special blend of herbs and spices includes catnip

Ok so the TNR here requires appointments and preapproval for females to be spayed. Mama cat is already on the approved list. We just have to get the two female kittens approved. There are neutering clinics at the shelter on certain Fridays and you can bring in as many males as you want with no prior approval. I will keep everyone posted.

 

[Norachan]

Oh yes, KFC is irresistible to feral cats! I've had a lot of luck with that. Kippers worked very well too.



That' s great that you can get the boys fixed for free. You seem to be on top of everything.



Keep us posted.

 

[EmersonandEvie]

Ok so dad cat (Inky) has been chasing mom cat (Mama) all day. She doesn't appear to be in heat (no vocalizing, no butt in the air, no rolling, running away from him, etc.) but he is relentless. Will a male cat try to mate with a female cat that is out of heat?

 

[Norachan]

She could be having a silent heat, or she could be just about to come into heat and Inky can tell.

Do you have an appointment to get her spayed this week?

My vet told me it's actually easier to spay a female that has just mated and is in the earliest stages of pregnancy than one that is in heat. I know some clinics don't like to spay cats in heat because they tend to bleed more.

Check with the clinic about this, if she is in heat now they might ask you to wait for a couple of weeks before you bring her in

 

[EmersonandEvie]

Mama is just on the "approve to be fixed" list. We have to call to put the other 2 female kittens on their list. So, to answer your question, there isn't a specific appointment set up for her.

 

[Willowy]

Try to get her in within the next 3 weeks or so, before the pregnancy progresses too much. It can be done later but the earlier the better.

Did they tell you how long it usually takes to get an appointment after getting her on the approved list?

 

[EmersonandEvie]

This information is all secondhand so I'm not sure how accurate it is. Apparently she had a spay appointment but she was unable to be caught therefore missing the spay appointment. The shelter said to "bring her in whenever she is caught."

 

[EmersonandEvie]

Update: Mama is definitely in heat or almost there...we had another male cat come around that we haven't seen in months. She still doesn't seem receptive of them, hissing and refusing to let them get too close. On the bright side though, her heat has made her super affectionate and I was able to truly pet her for the first time today! And she was PURRING! I'm counting it as a win...lol.

We also have a carrier outside just to let them get used to it. Two of the kittens climbed in it on their own accord! It's the small victories.

Going to try and get mama into the vet within the next 2 to 3 weeks. I'll stay up here one weekend and we will just have to round up as many as we can.

 

[EmersonandEvie]

Update: Mama and one of the girl cats were taken in to be fixed this morning! Two down, four to go!



They are doing well. We go and pick them up after 3:30!

Also: Mama cat and the kitten that went in today will now let you pet them without being rewarded with food. One of the little boys will now let you pet him as well.

 

[rubysmama]

Update: Mama and one of the girl cats were taken in to be fixed this morning! Two down, four to go!

Also: Mama cat and the kitten that went in today will now let you pet them without being rewarded with food. One of the little boys will now let you pet him as well.

 

[Norachan]

Oh wow, you're making really good progress!

 

[di and bob]

Good for you! Keep up the good work!

 

[6kittymama]

Great job!!