I live on 5 acres in a rural area. A young cat (looks like an older kitten, maybe around 10 months old) showed up on my property about 2 weeks ago. It started coming to my porch every night for food and I left a my garage door a crack open for it to be able to take shelter, as it's starting to get really cold in New York, while I made my game plan. My husband was away for 10 days and we decided to trap it as soon as he returned from the trip. I booked an appointment with my vet to bring in the cat this coming Tuesday morning. I left a trail cam out in my garage to monitor if the young cat was using it for shelter, and sure enough, the camera revealed the cat using my garage for many nights in a row. The camera then showed that on Thursday night the young cat used the garage quite a bit, but then by the end of the night showed 2 other strays visited as well. The next night, the young cat came to feed on my porch. Later that night, one of the other strays appeared on my back porch. Ever since, I have not seen the young stray that I was originally trying to rescue. It has not been in the garage the past few nights, at least in the direction the camera was pointing, and it did not show up to eat on porch last night or so far tonight. One of the other strays did show up and ate the food and used the garage, though. Did the other cat scare the younger cat off, and what are chances that the younger cat will reappear? I know no one will know this answer for sure, but I was planning on trapping the little one tomorrow night, and now it's nowhere to be seen! Help!
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Stray Disappeared After Almost 2 Weeks
- Thread starter Sharky22
- Start Date
You could leave the trap set just in case. When I was trapping, the first cat I caught was the one I never thought I would capture. Big Red. Totally feral. I didn't even know he was in the area, and he was trapped before the woman from the rescue left, as we were standing in my driveway talking. I wish you luck! Please keep us posted on what happens and I hope that someone else comes along with more experience and advice. I had two strays/ferals bring their kittens to us, just at the point where they were large enough to spay and neuter. The one I caught first was an adult male. He now sleeps on my carport, though he has never let me touch him.
Even in the winter cats mate so he/she may still show up at your door step Don't give up hope! I would still put traps out,cover with a blanket and towels inside with some tuna. My cat Coco was born on my porch then came back a year old rubbing against my window. She remembered me! I am assuming someone took her. She became bff with a male cat,also her dad and had a litter of 4
Many things could have happen and it's hard to tell the right answer.
Since it's a younger cat, it could be chased off by the older cats. It can also have found another spot to hide and probably found food there too or have been captured by cat rescues or adopted by someone and I hope nothing besides all these are disastrous news.
What you can do is walk around your area and see if you can spot the cat. The cat may reappear if let's say where he is now has no more food to eat.
I'll say, stick to your plan and hope that the cat will return.
Please keep us posted.
Thank you for trying to help the stray cats in your area.
Usually if you see one there are others round too. The older, more dominant cats do drive the weaker ones away. The best thing to do is to try and get them all TNR'd. That will mean less fighting and less kittens born in the spring.
Once the cats have been spayed and neutered and know there is a regular food source in the area they tend to tolerate each other. They'll establish a little colony that stops other cats from taking over their territory, although you may still see occasional new strays showing up.
I suggest you set the trap up on Monday evening and take which ever cat you trap to the vet to be spayed or neutered. Does your vet spay and neuter feral cats cheaply? Some cities have low cost clinics that will TNR cats for less than spaying/neutering a pet cat, or even for free.
Once the 2 other strays have been fixed they will be less aggressive with the younger cat and he may come back again.
Have you trapped before? Let us know if you need any advice
Usually if you see one there are others round too. The older, more dominant cats do drive the weaker ones away. The best thing to do is to try and get them all TNR'd. That will mean less fighting and less kittens born in the spring.
Once the cats have been spayed and neutered and know there is a regular food source in the area they tend to tolerate each other. They'll establish a little colony that stops other cats from taking over their territory, although you may still see occasional new strays showing up.
I suggest you set the trap up on Monday evening and take which ever cat you trap to the vet to be spayed or neutered. Does your vet spay and neuter feral cats cheaply? Some cities have low cost clinics that will TNR cats for less than spaying/neutering a pet cat, or even for free.
Once the 2 other strays have been fixed they will be less aggressive with the younger cat and he may come back again.
Have you trapped before? Let us know if you need any advice
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #6
Thanks so much for all of your support and advice. I get so anxious around this stuff that I really need to bounce my plans/actions/questions off of others who are more experienced. I appreciate all of your feedback!
I trapped 2 strays last year who had come to our property and we adopted them both, so they have joined our 2 other brother rescue cats and everyone is one big happy family now. We were planning on probably adopting the smaller younger one we were going to try to trap tonight.
We do want to help this other one who has chased the younger one off the property, but I'm not sure we are quite prepared to adopt another unexpected one, but I guess we will trap him, fix him, let him recover in a room here, and then figure out if we can get him adopted by someone else, or perhaps we will keep him, although that feels overwhelming right now. I guess we will figure it out as we go. I don't feel great about releasing him in the dead of winter, when the heavy snows are about to come...and I know that of course he needs warm recovery time after surgery anyways. My friend has a house where he could stay but he would be mostly alone there, except when she goes there to work on it, and I don't think that's a great idea for a cat in need of socialization.
I am kicking myself that I did not trap the younger one when I had the chance! It just felt like too much on my own with all the other animals I'm taking care of, before my husband returned.
My one other question is if I trap this guy tonight, can I leave him inside the Have A Heart trap in a warm room in my house tonight before bringing him to the early vet appointment I have scheduled tomorrow? I've never left a cat in a trap overnight. I'm guessing that I will trap him around 6:30pm tonight and our appointment at the vet tomorrow is at 7:30am.
Perhaps the vet's office will offer a discount for fixing a stray. Our shelters do offer low-cost clinics for neutering but they are far and few between and it's tough to schedule the trapping with when they are offered.
Thanks again, everyone, for the wisdom and encouragement!
I trapped 2 strays last year who had come to our property and we adopted them both, so they have joined our 2 other brother rescue cats and everyone is one big happy family now. We were planning on probably adopting the smaller younger one we were going to try to trap tonight.
We do want to help this other one who has chased the younger one off the property, but I'm not sure we are quite prepared to adopt another unexpected one, but I guess we will trap him, fix him, let him recover in a room here, and then figure out if we can get him adopted by someone else, or perhaps we will keep him, although that feels overwhelming right now. I guess we will figure it out as we go. I don't feel great about releasing him in the dead of winter, when the heavy snows are about to come...and I know that of course he needs warm recovery time after surgery anyways. My friend has a house where he could stay but he would be mostly alone there, except when she goes there to work on it, and I don't think that's a great idea for a cat in need of socialization.
I am kicking myself that I did not trap the younger one when I had the chance! It just felt like too much on my own with all the other animals I'm taking care of, before my husband returned.
My one other question is if I trap this guy tonight, can I leave him inside the Have A Heart trap in a warm room in my house tonight before bringing him to the early vet appointment I have scheduled tomorrow? I've never left a cat in a trap overnight. I'm guessing that I will trap him around 6:30pm tonight and our appointment at the vet tomorrow is at 7:30am.
Perhaps the vet's office will offer a discount for fixing a stray. Our shelters do offer low-cost clinics for neutering but they are far and few between and it's tough to schedule the trapping with when they are offered.
Thanks again, everyone, for the wisdom and encouragement!
Yes, please keep him inside and check with your vet about the discount.
It’ll be good if you keep him. Keep us posted please.
Hi there,yes you can leave him in the trap overnight --cover to keep him calm ahd keep trap where he his out of harms way... best they don't eat 8hrs prior to surgery anyway
I do hope your little friend comes back,the question of " will he" is impossible to answer but be encouraged thst if no one has taken him and nothing has happened to prevent him from coming back the chances that he will are high..... usually strays & ferals have more than one person leaving food out so he might be making other rounds,maybe looking for some females - you never know
I wish you all the best,I'll say a little prayer and hope to hear he's back with you
I do hope your little friend comes back,the question of " will he" is impossible to answer but be encouraged thst if no one has taken him and nothing has happened to prevent him from coming back the chances that he will are high..... usually strays & ferals have more than one person leaving food out so he might be making other rounds,maybe looking for some females - you never know
I wish you all the best,I'll say a little prayer and hope to hear he's back with you
I really hope this goes well for you and you catch the youngster, and it's great that you're considering adopting them. However, I'm sure I don't need to tell you that if you capture a different stray, you'll still be helping them and preventing an out of control population by having them neutered and treated at a vet's, and hopefully finding a home for them to go to as well. As
Norachan
says, one stray probably means more, so keep setting the trap and helping these cats. The oftener you set the trap, the more likely you are to catch the young cat you were originally concerned about.
Please keep us posted. I know I'm not the only one who's hoping this will produce a result!
Norachan
says, one stray probably means more, so keep setting the trap and helping these cats. The oftener you set the trap, the more likely you are to catch the young cat you were originally concerned about.Please keep us posted. I know I'm not the only one who's hoping this will produce a result!
Where I live I am friends with fosters so do a search for rescues with fosters
If you need to keep a cat in a trap over night line the bottom of the trap with something absorbent before you trap the cat. A sheet of cardboard and a handful of straw is fine. When you've trapped the cat make sure the trap door is securely closed (No straw or cardboard pushing it open even a tiny bit, as the cat will try and squeeze out if they find a gap)
Stand the trap on a couple of bricks and put some newspaper or puppy pee pads underneath. If the cat pees while in the trap you don't want him to have to stand in it all night.
Make sure you completely cover the trap with a sheet or blanket and keep it covered the whole time the cat is in there. They feel much safer if they are fully covered.
If you can't find a home for him maybe you could make an outdoor shelter for him? Or let him sleep in your garage?
Stand the trap on a couple of bricks and put some newspaper or puppy pee pads underneath. If the cat pees while in the trap you don't want him to have to stand in it all night.
Make sure you completely cover the trap with a sheet or blanket and keep it covered the whole time the cat is in there. They feel much safer if they are fully covered.
If you can't find a home for him maybe you could make an outdoor shelter for him? Or let him sleep in your garage?
Years ago I rescued a black kitten,posted her on nextdoor, and immediately got a response. She was picked up the next day. People that took her kept her in the carrier overnight with a blanket. I saw them again couple weeks ago. They still have her.she is a very playful cat and well taken care of
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #16
Thanks again, everyone, for the advice and feedback. It has helped me so much through the process.
Last night, we trapped the bigger boy and got the trap inside a warm room in our house. Success!
After we got him in last night, about an hour and a half later, the little one suddenly reappeared on our deck! We were shocked and overjoyed, and had to hustle in our thinking about how we were going to handle it all. We gave her a good meal and prayed that she'd use our garage overnight to stay in. We also prayed that she'd be back the next night to feed again.
We brought the boy to the vet this morning and had him scanned for chip, neutered, vaxxed, and the whole workup. He had been quiet all night at our house in the trap, and quiet on our whole drive. When the vet's office called us to report on how things went, they said he was WILD and they weren't sure that I'll be able to socialize him. We picked him up this afternoon and he was so, so good on the drive back home, this time in a carrier. He's resting now in a warm, soothing room in our house. I'm not sure what I'll face with him as I get to know him and attempt to socialize him.
We decided to set the trap out again tonight. Sure enough, we just caught the little one! A miracle. She's in a separate room in the trap now and we will be bringing her in early tomorrow morning for the same vet visit that the boy went through today.
Honestly, we would adopt both if everything goes okay with my socializing them and introducing them to our others, who are all so great together. I don't mind the work of it, because I love them. It's really the idea of future medical costs when things go bad that worries me so much. So, we're going to take things one day at at time and protect and take care of them now and figure out the best scenarios for them as we go. At least I know that they won't be out this winter in the blizzards we get in upstate NY, along with all the other vulnerabilities they face out there.
Thank you all for the guidance!
Last night, we trapped the bigger boy and got the trap inside a warm room in our house. Success!
After we got him in last night, about an hour and a half later, the little one suddenly reappeared on our deck! We were shocked and overjoyed, and had to hustle in our thinking about how we were going to handle it all. We gave her a good meal and prayed that she'd use our garage overnight to stay in. We also prayed that she'd be back the next night to feed again.
We brought the boy to the vet this morning and had him scanned for chip, neutered, vaxxed, and the whole workup. He had been quiet all night at our house in the trap, and quiet on our whole drive. When the vet's office called us to report on how things went, they said he was WILD and they weren't sure that I'll be able to socialize him. We picked him up this afternoon and he was so, so good on the drive back home, this time in a carrier. He's resting now in a warm, soothing room in our house. I'm not sure what I'll face with him as I get to know him and attempt to socialize him.
We decided to set the trap out again tonight. Sure enough, we just caught the little one! A miracle. She's in a separate room in the trap now and we will be bringing her in early tomorrow morning for the same vet visit that the boy went through today.
Honestly, we would adopt both if everything goes okay with my socializing them and introducing them to our others, who are all so great together. I don't mind the work of it, because I love them. It's really the idea of future medical costs when things go bad that worries me so much. So, we're going to take things one day at at time and protect and take care of them now and figure out the best scenarios for them as we go. At least I know that they won't be out this winter in the blizzards we get in upstate NY, along with all the other vulnerabilities they face out there.
Thank you all for the guidance!
That's great news!
Let them have a good rest and I know you'll be able to handle them and I do hope that you'll keep both of them since they sort of know each other and hopefully the socializing and introduction will go smoothly.
Do keep us updated of the progress and if possible, show us photos of them please. Feel free to ask questions and we'll try our best to help answer them.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #18
Thank you,
tabbytom
! I will send an update here about how it all goes and if we end up keeping them. Here are some photos from outside. The black & white tuxedo is the little one. We got shots of her on a trail cam to monitor her comings & goings, but there's another blurry shot here of one evening when she just sat at the far edge of the back deck staring at us through the sliding glass doors! The big guy is grey with a white bib, and one night he stayed on our back deck for an hour or more, just staring in at our other furry guys and me, as you'll see in the photo. He had such a forlorn look on his face that seemed to be calling out, "Please let me in!"
tabbytom
! I will send an update here about how it all goes and if we end up keeping them. Here are some photos from outside. The black & white tuxedo is the little one. We got shots of her on a trail cam to monitor her comings & goings, but there's another blurry shot here of one evening when she just sat at the far edge of the back deck staring at us through the sliding glass doors! The big guy is grey with a white bib, and one night he stayed on our back deck for an hour or more, just staring in at our other furry guys and me, as you'll see in the photo. He had such a forlorn look on his face that seemed to be calling out, "Please let me in!"Attachments
Wow! That's the best news I've heard in my life,besides family. Your new cats are blessed. They are much safer now thanks to you
If the female is not spayed chances are high she is pregnant. Are you prepaired to deal with a pottential litter of kittens?
