Hello all,
Just a lil background info: There's a couple outside strays that I feed regularly, and within the last couple of days, a newcomer has arrived! However, this new guy is injured and needs to go to the vet - both his ears are injured. I've fed him the last two nights at the same time - he comes by right around 11pm. My neighbor across the street gave me a trap today so that I can catch him and take him to the vet tomorrow.
My question is: What do I do with him after I have trapped him? I have 4 full-time inside cats in my home, so this injured tomcat absolutely cannot have free run of the house. The only places I could really put him are in the bathroom (which is really small) or the basement --> I'm leaning towards using the basement because the trap will literally take up the entire floor space of my bathroom, unless I can just set it inside the bathtub. So, once I've got him down in the basement, do I just leave him in the trap all night? How will he be able to poop and pee if I do that? I'm scared that if I let him out of the trap overnight, what if I can't get him back in it so I can transport him to the vet? I don't really know this cat, so I'm scared of how he will act, since I'm a stranger and I'm sure he is in pain. I won't be able to get him to my vet until about 10-11am tomorrow morning - will he be OK inside the trap in my basement from 11pm-11am? If it's OK to just leave him in the trap for 12 hours, do you think the best place to set the trap would be inside the bathtub? I guess that way, even if he pees, it'll just drain into the tub (gross, but I really am trying to help this guy - looks like he got into a fight and one of his ears got messed up quite badly). I'm mainly concerned with how he will "use the bathroom" if he is in the trap for 12 hours. And if it is even OK for him to be in the trap for that long. I've never used a real trap before, but my neighbor showed me how to set it up - it's like a rectangle cage where the lid snaps up as soon as a cat walks over it. I was just gonna put a plate of wet food in the back of the trap. Hopefully he will go into it - he is very food motivated, probably very hungry. He inhales a whole can of 9Lives in less than 2 mins. AND he's hurt, poor guy......I'm worried about his wound becoming infected since he just roams around outside, apparently. Thanks for any advice!!
Just a lil background info: There's a couple outside strays that I feed regularly, and within the last couple of days, a newcomer has arrived! However, this new guy is injured and needs to go to the vet - both his ears are injured. I've fed him the last two nights at the same time - he comes by right around 11pm. My neighbor across the street gave me a trap today so that I can catch him and take him to the vet tomorrow.
My question is: What do I do with him after I have trapped him? I have 4 full-time inside cats in my home, so this injured tomcat absolutely cannot have free run of the house. The only places I could really put him are in the bathroom (which is really small) or the basement --> I'm leaning towards using the basement because the trap will literally take up the entire floor space of my bathroom, unless I can just set it inside the bathtub. So, once I've got him down in the basement, do I just leave him in the trap all night? How will he be able to poop and pee if I do that? I'm scared that if I let him out of the trap overnight, what if I can't get him back in it so I can transport him to the vet? I don't really know this cat, so I'm scared of how he will act, since I'm a stranger and I'm sure he is in pain. I won't be able to get him to my vet until about 10-11am tomorrow morning - will he be OK inside the trap in my basement from 11pm-11am? If it's OK to just leave him in the trap for 12 hours, do you think the best place to set the trap would be inside the bathtub? I guess that way, even if he pees, it'll just drain into the tub (gross, but I really am trying to help this guy - looks like he got into a fight and one of his ears got messed up quite badly). I'm mainly concerned with how he will "use the bathroom" if he is in the trap for 12 hours. And if it is even OK for him to be in the trap for that long. I've never used a real trap before, but my neighbor showed me how to set it up - it's like a rectangle cage where the lid snaps up as soon as a cat walks over it. I was just gonna put a plate of wet food in the back of the trap. Hopefully he will go into it - he is very food motivated, probably very hungry. He inhales a whole can of 9Lives in less than 2 mins. AND he's hurt, poor guy......I'm worried about his wound becoming infected since he just roams around outside, apparently. Thanks for any advice!!