Trapping Surprise

[houseofcats]

Thursday night Kevin & I went out trapping for the cat we dubbed Oakley. We had spotted him in an orchard between the park and college. We started feeding him at the same spot for about 2 weeks. We decided to go for him Thursday evening and in about 10 minutes had him! Friday Kevin dropped him off at the vet for his neuter and when he returned that afternoon to pick him up the Vet Tech asked if she could have him! She came with excellent references, gave us her number so we can keep up with him, and paid for the neuter and testing. We were so happily surprised. Out of all the feral cats that go through this vet on a daily basis, Oakley was picked!!! Another cat saved from the life of the streets!

Here's the little guy and his new owner. Don't be alarmed by his cuts and scratches - almost all of the ferals we've caught do this to themselves by running into the walls of the trap. They always heal quickly.

 

[lotsocats]

What a wonderful story! Oakley seems surprisingly comfortable being held. What a happy beginning of a new life for this little one!

 

[hissy]

Congrats on finding a good home for this feral. You are right, they bounce off the walls inside the traps, even if they are covered. I have tried using newspaper to pad the inside, but really nothing works. I just try and get them into a larger area as quickly as possible.

 

[houseofcats]

He tamed up very quickly! Would you believe he's toilet trained himself!!! She updates me weekly on him. She adores him and thanks me continually. His nose is all healed and he ended up ear-tipped since they didn't know if we would agree to her having him. That's OK, our Bo is ear-tipped and we hardly notice it!

 

[houseofcats]

Originally posted by hissy
Congrats on finding a good home for this feral. You are right, they bounce off the walls inside the traps, even if they are covered. I have tried using newspaper to pad the inside, but really nothing works. I just try and get them into a larger area as quickly as possible.

Yes we've tried the newspaper also! We trap mostly with a drop trap my husband made and then transfer to the regular traps. We've caught up to 6 cats at once with the drop trap! It's great.

 

[ldg]

CONGRATULATIONS!!!! What a great story! I'm so glad things are going well for Oakley.

...We must have a strange community of ferals! The only one who went bonkers was little Lazlo when we trapped him. And that was straight into a crate.

Even Attila, the hardest one to trap, just skulked up in a corner of the trap.

 

[houseofcats]

Most of ours go crazy in the trap. We immediately cover the trap with a towel/sheet to try and calm them.

 

[glentheman20]

Wow, it's so great what you do for these cats! I am taking care of a small colony of two ferals right now, both black cats. I would love to see pictures and a description of your drop trap, if you could; it sounds like just the thing for a tricky feral that's been wandering around my neighborhood. Anyway, keep up the good work, and I look forward to hearing about your ferals.

 

[hissy]

I had one older female who was so hard to trap. She was all spit hiss and claws and looked quite formidable. She was part of a heavily diseased and inbred colony fed by a little old collector lady who was feeding them cornmeal mush and honey......sigh......

We did a massive trapping effort and captured 18 one day. She was in one of the traps! The problem was, I didn't have anywhere to put her and I needed the trap to use again, so I put her inside a carrier fof 24 hours until I get her to the vet. At the end of 24 hours, at the vet's office, she walked out of the carrier just as dainty as you please, head butted both me and the vet tech, just purring away! She has been a wonderful lap kitty for us ever since.

 

[houseofcats]

Originally posted by hissy
I had one older female who was so hard to trap. She was all spit hiss and claws and looked quite formidable. She was part of a heavily diseased and inbred colony fed by a little old collector lady who was feeding them cornmeal mush and honey......sigh......

We did a massive trapping effort and captured 18 one day. She was in one of the traps! The problem was, I didn't have anywhere to put her and I needed the trap to use again, so I put her inside a carrier fof 24 hours until I get her to the vet. At the end of 24 hours, at the vet's office, she walked out of the carrier just as dainty as you please, head butted both me and the vet tech, just purring away! She has been a wonderful lap kitty for us ever since.

That's amazing! It always floors me when I hear ferals are not tameable. We have 17 tamed ones now. It just takes time and patience! Oh how we love them! We're addicted to ferals.

 

[lotsocats]

Originally posted by hissy
. At the end of 24 hours, at the vet's office, she walked out of the carrier just as dainty as you please, head butted both me and the vet tech, just purring away! She has been a wonderful lap kitty for us ever since.

Mary Anne, Which one of your cats is this? This is such a great story!