Preparation for Trapping
If possible, get the cats used to being fed
at the same place and time of day. You might try leaving the trap unset and covered with a large towel during
routine feeding so that the animal will get used to seeing and smelling it
in the area.
Don’t feed the cats the day/night before you are going to trap so the cats
will be hungry. Be sure to notify others who may feed the cats not to leave
food out either.
Plan to trap so that you don’t have to keep the cat too long before surgery.
Trapping the night before is usually the best approach. Cats should not eat
12 hours prior to surgery. Water should be available if the cat is held in
the trap for more than 4 hours after capture.
Prepare the area where you will be holding the cats before and after the
clinic. A garage or other sheltered, warm, protected are is best. Lay down
newspapers to catch the inevitable stool, urine and food residue. You may
want to use pieces of wood to elevate the traps off the newspapers. This
allows the mess to fall through the wire away from the cats. Spraying the
area ahead of time with a cat-safe flea spray (like Adams or Ovitrol) will
discourage ants.
Prepare the vehicle you will use to transport them as well. Plastic may be
an additional precaution. But remember that you will need to use newspapers
or some other absorbent material in addition. Urine will roll right off the
plastic and that isn’t what you want.
Plan your day of trapping carefully. Remember that if you trap an animal and
release it for some reason, it is unlikely that you will be able to catch it
again…they learn very quickly.
If there are young kittens involved, remember that they should not be weaned
from the mother before 4-6 weeks of age. If you are trapping a lactating
female, you may want to wait until you have located the kittens and they are
old enough to wean. If you wish to tame and foster the kittens to adopt out,
they should be taken from the mother at 4-6 weeks. If you wait until the
kittens are older than 4-6 weeks before trying to tame them you will find
the job progressively harder with age.
Setting the Traps
Plan to set traps just before or at the cats’ normal feeding time. This is
often at night. Dusk is usually the best time to set traps.
Don’t trap in the rain or the heat of day without adequate protection for
the trap. Cats are vulnerable in the traps and could drown during storms or
suffer from heatstroke in the sun. Use common sense.
Plan placement of traps on a level surface in the area where the cats
usually feed or have been seen. Cats are less likely to enter the trap if it
wobbles. If trapping in a public area, try to place traps where they will
not be noticed by passersby (who may not understand that you are not trying
to harm the cat). Bushes are often places where cats hide and provide good
camouflage for the trap.
Use smelly food to bait the trap. We find that canned Mackerel is very
effective and relatively inexpensive. It is best not to put any bowls inside
the trap to hold food since the animal can easily hurt itself on it in a
panic. Paper coffee filters or small paper plates work well. (Smelly canned
cat food also works)
If the situation requires that you are trapping very early morning on the
day of the clinic, soak a small scrap of newspaper (2" by 3-4") in the
Mackerel juice and place it on the ground where you plan to place the rear
of the trap.
Spoon a small amount of food onto the soaked newspaper scrap and place the
trap on top of the food so the food is as far back in the trap as possible
while still not accessible from outside the trap. (You want the cat to go
all the way into the trap to avoid being injured when the trap door closes.)
Press the trap down onto the food so that it squishes up through the wire.
The idea is to make the food a little hard to get so that the cat has to go
into the trap as far as possible and has to work at getting it long enough
to trip the trap. (Some cats are very good at getting in and out of the
traps without getting caught. We don’t want to make it too easy for them to
get away with that trick. Also, having the food essentially outside of the
trap prevents the cat from eating it in the trap before surgery and is less
messy.)
After baiting the trap, open the trap door by pushing the top of the door in
and pulling the bottom of the door upward. There is a small hook attached to
the right side of the trap top. It hooks onto a tiny metal cylinder on the
right side of the door. The hook holds the door in an open position, which
also raises the trip plate. When the cat steps on the plate it will cause
the hook to release the door and close the trap.
Just before you are ready to leave the trap for the cat to enter, you may
want to push the hood (ever so slightly) a little bit back off the cylinder
to create a "hair trigger". (Don’t get too carried away with this step or
the trap will trip as soon as the cat takes a sniff!)
Waiting for Success
Never leave traps unattended in an unprotected area, but don’t hang around
within sight of the cat (or you will scare it off). The trapped animal is
vulnerable. Passersby may release the cat or steal the trap with the cat in
it. Wait quietly in an area where you can still see the traps without
disturbing the cats. Check traps every 15 minutes or so. You can often hear
the traps trip from a distance. As soon as the intended cat is trapped,
completely cover the trap to calm the cat and remove the trap from the area
if other cats are not in sight. You may consider putting another trap in the
same spot if it seems to be a "hot" one. Be sure to dispose of food left on
the ground when you pick up the trap. (You don’t want to litter or give out
any freebies and spoil any appetites!)
When you get the captured cat to a quiet area away from the other traps lift
the cover and check for signs that you have the correct animal and not a pet
or previously neutered feral. If you note that you have captured a lactating
female check the area for kittens and remember that this female must be
released 12 hours after surgery so she can care for and nurse her kittens.
We will advise the veterinarian that this is a lactating female and has
kittens she needs to return to. Cover the cat back up as soon as possible.
Uncovered, the animal may panic and hurt itself thrashing around in the
trap.
Of course, there is always the chance that you will catch some other wild
animal attracted to the food or an unintended cat. Simply release the animal
quietly as stated in the releasing procedures here.
Holding Procedures
After you have finished trapping, you will have to hold the cats overnight
until you can take them to the clinic the following morning.
Place cats in the prepared protected area. The cat should not have any food
after 8pm and not have any water after midnight the night before surgery the
following morning. If the cat is in the trap long enough to need a meal,
canned cat foods have some water content and they can be dropped through the
wire in the trap without danger of coming into contact with the cat. One
suggestion to give the cat some water is to place ice cubes into the trap by
dropping them through the wire top of the trap.
Keep cats covered and check periodically. They will probably be very quiet
as long as they are covered. Don’t stick fingers in the trap or allow
children or pets near the traps. These are wild animals that scratch and
bite. ALL ANIMAL BITES ARE SERIOUS! IF YOU ARE BITTEN SEEK MEDICAL ATTENTION
AND DO NOT RELEASE THE CAT. IT MUST BE QUARANTINED. CONTACT YOUR VET FOR
QUARANTINE INSTRUCTIONS.
Wash and change clothes before having contact with your own pets as a
precaution against spreading any contagious diseases the cats might carry.
Always get feral kittens checked out by a vet and isolate them from your
pets. Some deadly diseases can incubate without symptoms. Check with your
veterinarian and use caution.
Post Surgery Care
After surgery, the cat is placed in a carrier provided by Friends of
Felines. You will pick up the cat(s) from the veterinarian’s office and
provide them a safe recovery area. The recuperation time for feral cats is
24 to 48 hours. A food and water dish is placed on the inside of the front
door of the carrier so food and water can be placed in them without opening
the carrier. Do not open the carrier door! The cat recuperates in the
carrier. Also see Post Operative Care and Recovery Instructions.
Releasing the Cats
If the cat does not seem to be recovering well from the surgery, consider
having it checked out by a vet before releasing. When cats are ready for
release, return them to the area that they were captured and release them
there. Do not relocate them! It will be disoriented and most likely die. In
all likelihood, area cats will drive it away.
If the veterinarian discovers a serious medical problem that cannot be
treated, and the veterinarian deems that it is impossible for the cat to be
returned safely to its colony, the decision to euthanize can be made by the
veterinarian. Untreated abscesses and respiratory infections, and a number
of other conditions, can mean suffering and a slow death.
The cat will be released back to the same spot where you trapped it. Make
sure the spot you pick for release does not encourage the cat to run into
danger (like a busy street) to get away from you. When ready, simply place
the carrier on the ground with the door facing away from you and open the
door. The cat will probably bolt immediately out of the carrier. If it is
confused, just tilt the carrier so the back is slightly up and tap on the
back of the carrier to encourage it to leave. Never put your hand in the
carrier!
After releasing the cats, hose off traps and carriers and disinfect them
with bleach. You can mix up 90% water and 10% bleach in a spray bottle.
Spray the traps and carriers with the mixture, let set a few minutes and
rinse off. Make sure all residue is out of the traps and carriers and ready
for the next cat to use. Never store traps in the set position (door open);
animals may wander into even unbaited traps and starve to death.
Helpful Hints
Bring a flashlight with you if trapping at night. It will come in handy for
checking traps from a distance and might help you avoid a twisted ankle in
the dark.
Bring a cap for the top of the Mackerel can. Nothing smells worse than fish
juice spilled in the car. Don’t forget a spoon!
Females with kittens will be attracted by the sound of her kittens if the
previously captured kittens are placed in a covered carrier just behind the
trap. Similarly, kittens will be easier to trap if the previously captured
mom is in the carrier.
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