1st – YOU NEED A PLAN – Often time people contact me saying they trapped a cat and can I take it.
2nd – DECISION- You need to decide which cats you are going to trap. Priority goes to sick, injured and those in danger.
3rd – APPOINTMENT – You need an appointment. Call around to feral clinics or local vets that will treat feral cats. Not all vets will treat feral cats. If you want a TNR appointment you have to book several weeks in advance.
4th – TRAPPING – The first three items were the easy ones. Once you have an appointment you need a strategy. It is best to try and trap the cat the day before, that way if you are unsuccessful you can try again the next morning.
5th – TRANSPORTING – Once you have successfully trapped the cat(s) need they need to be transported to and from the clinic or vet appointment. Make sure that you line your car for easy cleanup.
6th – RECOVERY – You need a holding place that is temperature controlled for the cat(s) to recover from the surgery. If the cat is sick or injured you may want to transfer him to a crate to recover. That way you can feed and access his situation. If the cat was ill you may need to provide medication for a period of time. You also need to clean the crate and litter boxes daily. Once the cat is recovered you need to return him to his environment.
7th – ASSESSMENT– Often times when trapping you will get a friendly cat. You need to assess if the cat is friendly enough to be adopted. If so, reach out to rescue groups to see who can take him or see if the local shelters have room. If not friendly and you cannot return the cat because there is no feeder or it is too dangerous try finding him a barn home.
8th – CLEANUP- Once the cats are gone you need to disinfect the traps, crates, your car and wash the towels that covered his cage.
Trapping is a lot of work and takes hours of planning and patience. All this work is even more difficult when trapping multiple cats at the same time.
ITEMS NEEDED FOR TRAPPING
*Box trap or drop trap
*Newspapers or towels to line the bottom of the trap
*Food to entice the cat (smelly fish or chicken)
*Towels to cover the trap once the cat goes in
*Patience – if you are using a drop trap you need to sit there until the cat you want goes in and you have to pull the cord. Many times other cats go into the trap and eat and you need to replace the food.
