Trapping

If possible, get the cat 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. Take the trap home with you after each feeding.

Getting the Cat Used to Eating Inside the Unset Trap – Takes 3 or More Days

One method of making the cat feel comfortable around the trap is to put some food on a piece of waxed paper or shallow lid right by the entry to the unset trap.

Depending on the type of trap, you can either leave it unset and open by removing the sliding back door or, if it is a one-door trap, wire open the entry. (Use twist ties or other easy, cheap method to do the latter.)

On each succeeding night's feeding put the food a little farther into the trap until the cat is comfortable eating at the very back. (On the actual trapping night, the cat will have to go far enough into the set trap to trip the metal plate which will spring the door shut.)

Placing a folded piece of newspaper just far enough into the trap to cover the trip plate will encourage the cat to enter. It will prefer to walk on newspaper rather than on the wire of the trap. The newspaper will help disguise the slightly elevated trip plate on the evening the trap is actually set.

No Feeding the Evening Before the Trapping Day

Do not feed the cat on the day or evening before the day you plan to trap. It is more likely to enter the trap quickly if it is hungry. For a particularly wary cat, you might not want to feed it for two days/evenings prior to trapping. (If others are also feeding cats in the area, ask them not to leave out any food the day or two before you trap).

Feeding on the Day you Want to Trap

If trapping has to be expedited, and you don't have time to wait for 2-3 nights, then leaving a short trail of little bits of food just outside and leading into the back of the trap might encourage the cat to go far enough inside to trip the mechanism the first time you try. Likewise, a little strong-smelling food (such as mackerel or chicken) placed on a piece of waxed paper or small shallow lid at the back of the trap might get the cat trapped on the very first attempt. Cats should not eat 12 hours prior to surgery, so only a small amount of food should be set in the trap.

Alternatively, you can soak a small piece of newspaper in mackerel juice, spoon a little food onto this paper, and put paper on the ground where you plan to place the trap. Put the back end of the trap on top of this paper so food squishes through the wire.

General Points

• You will have been shown how to and will have practiced setting the trap several times before trapping day.
• You will have with you a dark piece of material (blanket, old curtain, beach/bath towel) large enough to cover the trap – top, back end and both sides.
• You will have a folded piece of newspaper just long enough to fit over the trip plate. (On windy evenings the paper will likely just be blown around and will scare the cat, so you might not want to try the paper cover up if there's a wind blowing.)
• If possible, you will place the trap on a level surface close to where you normally feed the cat.
• You will follow the suggestions for placing food in the trap as outlined in these guidelines.

Common Sense Basics of Trapping

• Plan to trap the cat the evening before your veterinary appointment so that the animal has to be in the trap only overnight.
• Bring a flashlight with you if you are trapping in a poorly lit area.
• Don't trap in the heat of day.
• Set the trap at the cat's normal feeding time.
• Stay in the vicinity, keep watch and listen for the sound of the trap snapping shut.
• Check the trap at least every hour to see if it has been sprung.
• If you are trying to keep a veterinary appointment and have to trap on a rainy evening, put an old plastic shower curtain or waterproof material under the towel or other cover that the cat is used to seeing over the trap. (You do not want the cat to get soaked in the trap if you are checking on it only every 30-60 minutes.)
• Traps must not be left unattended and certainly not left out overnight.
• Cats are vulnerable in traps – they can be attacked by raccoons or other animals, be released or harmed by someone, or suffer from exposure to the elements.

General Points

• If a cat is pregnant, the sooner you can trap her the better. You must alert the veterinarian that you will be bringing in a pregnant female. Some veterinarians will not abort if pregnancy has gone a certain length.
• If the cat you want to trap is a mother with young kittens, you must trap them all at the same time. The kittens will starve without their mother.
• Kittens up to 6-8 weeks of age should not be separated from their mother. Kittens can be kept at your home until you get their mother back from the vet.
• A mother cat needs to be returned to her nursing kittens within 12 hours.
• A spayed mother cat can still nurse, but should not be spayed until kittens are at least 6 weeks old.
• It is easier to tame (handle) kittens when they are 6 weeks or younger.

Suggestions for Trapping Kittens and Mother Cats

• Borrow two traps – one should be a small kitten-size trap.
• Bring a cat carrier with you when you try to trap.
• Bring someone to help you with the kittens.
• Bring a thick towel to grab very young kittens with.

If you catch the mother first, keep the trap covered except for the entry which you will place up against the second kitten-trap. Then you will pull the cover to extend over the kitten trap also – or add a cover if the first one is not long enough to cover both traps. You want the kittens to be able to peer into the trap and see their mother at the far end in her trap.

The kittens will have scattered when they heard the first trap closing and their mother thrashing around initially, but they will return when she quiets down and will go into the trap looking for her and for food.

If you catch a kitten first, you should remove it from the trap into the carrier so that you can re-use the trap to get the other kittens. (If only one kitten, then leave it in the trap and place it against the larger trap, as detailed above, to trap the mother cat next.)

If the kittens are fairly young, 4-5 weeks approximately, you can use the help of the person you brought with you to transfer them into the cat carrier (that's when you need the thick towel).

Suggestions for Getting Older Kittens from the Trap into the Carrier

Following are Steps to Take to Get Older Kittens from the Trap into the Carrier, Also Using the Help of Another Person:

• Place the front of the empty carrier, with door open, right up against the door of the trap with the kitten(s) in it.
• Your helper must hold the carrier firmly against the trap.
• You will slide open the door of the trap and bang against the trap so that the kitten will move out of the trap away from the noise into the carrier.
• Then, you must be very quick and careful to close the carrier door on the kitten(s).

Once you have the kitten or kittens in the carrier and the door closed, you can set the trap for the mother right up against the carrier and she will go in very quickly to get close to her kittens. The trap will have to be covered, of course.

Best Traps

• FixNation Tomahawk Cat Trap, $105 - on Amazon
• Tomahawk Original Series Rigid Trap, $115 - on Amazon

Tips

• Secure vet appointment before trapping. Capture cat day before and keep in quiet area with sheet over top.
• If trapping - aim for catching mom first. Make comfortable in trap, set bait but put stick in so to not trap. Tie top in so it won't close with bungies.
• Make sure cat is entirely in trap and don't hesitate.
• Don't fake your cat is feral to get spay/neuter appointment.
• Best bait for trapping is fishy cat food, cheap chunk light human tuna, sardines in oil, canned salmon.

Desperate situations - call Sheriff or Animal control non-emergency lines. Humane euthanasia for stray in distress, unknown cost. Appeal to Sheriff, then East Hills Vet/Antioch - 925-754-7960 or Sage/Concord 925-627-7243