Comments | veganpeople: feral cats in my backyard

kumquatpie in veganpeople

feral cats in my backyard

Feb 18, 2009 10:47

So, I have a family of feral cats in my backyard, that include mother cat, 2 kittens, and possibly a father cat. I have been trying to catch them without any success ( Read more... )

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catnip13 February 18 2009, 17:48:20 UTC

Ok, we had a wily old matriarch at the feral colony I used to manage. We considered drugging the food, but if you do that, you have to follow her until she passes out, and that can take 20-40 minutes, so it is not a good option. The way we finally got her was to cover the trap snugly with a cloth cover so that she couldn't reach through the bars to pull the food out, baiting it with the cheapest tuna flavor cat food we could find, which is the smelliest, most irresistable bait ever. What you want to do is prop the trap open, and just feed the cats in the trap for about a week like that. Then bait it and set it for real. Don't feed anywhere but in the trap while you are doing this.

How old are the kittens? Are they still nursing?

kumquatpie February 18 2009, 19:03:37 UTC

Hmm, okay. I'll try that.

The kittens I would guess are maybe 4 months old? They definitely are not nursing anymore - they've been eating the tuna I've been regularly feeding them with.

catnip13 February 18 2009, 19:09:03 UTC

Ok. 4 months is really pushing it on the tameable age. I've never had particularly good luck with ones much older than 2 months.

But not nursing is good, you can't spay a nursing mama. If you have to, set a feeding station up in a box that is open on one end like the trap for a while to coax them into eating in a box. You do want to move on this- if the babies are weaned, she'll be pregnant again very soon.

kumquatpie February 19 2009, 00:56:12 UTC

Yeah, I know. :/ I'm really bad with guessing kitten age, so I'm hoping I'm over guessing. Thank you!

catnip13 February 19 2009, 02:24:32 UTC

BTW, I'm retired from cat rescue, but I'd totally come help you if I were closer. Let me know if there's any other advice I can give. I've got a lot of experience in the field.

kumquatpie February 19 2009, 03:01:02 UTC

LOL yeah, you're basically on the opposite side of the country from me. Thanks anyway though, I appreciate it. :)

hellhound February 19 2009, 04:06:27 UTC

Just to add to this, sometimes putting the trap in a quiet, dark, covered area helps also. I can't count the number of times I've had to crawl through packed garages or nasty, moldy sheds to lay and check live traps.

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