How to catch a feral cat.

[CF'er]

We have several outside cats who have adopted us and decided to reproduce. I want to get them spayed but they are wild and won't let us near them.

Anyone have any advice or experience with this? How do we go about catching a cat who doesn't want caught?

I won't even get into how to catch girls vs boys. lol

 

[irishtigger]

Many areas have pet resques and other resources to help you. You can call your local ASPCA and some groups would even be willing to lend you their traps to catch them. I have the same issue you have and that was the best way to catch them. Also some vets are willing to fix the cats at a reduced rate.

 

[tammymacb]

Call around and find a humane trap.

Thanks for trying to control the population. It's so sad.

 

[walden]

You are a very good person. I have only had to do this once because feral cats usually stay away from my house because of my dogs.

A cat rescue lent me the humane traps. You put food, the stinkier the better, in the trap and wait. The door slams shut when the cat goes in to eat it. They did warn me to monitor the trap and not set it when I couldn't be right there. This was because the door made a really loud noise when it went down, the poor cats went nuts with fear, and you really don't want to leave a kitty in one of those things for longer than you have to.

My vet radically reduces rates for spay/neutering, feral cats and includes a rabies shot. A cat rescue may also be able to recommend a vet who reduces rates too.

Good luck!

 

[buzz2400]

go to petfinder.com and use the search to find organizations that help. In my area I actually adopted some kittens that a rescue group picked up and I have been going back to her for many things. They would be the best possible people to call for help.

 

[tonilea]

Live trap and a can of tuna. Put the trap somewhere that something like a skunk can't get into it. You don't want to deal with an ugly suprise like that.

 

[Luvchefmic]

Your local Spca may have the Have a Heart traps to lend you & if they don't they probably have info on a low cost vet that has them & also gives a discount for the feral spay/neuters...wish everyone felt the way you did

 

[snarlingcoyote]

You are a very good person. I have only had to do this once because feral cats usually stay away from my house because of my dogs.

A cat rescue lent me the humane traps. You put food, the stinkier the better, in the trap and wait. The door slams shut when the cat goes in to eat it. They did warn me to monitor the trap and not set it when I couldn't be right there. This was because the door made a really loud noise when it went down, the poor cats went nuts with fear, and you really don't want to leave a kitty in one of those things for longer than you have to.

My vet radically reduces rates for spay/neutering, feral cats and includes a rabies shot. A cat rescue may also be able to recommend a vet who reduces rates too.

Good luck!

You're an !

 

[aprilgail2]

I use a have a heart trap to trap cats. I usually take them to the town shelter after I catch them. Of course we have one neighbor that has a cat they let go outside so between me and a few other neighbors that cat ends up in the town shelter very often!

 

[SandrA9810]

You would think that the shelter wouldn't release the cat back to the owner.

The shelter will be able to provide you with live traps. But you might have to dig a little further for a vet to perform the surgery.


There's a kitty just outside of my job. I didn't know it lived there until like 3 days ago. And the manager told me she'd been there since she was a kitten. I think she's an abandoned stray because while she's timid of humans, she's not entirely scared.
I wish I was still there, cause she has a bad sore on her hind leg, and I'd love to get her to the vet to get checked out. Plus get her fixed. I don't know how well she'd be for a pet. But I would've loved to try.

 

[Tigger2252]

We have feral cats in our neighborhood too. One of them had a litter of kittens under our shed, and there are a couple of other females as well. I caught the one under our shed with a Have-a-Heart trap. We have a clinic nearby that offers very low-cost spay/neuter for low-income families and caretakers of feral cats. I was able to get her spayed, a rabies and distemper shot, and a dose of Advantage for $85. I just released her last night. My quest is to trap the other female that is around the house. We were not able to get all of her kittens. She still has 2 of them. We grabbed 3 of hers and 5 from the one under our shed. We found great homes for the kittens (and we kept 3). Hopefully I will have success in trapping the other female or there will be another litter of kittens in a couple of months.