Advice on catching strays needed..

(NoahsMommy.... This is the stray I was telling you about)

Part one
I have seen a fat black & white cat around for ages. She had been in our house before (I wrote a post of how it scared Milo who attacked Milly)

Well, since we took Caramel from the garden, she has been back. Me & Steve have been discussing how to catch her and what we would do with her.
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Part Two
Yesterday, I was weeding the front garden with Milo helping me.
Several people stopped and chatted to me but one strange lady tried to stroke Milo (he was scared of her !!!)

This lady 'Hazel' went on to say that she wouldn't hurt a cat but needed to get rid of a mother and kittens living under a hedge in her back garden. As she & her husband had been done for animal cruelty (to their dog) in the past and they couldn’t own animals.

SO silly me volunteers to remove said cats.
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Part Three
After ringing nearly every shelter in the area, I find one who’ll take the cats in, if we catch them first.
So this morning off we go.

Guess who the mummy cat is…yes the fat black & white cat we have being thinking about catching.

We spot her, her year old previous kitten (black & white) and a 6/8 weekish kitten (Black with blue eyes)
There should be two, year old cats but we only saw one.
There were 4 kittens to start with but two have died and today we only saw one. It is likely the missing kitten is dead too.

So we are trying to catch these cats, we need advice on how to do this but we don’t have access to a trap.

We do have cat carrycases, tuna, blanket to throw over cat (maybe) and strong gloves.

We are going back around 7pm, that is when mummy starts begging for food at the neighbours. Wish us luck.

http://www.feralcat.com/trapinst.html

Thanks for the information.

I just wish we have access to a trap. Our name is down on a list, for the only shelter which loans traps.

Do funds allow you to purchase one? That's what we did and it's come in so handy.

No, I'm out of work at the moment and I hope to avoid spending money on a cage that we'll only use a couple of times.

Do you have any pet feed stores in your area? We have one that rents out this type of trap.

How about a local rescue group? Any in your area that would loan out traps?

http://www.thesheffieldcatsshelter.org/

One thought I just had: If you have a cat carrier you could try and catch the cat in this. We did this once. We kept putting food in the carrier to get the cat use to going in and eating. When she started doing this on a regular basis, we covered the carrier with a towel so she couldn't see out the holes. We hid inside and watched her go in the carrier. Once she was in there my husband quietly reached over and closed the carrier door. He had to be fast cause once she started realizing what was going on, she fought like crazy. We were successful though!

I have found shelters which can do the following :-

: Loan traps but full can't help or home cats
: Shelter which will take all cats caught, if not feral
: Shelter which will take kittens only to raise & rehome
: Shelter which will pay for spaying/neturating of any ferals we catch.

So we are on the list for loaning a trap. The CPL have all traps in use until a week tuesday :(

The neighbour will not feed them tomorrow and we'll have another try.

I am surprised that NO shelter will actual trap them for you, they relay on people catching these cats themselves.

Good new Hazel spotted kitten number two.

So what are your plans once you trap the cat? Are you fixing her and returning where you trapped? I don't know how things are in England, but here in Arizona the Humane Society puts down any ferals. We do have some no-kill organizations if you can get a spot, they're always filled up.

Yes, that has always been the major problem...no one helps with the ferals!:mad: Luckily we have an organization here in AZ that will help TNR www.azcats.org

My husband & I volunteer with them and he maintains their website.

I'm so glad you spotted the kitten. Will you be trapping them also with the mother?

What we do depends on how the cats are.

If the mum is friendly, we'll take her & any kits to Thornberry shelter, no kill shelter who have reserved a place for them if we catch them.

If she is feral CPL have promised to pay for her spaying and we'll hold her overnight and then release her. As a neighbour was feeding her, she should be alright (Though I am thinking about making her a cheap shelter to put in the neighbours garden (if I get permission)

The young kittens, will be rehomed by Thornberry, if caught. Also one of the above shelter will hand rear the kittens if we only catch them and not mum.

It also appears that there is two, year old cats from a previous litter. If we caught these, they would be treated like mum. Depending on their wildness.

But we may catch none, as the owners are very loud and insist on stomping around the garden and shouting at the top of their voices, to help us? I had mum 1/2 foot away from me, interested in the tuna I was offering and he boomed and of the cat ran off *sigh*

So tomorrow we are going around in the afternoon, as they said they'll be out shopping. We'll not catch anything with their *help*.

Also they keep making excuses about how they mistreated their dog and frankly I loathe them already, I don't want reasons or excuses, I just want to move these cats from their garden.

Sounds like you're doing all the right things for these cats! Good for you! Please let me know how it all goes. If there's anything else I can help you with, I'm here!

I did what K & L did , put the big Carrier out and put a slightly warmed can of chicken cat food in there. then wait until they are in there and take them to the vets. Currently Augusta , Rascal and Roscoe have been adopted this way.Good luck on the Cats!

I have had success with the "rugby tackle with a big towel" approach - but only with up to "half-grown" cats - my hubby keeps warning me that one day I'll get scratched / bitten etc - so far I've been lucky.

The suggestion with the pet carrier being covered sounds good - you just need lots of patience (which I'm sure you have), and a calm atmosphere (which it seems is SOMEWHAT lacking)

Such a pity you can't get your hands on a humane trap - they are very effective. (If you DO catch them in a trap or a carrier, have an old towel or something to cover it with - this calms them and there is less chance they will injure themselves.

Best of luck - we are holding thumbs (and paws) for you:)

This is an old post !!!

I did get hold of a humane trap and I managed to catch mummy & two kits and took them to Thornberry shelter. When we went back we found Bramble.

In fact good news, I rang Thornberry shelter yesterday and Fleur (Mummy) & both the kits are all settled in new furever homes. :D :D :D

I should have checked the dates! Glad it all got sorted out - another PT happy ending.

BTW, I have a chuckle to myself every time I look at your signature............

Remembering how worried you were about introducing Milly to George, and if you were ready to be a two-cat household!!

HEhehehehe:D