Good Use for a Cat Trap?

belongstoevie

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Yes, a humane one of course! I bought a $90 cat trap when mommy escaped, and the store won't take it back now. I know I have the basic options like donating it or selling it, but I noticed when we were trying to trap her that we had quite a few other cats hanging around. Including at least one feral kitten, that appeared to be about two months.

My two big thoughts for this are one, give it to a local TNR group. However, I called a few when mommy got out, and none were able to help. Most didn't answer or call back! So I wasn't impressed. And, if I give it to them, they probably won't work on the cats around my house.

Or two, I'm leaning towards trapping some of the cats around my place on my own. I know I can work with some other local groups (the shelter and some vets offices), just I wouldn't have a TNR group to do the trapping. What are your guys's thoughts on me- who has very little experience- trapping cats? Of course, the intention would be to fix them and let them go, so kind of make my own private TNR group for my neighborhood. One of my concerns if I did that would be, what if they're not feral, and if they belong to someone?

I wouldn't start until the X-Pack is gone, so it'd be a few months and I have time to contact all the people I would need to contact and do more research if I do it.

Is this something way above my head that I should just stop considering now? Please talk some sense in to me!


Oops- I meant to put this under strays and ferals. Could someone please move it for me? Sorry!!
 

jen

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I would say to go for it. You could go around your neighborhood and see if anyone else is concerned about the free roaming cats, ask if anyone has cats that go outside on their own, and see if anyone might want to pitch in with cost or time to do this.

It really isn't that hard just have a plan on what to do if you find a cat to not actually be feral and you might want to rehome it.

Besides being spayed or neutered, you will also have to vaccinate, deworm, treat for fleas if necessary, test, rabies vaccination, etc. Plus if you get a cat who is ill.

When I used to do that, I would keep ads up on craigslist or the petfinder classifieds and see if anyone was interested in taking in a semi-feral cat to work with, or I tried to rehome them to good barn homes. Or if a friendly cat came around... Remember a lot of seemingly feral cats are really just strays and even if they bolt when you see them, or sound like a nasty vicious cat at first, sometimes they are perfectly fine once you start feeding them and you can actually pet them.
 

cc12

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GO FOR IT!
I am new to it myself and it has really changed my life. I know that sounds extreme but I feel good everyday knowing I am helping out a cat in need. Not to mention making my dent in the bigger picture of homeless cats.
I am pretty much a one woman TNR though I have only trapped and kept mostly.

If you knew me, I am an unlikely person to do this. But once you do it you know beyond a doubt you have done good. Just like with your fosters. You are a good hearted person who would be perfect for the job.
 

sarahp

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I'm a one woman TNR as well! The company I used to work for let me buy traps and a feral recovery cage so I could tra the cats around there. So I have just been doing it on my own as I have time. Get a good relationship with a low cost clinic, let them know what you're doing, ask about county/city TNR/spay and neuter programs, and what is the cheapest way for you to do what you're doing. You'll probably find somewhere that does free spay/neutering for ferals.

Good luck!

And if the cats do belong to someone, they'll get them back fixed and with a notch in their ear
 
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belongstoevie

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Thanks for all your input!

Somehow, I'm more scared of doing this than I was of fostering. Of course, when I decided to foster my one contingency was "no ferals", due to lack of experience, but since I was, um, "convinced" (by lack of info) to take a feral, I guess I have experience now!


This is definitely something I feel strongly about, especially after seeing that we have a lot more feral cats out here than I ever would have expected. So I am glad to hear from you that maybe I really can help!


Of course, I will do a lot of research before I start, and will make as many contacts as I can around here to help me out. So, in a few months, don't be surprised if I start posting a lot more in this section of the forums!


Thanks for your encouragement. I really hope to help these guys!
 
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