How do we catch stray kittens?

The neighbor down the street has had a cat (now known to be a mother) hanging around for a few weeks that is somewhat friendly. She doesn't appear to be totally feral - but still skittish. The other day some kittens were discovered in the yard that look about 6 weeks old or so. They are quite mobile and play a lot and eat hard cat food. The pride is apparently nesting in a shed (about 15' by 15') that is completely full of junk so finding them in there is out of the question. It is an old log shed and there are many openings that the cats can get through. They are often seen playing outside but whenever a human approaches they run into one the openings of the shed. Sometimes the mom is with them but it is unknown whether she is still giving milk.
We would like to catch them before they go totally feral. I have a Havahart trap but I see 2 problems with trying to use it to catch the kittens. First I don't think the kittens are heavy enough to trip the trap. Second, I am afraid that if one kitten does manage to trip it, another kitten might get crushed under the door when it slams shut.
Both the neighbor and I have raised stray kittens before so if they can be caught I think it is early enough to tame them. For now, we are putting dry kitten food and water inside the shed every day so that hopefully the family will consider it as a home base.

Anyone have any thoughts on how we might catch these kittens?

Sincere thanks,
Bill

First of all - thanks for stepping in and caring for them!

I've caught kittens 2 ways - with a trap, which obviously has the pitfalls that you describe, and by hand. With the setup you describe, you could try a couple of options.

Seal all the holes to the shed so they can't get out, and go in their with the door closed and pick them up. They'll probably hiss and spit, but if they are that young, they really can't hurt you. This all depends on whether or not you can find all the holes, and how ultimately cluttered the shed is. You may need to clean out some of the stuff to get at them.

The other method I've used is what is called the "Hissy drop" technique. If you are feeding them in the same spot every time, start to sit down next to the food when they eat. When they are comfortable with your presence, hold your arm out at a 90 degree angle from your body over the food. When the kitten is eating, simply drop your arm down and pick them up. This works better if they are facing away from you, and this assumes that there is enough room in the shed for you to sit by the food.

Either way, you will probably need to start spending time closer to them to get them used to you. Even if they hide while you are in the shed, your presence, in a non threatening way, will make them relax.

The best way to catch kittens is with a trap using the water bottle technique. You can watch a great video here......

My friends use this technique for selective feral trapping - so they are not re-trapping already neutered cats from their colony) and I just trapped 4 kittens using this technique and it works great! Trapped one the first night and 3 in the same trap at once the next!

Good luck!

Originally Posted by techiegirl

The best way to catch kittens is with a trap using the water bottle technique. You can watch a great video here......

Good luck!

Click to expand...

Very useful tip. Tx Techiegirl! There are also a couple of other films along the same lines, how to trap and manage ferales.


Tx Moonb for the work you are doing here and earlier.

The water bottle technique is a really good idea. That way you can look on and greatly diminish the likelihood of injuring another kitten with the trap's door.

Last time I trapped ferals I was trying to catch a 6 week old kitten and an adult male. I was fortunate enough to get them both in the trap at the same time on the first try, so I didn't have to use any real strategies. The adult got used to my presence, and I actually think he once lived with people, but the kitten was wild and way too fast for me to catch by hand. Fortunately they both went to the same perfect place.

Great advice. I have a bunch of newborn stray kittens living under my shed that I'd like to trap. I'm probably gonna use the water bottle trick.

Cat toys on a long piece of string and pieces of lunch meat are how I lured the last batch of kittens out, though, we ended up keeping those first cats around ...but we simply can't afford to feed anymore kitties!