Plans for making Drop Traps

The topic of drop traps comes up on a regular basis. A number of people on this site have made their own over the years. This thread is intended to share the plans with others that have made them in the past. I think you can find sites where you can purchase them, but frankly, most people in rescue can't afford them and are looking for inexpensive ideas to make them at home.

Please limit conversation to information about building and using the traps to keep this fairly clean. Thanks!

Here is the drop trap that I made.


If was made entirely out of scraps on materials that I found in my barn along with a couple of screws and duct tape. It probably cost me about $2 to make it.

The frame is made from a combination of 1x2 and 2x2's and fastened together with wood screws. I gave it away before I measured it, but I'll guess that it was about 36" square and about 14" tall.

I used chicken wire for the screening material and fastened it to the frame with wood staples. I wrapped all of the wire seams with duct tape so that the sharp edges wouldn't hurt a cat.

For the door, I used a piece of 1/4" plywood. I attached strips of wood to the frame on either side of the door to make a channel for the door to slide through - basically used thin strips of the 1/4" plywood that was topped by wider strips of 1/4" plywood where the door could slide into. Always place the door towards the corner. When the trap drops, a cat tends to run from corner to corner and if you put a door in the middle for your transfer cage, the cat may not enter it.

I used a block of 2x2 wood for the stick to hold the trap up with a rope tied to it.

If I were to make another one, I would have added a strip of rubber to the bottom of the frame on the side away from the door. When we used this trap on concrete, it had a tendency to slide due to lack of friction between the wood and the concrete. It did fine on grass.

Good idea! I made a drop trap a few months ago.

This is the trap I based mine off:



I prefer the soft sides because I used a trap similar to yours and I couldn't get the cat to go where I wanted, so it kept freaking out and bashing it's face against the wooden supports in its attempt to escape. I like the soft sided design because you can push the sides down to make sure the cat only goes in the direction you want.

In the one I did, I put the door in the corner since the kitties normally go the corners, and I made the door a bit more secure





I used PVC piping for the edges, and used a hacksaw to cut them to length, and PVC glue to secure the pieces together.

For the door, I went to a local tech place that has woodworking equipment available to use, and used a band saw to cut the outside pieces of the door to shape, and a jig saw to cut the inner hole in the door.

This is a couple of photos of the original I copied





And mine with the door



I haven't actually used it yet, but I'm sure it'll come in handy next kitten season

Good idea! I made a drop trap a few months ago.

This is the trap I based mine off:



I prefer the soft sides because I used a trap similar to yours and I couldn't get the cat to go where I wanted, so it kept freaking out and bashing it's face against the wooden supports in its attempt to escape. I like the soft sided design because you can push the sides down to make sure the cat only goes in the direction you want.

In the one I did, I put the door in the corner since the kitties normally go the corners, and I made the door a bit more secure





I used PVC piping for the edges, and used a hacksaw to cut them to length, and PVC glue to secure the pieces together.

For the door, I went to a local tech place that has woodworking equipment available to use, and used a band saw to cut the outside pieces of the door to shape, and a jig saw to cut the inner hole in the door.

This is a couple of photos of the original I copied





And mine with the door



I countersunk the screws on the inside where the cat would be to prevent injuries.

I used a garden type netting that was at Lowe's - I can't remember the type it was, but it was in the garden section, and it's plasticy. Then I just zip tied the netting to the piping, attached the door to the netting, cut out the netting where the door was to make a hole, and it was done. It was time consuming, but will be good to have.

I haven't actually used it yet, but I'm sure it'll come in handy next kitten season

I can't figure out how to post pictures but mine looks like Sarahp's - I even zip-tied the netting the same! I used the porch railing posts made with recycled wood/plastic (Trex?). It is heavy and bulky but works like a charm. My door is similar to yours, too, sarahp.