I'm still alive!

my goodness my friend... glad you´re fine now....
you´re always been missed here dear Paula!...

AW bless you for your support in Joplin . Glad to hear your kitties are doing well

Hope you feel better soon, Paula, and lots of for the Joplin kitties!

Great to hear from you, Paula! Glad you're on the mend and that Riley and Xander are doing well. You and the other rescuers have been doing great work in Joblin. Thanks for that!

Good to hear from you! Best of luck with your rescue efforts. You're a great person to be doing all of that.

That's great news

Paula - you are an absolute angel for helping out the Joplin cats!!!

They need you far more than we do, but we've missed you and THANK YOU for letting us know so we can send vibes to them - GO IN PAULA'S TRAP so you can be reunited with your family(ies)!!!!!

Aw the poor scared dears.

for all you're doing!

Riley, the trap model!

Do you have Feliway? Spray it liberally with feliway. When baiting it, do NOT put much food in there - they freak when it snaps closed, and if there's a lot of food, it ends up all over the cat.

We use a paper bowl, and put a little of whatever food in it, and push it all the way to the back of the trap. We place a little nibble on the center of the newspaper (we use cardboard) you use to cover the wires - it gets them part way in there. They eat and feel a little safer, so move ahead to that bowl at the far end...

We also put a little bit of whatever food it is in a short trail leading up to the trap.

Use tuna, canned salmon, herring (no sauce), KFC (no bones)... anything stinky usually works.

Given these guys are probably mostly really scared house cats, I don't know that disguising the trap will be necessary. We cover them with leaves and sticks - but we live in a rural area, and the ferals are used to the woods, so that's familiar.

I think you've been trapping, so you may already know this, but keep a small light blanket handy to throw over the trap, leaving only the ends open for air. This REALLY helps calm them down in there, both when you pick it up to carry it, for transport, or for when it has to sit there with kitty in it waiting until you can get them wherever they're going.

And if you haven't already transported a cat in your car, good idea to cover the floor or seat or wherever you're going to set the trap with a plastic sheet. Many cats get scared and pee, and it's a lot easier to clean up if it's on the plastic and not your car seat.

If they don't freak out and just settle down, and don't pee, you don't really need to clean the trap after every cat. But it is good to take a hose and some unscented soap to the trap every once in a while, to keep the smell of fear off of it.

!!!!!!!

And of course

BTW, I assume the shelter/people trapping keep track of the addresses near where kitty was trapped? Is that helping reunite them with their people?

Come to think of it... if they've been hiding in small dark spaces, which most of them probably have, it might not be a bad idea to cover it when you bait it. Also, good idea to place it where they'll feel most comfortable getting to it, if there's a way to safely do that. If it's near a bush or something close to where they've been hiding, they're far more likely to get in there than if they have to walk across some wide open space.

Someone just asked me for the one most important thing when trapping the other day. I said it's trap placement. Gary said it's how the trap is disguised (meaning cleaned, feliwayed, covered, &etc.).

Good to hear from you! Bless you for helping in Joplin. I hope you feel better soon.

Oh Paula!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What wonderful, wonderful work you all are doing!!!!!!

As food and water is being put out, just put the trap where they've been eating.

And if food and water isn't being put out someplace you're trapping, just do your best to think like a cat.