How to trap and spay the smartest cat ever? I don't know I'm asking!

We have a female cat named Georgia who was born and raised outside in our backyard. She has been with us for about a year and a half and has had her first litter back in May. We adopted all but two out and are keeping the others after having no no-kill shelters available and they know us now and are easily caught in order to get spayed when they are ready which will be at the end of the month. Georgia, however, is proving really difficult to catch and we do not want her to have anymore kittens. We have tried a trap, which she will not go into. We have given her tranquilizers, a single dose one day which did not work and a double dose another day which also did not work. We gave her a single dose of tranqs and 1/3 of an Ambien which almost worked, but no cigar! She will not let us pick her up and we have worked hard to get her to trust us, so we would like to not ruin that, if possible.
Does anyone have any ideas about how to get this taken care of? She's really smart and not easily tricked.
Thanks

Welcome to the site . What a good deed you are doing for Georgia and her kittens. . I think using a tranq. is very, very risky to her health. I would not do that again. You don't want her to lose her intuition and become disoriented living outside and possibly become prey for a coyote while she is off dozing recovering from the tranq. That will not help in anyway getting her into a trap, the tranquilizing.

This is what I do to trap a "regular" feral that comes around everyday. Leave the trap outside un-set (tie the trap door up) and ONLY feed in the trap.... Put the food way in the back of the trap, cover the back of the trap with a very dark towel, OR you can use a very large dog food bag (emptied, of course ) and slide the trap into that. Feed the cat at the same time everyday and offer no other food outside of the trap. Use some very tempting smelling food like tuna, sardines and KFC chicken to get her going into the trap. Once she is going in and out confidently to eat each day, then you are ready to SET the trap the next day. You can also have the vet appointment already made for trap day.

The kittens will also be going in and out of the trap to eat too, since they are still outside ?? I am assuming. Or you say you can easily get the kittens now since they know you? Then you might want to bring the kittens inside first and then begin the process of trapping mom. It really doesn't matter though, since you need to get all three sterilized anyway. You might as well just start trapping them all now. I am sure the kittens are old enough now to get fixed anyway if they were born in May.

Much luck with all of this and I am sure other's will come along with some suggestions for you as well.

When a regular trap fails, a drop trap does wonders. I know a Humane Society that tried to trap a feral momma for years before catching her with the drop trap that I made for them.

Here's a thread on the topic:
http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...ight=drop+trap

I think we have a drop trap that we are trying to get her to go in...but she has a tendency to just not eat. The kittens don't need a trap, they gladly come into the house to eat and take naps, (they have been flea treated and dewormed) and Georgia will think about coming in, but if the kittens are inside, she will just sit at the back door and wait for them. She is very smart...and cautious. Her brothers were poisoned by someone in the neighborhood, we found Quentin's body and he had clearly been poisoned, since then Georgia has been with us. Emma and Victoria, the kittens, really like to be snuggled so they are super easy. I thought about the same thing when we tried to tranq her, I was scared she would run off and pass out somewhere else, luckily she stayed close...but we are done with drugs. So we will keep trying the drop trap and hopefully it will work. they really need birth control for cats.

Feed Georgia at the exact same time each day so that she wants to eat when you put food out. Don't leave food out for her all day long. If you can get her into a habit of coming to eat at the exact same time everyday, a trap will be easier for you.

Leave the trap outside near where you feed her for weeks before you use it on her. It will become just some of the background scenery and she won't think twice about it.

Some people have great luck with Kentucky Fried Chicken as bait - original formula, skin and bones removed.

Location of the trap, masking the trap and using feliway or similar to get nice smell into trap, good amount of paper at bottom of trap and cardboard to extend trip plate and to make it look not so steep.

Most important is location, trap at open is not good, next to bush, car, building is much better, covering it with foliage, some sheet etc so it looks a tunnel or cave does wonders.

I have used metal roof plating, that provides some cover from rain etc.

Best bait has been frozen fish that slowly melts, translator says saithe or pollock being the fish that I use, it is sold here in package that contains frozen block of fish, I have found that cats go crazy from smell of that fish melting and can't resists it

Just trapped 4 cats with such methods.

Location needs also to be somehow in shelter, with not much traffic of any kind, also location should be such where cats normally walks or right next to their path, there is some trouble, but from my experience even trap shy cats will go to the trap with these methods.

the drop trap will work.

I have heaps of tips for using a regular trap, if you decide you want to try that route again.

Here are some tips I've learned from this and other sites, on how to trap difficult/savvy cats:
Make sure the bait is mushy, such that the cat can't grab it and go. I mush up the mackerel, pate-style cat food, and add a little cat nip (organic, of possible) to the mixture. I also put the food in a small 3 oz can and then put the 3 oz can into an (empty) 5.5 oz can. I've had cats who were savvy enough to take their paw and move the can past the trip switch.
Sprinkle some juice/oil from the mackerel or tuna leading up to the food.
Surround the trap with what ever the cat is use to, whether it is pine leafs, tree branches, leaves.
Experiment with the time you put out the trap; very early mornings work best for me because of the activity level (in front of a condo building, next to the dumpsters).
Make sure the trip switch doesn't require too much/too little weight to spring it.
Good luck!

Originally Posted by Ritz

Here are some tips I've learned from this and other sites, on how to trap difficult/savvy cats:
Make sure the bait is mushy, such that the cat can't grab it and go. I mush up the mackerel, pate-style cat food, and add a little cat nip (organic, of possible) to the mixture. I also put the food in a small 3 oz can and then put the 3 oz can into an (empty) 5.5 oz can. I've had cats who were savvy enough to take their paw and move the can past the trip switch.
Sprinkle some juice/oil from the mackerel or tuna leading up to the food.
Surround the trap with what ever the cat is use to, whether it is pine leafs, tree branches, leaves.
Experiment with the time you put out the trap; very early mornings work best for me because of the activity level (in front of a condo building, next to the dumpsters).
Make sure the trip switch doesn't require too much/too little weight to spring it.
Good luck!

Click to expand...

The bait info is excellent, but she's going to be using a drop trap.

Originally Posted by LDG

The bait info is excellent, but she's going to be using a drop trap.

Click to expand...

Same works for drop trap too, if cat grabs piece and runs it is difficult with drop trap too, so as cat needs to spend time to lick and nibble food, usually cat stays on place and eats, first tail is straight back and as belly fills up tail goes closer and closer to side of cat, like fuel gauge, even reason is bit different, more confidence to cat's surroundings so that does not need extra support for quick jump to safety which tail positioned straight back provides.

Generally tail is kept safe near body as it is valuable tool for balance and communication.

I have no experience with drop traps. Havahart traps have worked great for me over the years . More vibes coming for Georgia's capture

What worked for my trap-savvy feral mamacat was the old "rope-on-a-carrier-door" trick. I guess the carrier wasn't as scary as the trap . Don't worry about ruining her trust in you. . .she'll get over it, and will probably become more tame after she's spayed.

Hey thanks everyone! I am definitely going to try the KFC chicken trick, I am almost positive that even Georgia can't resist some yummy, fatty, warm dark meat! We will also be trying the drop trap. I will let you know when we are successful!

Amanda

Oh GOOD GOOD luck Amanda . I have a feeling you will have much luck with that drop trap and Georgia since she is already so trusting of you to come so close, but not close enough . The KFC will do the trick

Good luck trapping. For what it's worth, two cats that had been a challenge for me to trap, went right in when I used KFC.

Why have I never thought of using KFC. My cats love that stuff. Whenever we have fried chicken I have to put my cats in the bedroom or they will all be on the kitchen table trying to steal the chicken, the little boogers.

You may want to start feeding Georgia in a small dog carrier. That way she gets used to going in and out of things. It's worked wonders for me.
Also, when you tried trapping her did you bait the trap all the way from the front to the back? I have found that a lot of cats won't go in if there is just food at the back of the trap. I use food in gravy and pour it in a line starting right outside the trap going all the way back. Or you can put small dabs of food all the way back. Make sure not to feed her the preceding day to make sure she's hungry.
It's also important to cover the bottom of the trap with newspapers. Some cats don't like to walk on the bars. You also have to cover half of the trap, the back half, with a cloth. It also helps if she doesn't see you setting the trap. You don't want to tip her off by letting her know that it's something funny about that thing. Of course this is if you are going to try the regular trap again. Usually if you put it in the same spot as she is normally fed and then leave the cats will go in sooner or later. So far I have been able to trap every cat I've set out to trap.

Please don't give the cats Ambien again. Ambien has not been studied on cats so it may not be safe. A lot of people drugs are toxic for cats. Some have the opposite effect (certain things that cause drowsiness in people causes a cat to get hyper and you don't want that).

Thank you, thank you, thank you to those of you who suggested KFC chicken! It worked and Georgia is on her way to the vet NOW to get spayed and the kittens are going in next Wednesday to get spayed! Phew! Thanks again!

Amanda

Congratulations!!!

KFC works wonders.

Yep, Colonel Sanders would be proud to know we all use KFC to save kitty lives

So happy to read your update! Let us know how she is doing after surgery

So does KFC really stand for: katch feral cat?

(OK, so the K doesn't work so well)