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

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

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!

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

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.

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).

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)

Wow! That's awesome. I guess Georgia thought getting some of that smelly chicken was worth the risk. Did you use a box trap or a drop trap?

Just FYI, not to rain on the parade here, but KFC use some very horrible and cruel methods to raise their chickens. They are cramped in with tens of thousands of other chickens where they have less than an 8x8 inch area to live on their whole lives. They are fed food and drugs to make them grow quickly which causes them to be so unnaturally large that they can't walk or run due to being too top heavy. The birds have their beaks cut off as babies which is extremely painful and they are slaughtered in horrific ways, hung upside down by their feet while still conscious. Some are even conscious when they have their throats cut. I don't think Colonel Sanders would care that his chicken is used to help cats. Clearly he didn't give a rat's ass about the welfare of animals. Despite what people think chickens are intelligent creatures and they do suffer.
If you would like an alternative you can buy humanely raised chicken and bread it and fry it yourself. Here is a list of humane farms: http://www.certifiedhumane.org/index...ucers-products

To quote the comedian Jim Gaffigan:

"Do you know they the DO to those chickens?"

"No, but it's delicious!"

Have you ever actually been in a chicken house?

Industrial raising of anything is not necessarily pretty, but your statements about the treatment of fryers and broilers is not quite true. The cages are not roomy, but 8"x8" is a good deal below the size they actually are. The idea is specifically to keep the chickens from exercising too much; strong muscles make for tough meat.

It's true the tip of the chicks' beaks are trimmed early on. This is to reduce the amount of damage the chickens do to each other. It's nomore painful to the chick than having your fingernails trimmed is to you.

Now, there are many problems I have with chickens. I don't personally like them; I'm not fond of chicken meat; and chickens in general, in my opinion, are just a step above pigs in what they're willing to eat, including each other, under the right circumstances.

And as far as KFC is concerned, I always worry about eating at one (when my wife insists on it). When I was in college, our biology department did restaurant microbiological tests for area health departments. They never found a KFC kitchen that they deemed "safe." They said this is due to the way KFC cooks their chicken. Most people don't know that the chicken meat is first boiled in pressure cookers, then breaded and deep-fried for a very short time. All that boiling creates a lot of steam and humidity, which makes a great place for bacteria to grow. Add in the natural tendency for chickens to have salmonella present around them, and this makes for a potent breeding ground for trouble.

But if the stuff helps us safely trap ferals for the TNR programs, I'm all for it.

Just in passing, our meat industry is pretty good at high efficiency. Campbell's soup is one great example. They buy up chickens that are "used up" from egg-laying operations. Those chickens are a good deal older than what is sold in the supermarket for frying or broiling, and they are used in soups, where the toughness is a virtue, not a liability.

I do know how the chickens are treated at these mills. And I don't like it either. BUT...using KFC chicken to trap feral cats is still one of the best ways to get a cat into a trap quickly. And I will still be using it if necessary and will keep suggesting it's use as well. I personally do not ever eat at KFC. This thread is about trying to capture a trap-smart cat, not about how chickens are raised and treated in the slaughter farms.

p.s HOPE Georgia is doing alright ?????!!!!!!!

I know what this thread is about. But since the majority of people here care about animals I thought they may be interested in how another specie of animals are treated so that we can have cheap meat.
How anyone can defend it is beyond me. A lot of chickens are not kept in cages. They are kept in large buildings with thousands of other chickens and the room they have to stand on is about 8x8. The cages aren't much bigger and provide for no quality of life. And debeaking is definitely painful and can't be compared to nail clipping any more than declawing can be compared to nail removal. Like declawing it's permanently debilitating.
Sure, the meat industry is efficient. So are puppy and kitten mills. They spit out puppies and kittens very efficiently

Yes, I agree with you we do all care about ALL animals here and thanks for the link about finding humane farms. Good to know. My earlier post about "Colonel Sanders" was just meant to be light-hearted and I did not mean to spur on this topic or offend anyone. I certainly do not agree with the way chickens are raised and kept in those terrible places. But I digress.......

While no one can defend many commercial farms as being humane, I do appreciate accuracy when making a point. Most farms clip the birds beaks. It is not in any way similar to declawing and it it is not permanently debilitating. They grow back, just like nails do. It is like clipping claws. My grandfather raised (show) chickens. I used to help clip beaks. We did each bird by hand with nail clippers. I've seen videos of commercial beak clipping. It's not pretty - but I understand why it's done (as Mike pointed out).

That is FABULOUS news!!!!!!