Part feral cat got out of the house

Hello - I'm new to the forums and I need some advice.

Our  indoor cat, Zoey, got out of our apartment. She is about 5 and she was somewhat feral when I got her and her brother. They both have gotten better but they will never be huggable cats - cuddlers but not huggable. The moment she got out she ran away and we couldn't catch her or get near her. For about 2 weeks, we called and searched, but she never came out. I set up food in a havaheart trap from the local shelter and she never ate it. I put a motion camera and caught her multiple times on our porch.

We've tried putting food in the house and trying to shut the door on her. She's too fast. She's too light or too smart for the haveaheart trap and she managed twice to eat the food but not set the trap.

I'm running out of ideas and if anyone has tricks or ideas that have worked in teh past, any suggestions are welcome.

She's around and eating, but I don't want to not feed her because she's been sighted on the other side of the apartment complex and its getting cold.

We've put out my husbands pillowcases (she loves him more), in the trap and outside of it. She knows where home is but we just can't catch her.

thank you, we miss her terribly.

WElcome to TCS, bookjen83.  I'm sure you do miss her, and it must be so difficult having her 'so near and yet so far'.

I'm going to suggest that a mod moves this over to 'caring for strays and ferals' as the members there are used to trying to catch cats for TNR.

Good luck and keep us posted!

I would suggest putting something really delicious in the trap, just not her normal food.  Try tuna, chicken, sardines, etc..  I line my trap with puppy pee pads from the Dollar Store, but newspaper works well too.  Then just dribble some of the tuna or sardine juice all the way to the back where there is a small pile of delicious food.  I also cover the trap part way. 

There are some excellent videos if you search the internet on how to successfully trap trap savvy cats. 

I hope you catch her soon.

Thank you all for the recommendations. I had a friend who worked with wild animals tell me to add a piece of cardboard to the cage over the plate where she steps, to give her the illusion that she has more walking area than she really does.  I covered that with my husband's pillow case and I dribbled tuna fish water on it. I threw in some crunchy treats and the next morning she was in the trap!

Shes skinny and she's got a couple of fat ticks on her, but she seems happy to be home!! She's in quarantine in the bathroom until the vet's tomorrow. She's starving so we're feeding her every 4-6 hours so she doesn't eat herself sick. She's meowing like normal, begging to be petted and dying to get out of the bathroom, pretty normal for her!

Thank you all so much!!! We're so happy to have her home!

I'm so glad you were able to catch her. That is wonderful news. I hope the vet goes well tomorrow.

Just be prepared that her brother might not be happyto have her back right away. After being gone so long and then visiting the vet she won't smell like herself. He may not recognize her until she gets herself really clean. So don't get discouraged if he acts upset, if he does he'll be just as happy as you soon.