TNR...help needed!

Hey everyone!

So as some of you may know, my Sophie got pregnant by a street cat and now he won't leave my porch.

(Sophie is getting fixed once the kittens are weaned)

Buyer I felt bad for poppa cat and wanted to do something to help him. After countless phone calls and being treated like a crazy person over and over, I finally got in contact with an organization that does tnr!

It will cost me $30 a cat for spay/neuter and includes shots and deworming. I am able to budget to do one cat a month for now. Obviously starting with poppa.

How that I have someone willing to work with me and not thinking I'm crazy...how do I start?

I know I need a trap of some sort. She told me the trap would cost $300 to buy here and she suggested I try and borrow one. She said if I can't borrow one to be in touch with her about getting one through her.

How do I lure the cat in? How long do I let it go into the trap before trapping it? Is there any aftercare the cat needs out can I release him back into his natural habitat when we get back from the surgey?

Also, with heay season coming, have you ever accidentally trapped a peegnant cat? What do you do in these circumstances?

I want all the info I can get to start a successful tnr in my town. If I can get it going there might be others who will be willing to sponsor tnr and we could potentially do more than 1 a month. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

This website has very good information for how to TNR: http://www.alleycat.org/page.aspx?pid=285

You can use wet cat food or tuna as bait. The cat may be wary of the trap at first, so it's good to have a few days to a week before the neuter appointment to make sure it will go into the trap when you need it to. You can bait the trap each of these days but don't set it, and then set it the day you have the appointment and you know the cat will walk right in. A puppy pee pad is good to line the trap with because you won't be able to let it out again until after the surgery is done. Normally you keep the cat for about 24 hours after surgery in the trap to give it time to heal and make sure there aren't any complications, and then you release it.

Havahart traps are usually between $50-$100, which are what I've used. I'm not sure what kind is $300. Hardware stores tend to sell humane traps that work for cats.

Pregnant ferals are typically spayed and the pregnancy is terminated. I know that sounds harsh, but shelters are overflowing with kittens that are already born and you do not want your feral cat population to grow. Trapping a cat twice is not easy, and if the mother is not spayed then, she will continue to have litters.

Thank you!

I will check out the site.

The woman told me that one the cat is trapped to call her and she will tell me which of her two offices to come to. No appointment necessary.

As far a the price of traps, they are imported here and therefore triple the price.

I found this one on a second hand site for under $100. Does it look any good?

princess sophia said:

How do I lure the cat in? How long do I let it go into the trap before trapping it? Is there any aftercare the cat needs out can I release him back into his natural habitat when we get back from the surgey?

Also, with heay season coming, have you ever accidentally trapped a peegnant cat? What do you do in these circumstances?
 

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You lure them in with food of course!

Start putting food out, when the cat becomes used to eating in that area leave the trap out close to the food but keep the food out of the trap. Before every feeding session put the food bowl a little bit closer to the trap until you get her to eat while the food is inside. Next time, arm the trap and when she goes in to feed the trap will spring and you'll catch her. Sometimes even putting food directly in the trap without any preconditioning works since hungry kitties can become careless.

I've heard of various approaches in dealing with pregnant cats. Some vets abort and spay in one session but I like the approach of letting the babies be born, weaned and then have the mother spayed. It's harder like this since it takes more time and you end up having to find homes for kittens but you avoid the ethical dilemma.

$300 for a trap is crazy!  I've been looking into them as well and I've found this so far:

 - CDN$89.99 retail for standard cat/raccoon trap.

 - CDN$30-50 for used traps

 - CDN$3-5 per day for trap rentals

 - Free trap loans from the local animal services unit if you pay $20 to take a TNR seminar at the local library.

There are more expensive options, and you'll pay a premium for the Havahart brand name but I've yet to see anything that's $300

It's because I live abroad and only the "rich" can afford to "waste money" on street cats and so they take advantage. I must be rich...I wish someone told my wallet that!

But I found the used one I posted a pic of. They're asking under $100 (my brain is too mushy to do the exact conversion rate)

So I read the website that was posted and it seems that I'll need one for grown cats and one for kittens. But I feel like I can use a regular carrying case for kittens and jimmy rig it to trap.

Now how do I ensure I catch the cat I want to? I really want the first cat to be poppa cat. But wouldn't other cats be attracted to the food? He does seem to be the alpha of the colony so maybe that will make it easier?

After him, I have no preference in order of catch. Unless one is obviously sick or injured.

Also, how do I ensure a cat that I've already tnr'ed wont go back in the trap a second time?

And if I successfully spay/neuter this whole colony will they die out eventually (of old age)? I don't want to ethnically clense all cats from my area, I just want to help them have the best life they can.

princess sophia said:

It's because I live abroad and only the "rich" can afford to "waste money" on street cats and so they take advantage. I must be rich...I wish someone told my wallet that!

But I found the used one I posted a pic of. They're asking under $100 (my brain is too mushy to do the exact conversion rate)

So I read the website that was posted and it seems that I'll need one for grown cats and one for kittens. But I feel like I can use a regular carrying case for kittens and jimmy rig it to trap.

Now how do I ensure I catch the cat I want to? I really want the first cat to be poppa cat. But wouldn't other cats be attracted to the food? He does seem to be the alpha of the colony so maybe that will make it easier?

After him, I have no preference in order of catch. Unless one is obviously sick or injured.

Also, how do I ensure a cat that I've already tnr'ed wont go back in the trap a second time?

And if I successfully spay/neuter this whole colony will they die out eventually (of old age)? I don't want to ethnically clense all cats from my area, I just want to help them have the best life they can.

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I know what you mean, where I live even the cheapest humane trap is very expensive. I'm also trying to catch and help an injured kitty but without a trap it's hard.

You can't "ensure" you'll catch the cat you want unless you can manually trigger the trap. It's mostly trial and error. If however you notice a particular kitty has a special weakness for a specific type of food, using that might help lure them. Cats already caught will remember what happened last time and avoid the trap altogether, so trapping a cat twice isn't very likely.

And no, the colony won't die out, they'll eventually welcome other cats from neighboring areas and/or strays into their ranks. However spaying/neutering them not only helps them live a long and healthy life but prevents lots of pointless kitten deaths and curbs the overpopulation of cats who have to live on the streets fighting to survive under the elements.

Thank you for that info!

I really don't want them to die out, rather live better lives. They also serve a purpose...As rumor has it, the British brought in a boatload of cats to contol the rat problem when they had mandate over Israel. And I personally like cats better than rats. Healthy, happy cats!

Does the fact that poppa (yes, that's his name now) is the alpha in the colony make it more likely that he'll hog the food and be easier to trap?


That's poppa just chilling on my porch like he owns the place.

Pic didn't upload properly...

Can't say. If it were a dog it would be most likely since the Alpha-dog gets the first pick but cats are well... cats

Such a lovely tuxedo kitty 

FeralsRule said:

Such a lovely tuxedo kitty  :love:

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Thanks! I can't wait to see what the kittens look like. Although the colony has given me a little hint. Sophie's mom was part of the colony but abandoned her at 6 weeks. I found her wandering the streets like she owned the place. Now she wanders around here like she owns the place lol That's her when I found her

Oops, I assumed you were in the US because you used $. Thank you for converting for us! The trap in the picture looks fine as far as I can tell. It needs to be large enough for a cat, of course. If you can come up with something to trap the kittens safely, that's fine, but you might not even need it. I trapped a malnourished 5 month old who triggered the trap just fine. If you find any much smaller than that, you might be able to just pick them up. Little kittens are much easier to handle than their feral parents.

You're not going to have too much control over who walks into your trap. (If it meows like crazy, it's probably a neighbor's cat and you can just let it out, and it won't make that mistake again.) Because he's so close by and he's a dominant male, you have a good chance of getting him first. Most cats will not let themselves be trapped a second time, but the vet should ear tip them as they get fixed, so when you trap one you can check it's ear. If it's already tipped you just let it out and set the trap again. 

There aren't nearly enough TNR operations to wipe out feral cats. If your colony ever dies out, more will come, especially if you feed them. But spaying and neutering will dramatically reduce aggression and injuries and spread of disease, as well as the problems with overpopulation like starvation, etc.

Actually, feral cats are an invasive species pretty much everywhere and they do a lot  of damage to native ecosystems, particularly bird populations. And they don't have the best quality of life, even with spaying and neutering and vaccinations. It suppose it'd be ideal if there were no homeless cats and everyone got their pets from a reputable breeder, but that is definitely not going to happen.

"(If it meows like crazy, it's probably a neighbor's cat and you can just let it out, and it won't make that mistake again.)"

How would a feral cat react in the trap?

Assuming typical behaviour (as in what is documented on the internet and elsewhere) it should hiss and move away from you towards the back of the cage. Remember, the kitty doesn't know you're doing this for their own good, they think they are trapped and now a larger creature (therefore in their mind a predator) is standing outside the trap.

princess sophia said:

"(If it meows like crazy, it's probably a neighbor's cat and you can just let it out, and it won't make that mistake again.)"

How would a feral cat react in the trap?

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Feral cats tend to get scared and curl up in the corner. They might be more aggressive depending on their personality and health, but they do not meow. Pet cats meow because they know that's how to get a human's attention when something is wrong, but feral cats will be afraid of attention.

I would think identifying strays/dumped cats would be the real problem - temperament of a house cat but not necessarily 'owned'

Ah, okay, thanks for the clarification.

My neighbor has a few outdoor cats because the wife is allergic to cats. But they keep up on all their vet visits and they're spayed/neutered (I think).

So it's good to know if I accidentally catch one of theirs.

JMJimmy said:

I would think identifying strays/dumped cats would be the real problem - temperament of a house cat but not necessarily 'owned'

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I don't think if have much of an issue. This country is very anti cat. The only people I know that have cats are anglos. I get looked at like I have two heads when someone finds out I have a cat. So 99.9% of the cats are feral or semi-feral.

I'm also going to speak to the organization that I'll be working with if they are willing to keep any kittens that I trap in the spca for rehoming.

Since its great heat season now, I'm assuming in a few months the little critters will be roaming the streets. And they deserve a good life in a home if they can.