Inexperienced and lack of support from local rescues - Please help.

So in my complete and utter desperation a thought just occurred to me.

Please let me know if this sounds.. too drastic. I know everyone in my life will think I am 100% out of my mind for it.

I am wondering if I might be able to rent the house out for just one more month to allow me time to trap him. That way I can start feeding him regularly, getting him properly used to the traps, even maybe purchase a drop trap.

I have no idea how I could ever feasibly afford this whatsoever, especially if I am adding a drop trap on top of it. And renting for only one month will surely be more expensive than the normal cost of rent, especially because they include utilities here and I would have little use for them.

Again, I don't actually have the money.. but maybe there is some way to figure it out. Is that insane of me? I just feel like I would do anything at this point to save him... I cannot stop thinking about how it will feel for him to have everyone he knows and loves suddenly gone, including his bonded litter mate, along with his shelter, food, and water, and on top of all of that being so sick.

It's very possible we will end up euthanizing Sneaky when we trap him given his condition... so I suppose that makes it seem even more insane. I will of course try other options, see if the neighbor would be willing to set out a trap or if the landowner will allow AC to come out or if he will negotiate with my friend about all of the legal stuff. But if all of that fails, if there are no other options... would it be crazy to rent the place for a month for a cat that has a considerable chance of needing to be euthanized anyway?

I just don't want him to suffer...

Yardstick works - we use a broom handle just because it's a little sturdier and we've had some big boys! You might even drop a towel over the carrier - if the carrier is the most "cave-like" - - that's almost always where they go when extra nervous! And I bet your boyfriend can help with that part - it's about as 'hands off' as it gets in the cat carry-ing-for arena as it gets (being behind a yardstick or broom handle on the outside of the crate)!

Good luck with all - especially Sneaky. 

Thank you. The man who does TNR is on his way back over. With a cat net. I have no clue if it will work and it's obviously not ideal, but we have two hours left... we have to try.

I found him in the neighbors yard earlier. I put a tiny piece of fish on his deck and sneaky went to eat it. I did the same thing again and he ate it when I left. I don't know if he'll get close enough to me, but I'm going to try. And maybe when my friend gets home, he'd be willing to get closer to her. It is such a long shot, because he's the only one who doesn't really come when she calls  -he just follows Puff who comes when she calls and Puff isn't there.

Once he drops off the net I will spend the rest of the time standing watch at the crate trap. I hope my next post will be good news...

Yes it's insane - and yes - I'd see if I could possibly do it - given how hard things are, and it doesn't seem to be rented yet. Perhaps you could negotiate another 2 weeks vx a full month? If it's going to break you - it's not worth it, since it's important you stay solvent to care for everyone else!!!!!

But maybe negotiate with landlord for another few weeks at a reduced rate -  idea being they have no one renting yet, and you'd be at least providing SOME income?!?!

Good luck!

It is with a heavy heart I have to report we were unable to trap Sneaky in time. We were so, so close many times. It seemed as though he perhaps witnessed Hobo being trapped - and there were many times before Hobo was trapped that they circled the traps together, so Sneaky could have been very nearby when it occurred - that he was officially done messing with them. He would paw at the food from the back, but never attempted going in after that.

I wish I'd thought of the net sooner -  I think we definitely could have netted him, had we the time.

I put in dawn, dusk, and day hours for four consecutive days followed by a straight 30 hours of camping out, leaving only to quickly tend to the kitties at my house and reload on fried chicken. We made countless phone calls, sent countless emails, and tried most every trick in the book we came across. I still think we could have done more and I believe our inexperience led us to a few errors. But we did try, and I put my heart and soul into saving the four of them and I am absolutely devastated that I failed Sneaky. It feels nothing short of abandonment to me.

Negotiations with the owners were a disaster. They told us to get off the property and withheld portions of my friend's deposit for (illegal) fees, including a "squatting fee" for the night I stayed to trap Sneaky. We had been in constant communication with the property manager for weeks requesting permission to do this and informing them of our plans every step of the way. I had full permission, my friend 's lease was still good, and I am fairly certain they completely made up this fee and that I do not legal meet the requirements of being a squatter.

This is what we are dealing with though, people who are very spiteful and cannot be reasoned with whatsoever.

I spent the night crying over Sneaky. Every meal time I struggle imagining him coming up to the porch, or at night trying to find his shelter. The next morning my friend reported the landowner to the cable company for theft and spoke to a police officer about a few things. I also spoke in depth with animal control again about any possible legal options.

She said that if the animal had an abscess or was starving or otherwise very obviously needed vet care, they may have the authority to obtain an animal from private property. From my description of Sneaky, she did not feel he was in immediate danger. I asked if I was able to discuss the situation with a vet and show them his picture and if the vet thought he needed immediate medical attention, if that would suffice. She essentially said no, though I'm not sure why...

I told her that he is in danger as he has become dependent on us for food, water, and shelter, that he is in poor health and not only needs to see a vet, but almost certainly cannot hunt sufficiently, and that the tenants, landowner, and property manager are hostile toward him/other cats and throw rocks at them and try to run them off toward the highway. She kept saying to trust in his ability to be a cat, that he will find a way - I had to keep reminding her that he was not a healthy cat and that this is a significant difference.

If it had been any of the other three we left behind, I would be devastated for the same reasons as Sneaky - but unlike him, I would have some faith in their ability to be a cat and to survive and hunt. Even though they have become dependent on us, they would at least have a chance. I believe the chances for Sneaky are much, much worse.

I want to be clear that this woman was 100% on our side. But when I spoke to her, I told her I wanted to bounce ideas off of her from a legal standpoint, and wanted her to refute them in the same way.

For instance, if we could prove "ownership" then we could be charged for having free roaming animals. I said, well what if we say that while he was free roaming, we were working on trapping him to bring him to an enclosure (which is true) and that these things take time. She said "okay, but then the landowner could charge additional pet deposit fees and penalty fees for not reporting the "pets", and if he had a pet limit, you would also deal with penalties involving that."

Her ultimate suggestion was to find out who the precinct judge is, call and talk to them to see if we have absolutely anything to file a civil suit for. So tomorrow that's what I'm going to do.

The second option is trying to plead with the neighboring property owner. He has a lot of livestock and I really don't know how to go about convincing him of this, even if we offer to pay. It just doesn't seem likely he would allow something like this. He has, however, had issues with these people in the past... perhaps he will allow us to do it just to piss them off, who knows.

Both are very much so long shots. I am going to blast Sneaky's picture to every animal control and rescue in the area I can find to let them know he has a caretaker should he be turned in. Luckily for us, Sneaky has several distinct features - his ear tip, his size, his odd-eyes, and his color markings. This is the best photo we have of him, but hopefully it will be enough -
 


I am going to write up a slightly different email for rescues, particularly those that deal with TNR or ferals. I am going to really try to reach out to the feral coalition, as I know they have been able to negotiate quite a bit when it comes to ferals and organize protests, ect.. maybe they will have some ideas, even if it's negotiating with the owner of the neighboring property about allowing us to trap over there.

Again, all of this is a long shot, but we just aren't ready to give up just yet and it is at least worth a few more emails and phone calls.




 
Updates on the other kitties:

- DC had a successful surgery but his face is still very beat up I am wondering if he is feral-feral though. After the first day of being in the trap, he would immediately start blinking at me. And he still does the moment we make eye contact. It just seems odd, particularly for an unneutered cat. He has always seemed extremely docile with both cats and humans.

I do have a question, though - I know it takes a while for the neutering to have an affect on a cat - how long until I can expect his urine odor to dissipate? His holding cage is in a room by himself and it is driving us mad.  For the time being, I am going to assume it is not something serious, and if it is related to having been unneutered, how long are we possibly looking at dealing with this? When we woke up this morning it filled the entire house. We've had all the windows open all day and it is still lingering... I have no clue why people would not want to neuter their cat with pee that smells this strong!

- Puff still had not eaten and if it wasn't for the urgency of trapping Sneaky, I would have taken him to the vet Monday. Instead, I took him Tuesday morning. The vet was actually able to handle him and sedation was not needed. While he is semi-feral with me and my friend, this frankly shocked me.

Of course, it was nothing like handling a tame cat, and everyone in the room had to speak and move quietly and slowly, and not make eye contact. I think Puff might have been playing opossum, but he did not scratch, bite, or hiss.

She decided to hold him overnight and did so free of charge, as well as discounting the appointment cost and vaccination. Eventually he ate without using a stimulant while there, so we saved costs without that and the sedative. Everything came back clear on his blood work and urinalysis, but they did agree with me about his excessive drinking  - he drank 3-4x the amount of the other boarded cats and said he has a huge bladder. She said unless other symptoms show up we should just leave him be for now and she doesn't know why he is drinking so much. Hopefully he will eat dinner tonight!

- Hobo is on and off with eating. He didn't eat the first two days, then finally ate last night but not this morning. He is scheduled for a vaccination and chipping on Friday and hopefully over the weekend he and Puff will be released into their outdoor enclosure.

Here are photos of our set ups for the kitties. Hobo and Puff are each in 48" dog crates and I used the divider that came with them to instead make an upper level. DC is currently in a 36" crate. All of them have carriers with blankets that were in their outdoor shelters for a familiar scent, litter boxes, toys, and some firewood they used to scratch on from the old house. All are getting rescue remedy in the water, feliway diffusers, classical music on and off, and for DC, who is predictably eating, composure treats.

This is Hobo and his holding cage. Unlike the other two, he has spent his time on the upper perch, on top of his carrier, and just recently, behind his litter box. It is going to be a challenge to get him into the carrier when we need to move him :/ The bottom photo doesn't do him justice - he is an extremely handsome boy!

Cage set up (Hobo's hiding behind the litter box)



This is Puff's holding cage, similar to Hobo's. I didn't want to stress him out by getting a photo of him after he'd been at the vet all night, but he is hiding in the carrier cave.
 


And this is DC's smaller holding cage. We thought we'd have the other two in their outdoor enclosures much sooner so that DC could move to one of the big ones, but it just hasn't panned out yet. DC stays in the carrier during the day but at night he absolutely tears up the crate. I'm not sure if this is because of his remaining roaming instincts or what. I'd like to give him some more room - we keep trying to transfer him to a larger carrier (the one he is currently in still has dried pee and blood in it and is very small and meant for our 6lb foster) but he will not budge! We've tried lightly sliding him out but don't want to push it while he is recovering.

In addition to hopefully getting him in a bigger carrier within the cage, I am trying to figure out if I can somehow attach another area to maybe put the litter box so that he has more room. Our options are a 30" wire dog crate or a large 22" plastic carrier. Not sure how to go about it, but I think it would really help. Any ideas on how to safely secure/attach either of those? The opening on DC's cage is bigger than the opening of the other two, so I'm trying to come up with ideas of how to pull this off without risking a jailbreak.


I cannot thank everyone in this thread enough for your support and advice through all of this. We are absolutely gutted that we were unable to trap Sneaky, as he was our priority and needed us most (and if I'm being honest, my personal favorite from day one). Like I said, we are going to keep fighting for him. We are also trying to remain realistic, but no matter the outcome, we are doing our part to bring justice to the humans and animals who have been victims of this landowner and turning him in for the many illegal things he has done.

You are an absolute angel. I am praying that all your efforts on Sneaky's behalf pay off.

I'm very sorry to hear that you couldn't get Sneaky. I've never seen a photo of him before, he is a huge cat! Sorry if you've mentioned this before, but what are your concerns about his health? Is it because of his size or does there seem to be something else wrong with him?

I'm glad you didn't resort to renting the property so you could have more trapping time. I don't think you should give any money to those people. They seem to be taking advantage of your good nature and obvious concern for the cats. Is there such a thing as a "Squatting fee"? This sounds like just another attempt to get money out of you and your friend. If they were aware that you would be parking your car there over night while watching the traps they should have arranged a fee with you before hand. I hope you can find a precinct judge who will help you. I think the best thing to do for now is take a step back and allow the legal wheels to turn. Maybe a letter from someone in authority will be enough to shock them into letting you or a rescue group back there long enough to trap Sneaky.

As for DC, it can take as long as a month for a recently neutered tom cats urine to lose some of the potency of it's smell. Yes, the smell is eye wateringly strong and will spread around the house. Is he spraying or is it just the smell from his litter box? I notice he has an uncovered litter box. He might be missing and getting the drapes behind him. I ended up throwing away a set of curtains and a sofa throw when I was a bit late getting one of our young cats neutered. You can get the smell out of non-porous surfaces, but with fabric it's easier to just replace them.

Does DC stay in his carrier if you get close to him? If he does you could try sliding in a metal tray or piece of wood to cover the carrier door, then closing the door of the carrier. You'd need two people to do this and obviously leave the cage shut until the door was closed. Another way might be to drop a net or blanket over the carrier while you close the door. I've done this with sick feral cats before, not sure how it would work with a  very energetic one.

I know the cage seems too small to you, but scared cats naturally look for a tiny enclosed space to hide in. He probably doesn't need anything much bigger. I can understand your concerns about him staying in a carrier stained with old pee and blood though.

Hope things go well for you and Sneaky with the other options you are looking into.

@Norachan - Yes, Sneaky is very big. We estimate him to be about 25 lbs. I went into a bit more detail about his health in this earlier post: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/318446/insight-into-ferals-quality-of-life-pic-included

He does not move very well and thus I do not believe he can hunt very well, especially having relied on us for the past year as a food source. And being the size he is, even if a kind hearted person were to find him, they likely wouldn't think to feed him. Unfortunately, everyone on this property hates the cats, but Sneaky in particular as they are convinced he is "lazy" and a glutton. My fosters were strays from this same property that I took in because the tenants were throwing rocks at them and trying to run them off onto the very dangerous highway and the owner wanted them "exterminated". They are the same, but worse, with ferals. So I worry about his safety there for many, many reasons.

And no, we've had no luck in finding anything amounting to a "squatting fee"! Even as a squatter, I would have to not be permitted, and text messages prove that I was, along with the property manager having said so in front of the TNR guy that came to help me out on Monday. At the least we could just say I was "house sitting" by feeding/trapping Sneaky and guarding some valuables that remained at the house. It's a bogus fee.

As much as I would not want to give another dime to these people. I would do so for Sneaky in a heartbeat. i just don't k now how I will ever get over this, and I am dreading the next storm we have because I know he will be all I think about. It is so incredibly difficult to not just sneak onto the property at night to leave him some food...

Even though we are in a feral friendly area, I am not optimistic about the judge I think private property rights are just going to trump the safety of this cat, despite having a willing caretaker/owner (because if we trapped him he would be living with me in an enclosure and I would be willing to accept that title/responsibility). I wish the there were more clear laws/rights in regards to ferals and their caretakers...

As for DC, I keep checking the sheets and he does not appear to be spraying them. I do think the smell has already improved, as it is no longer filling the house, just his room. I just about died that first day!!!

DC does stay in his carrier when I approach, but last night and a few hours ago he tore up the crate so much that he actually flipped the carrier:



In both instances, he hid behind the carrier. I was able to very carefully flip and move the carrier by sticking my fingers in the crate and pushing it back almost all the way, then covering the front of the crate and moving the blanket from the back to persuade DC to move to the front of the crate. From there, he heads into the carrier and all is well. Just not sure why he's doing it.. I am wondering if he is just having the impulse to roam and that's accounting for the nightly cage rage.

It's also nerve racking because unlike the others, I do not know this cat whatsoever nor have a relationship with him - so I just don't know what to expect. He has also not reacted like Hobo and Puff whatsoever through this holding period, and it has me wondering if he is truly feral, though I've never heard him meow or anything. But man, he sure does blink and squint (I had only just reached the point with Hobo and Puff that they would blink back at me - definitely not doing so now, though!).

It will likely be at least another week before we have the patio enclosed, so we really wanted to have him in something bigger overall. Today I found this at the thrift store, which is about 70" H x 36" W

 

So tomorrow we are going to attempt to get him in that, and when we move him out to the patio it can act as a cat tree. We'll have the carrier in there and we are waiting to see if his litter box will fit, or if we can attach another crate to the opening to hold the litter.

That is a really great suggestion about the blanket/net. The carrier door has two twist ties tied to the wire crate to keep the door open, but he seems to have no trouble separating it completely. Our biggest issue is opening the wire crate while preventing escape when something like this happens (when the crate is upright and they are actually in it, we have no problems getting the carrier door closed so that we can have access to the crate for feeding and cleaning). None of them have tried to escape yet, but I don't want to underestimate them! My boyfriend, on the other hand, is another story... no matter how many times I explain what a feral cat is, he keeps asking why we can't just pick them up, or "Here, I'll just open the crate and fix it" - Ugh! Wish I had a colony to take him to so that he can have a better idea of what feral means.

Thank you for the kind words guys, please keep Sneaky in your thoughts!

I feel for you with your worry for Sneaky - I know most people on this site totally understand your worry & sorrow. I hope you can take a little comfort in knowing you could not have done/be doing more. You've done far more than most people would do. I think it's a great idea to send notes to rescue organizations -he is very distinctive! I'll be thinking happy thoughts that both people & cat issues are resolved positively.

We use (for TNR) a set up almost identical to yours, although I'm stealing your wonderful addition of the wood for scratching! I think you're offering the Taj Mahal of holding Bravo!

We've certainly had ferals who, when held in cages before release, react by frantic bursts to get out at times even when their crates are covered (which helps us in 90% of the cases). I will say I've had the biggest issues if I screw up & leave the sheets covering the crates so that "outside" (not really outside, but beyond the crates) is visible ---or if the cat pulls the sheets into the crate & sees "beyond" we sometimes get frantic behavior. We actually ended up "early releasing" (after only 12 hours) one female TNR last summer because she was so frantic in the crate she was injuring herself. It broke our hearts with worry that she wouldn't survive, but a month later she reappeared & now we not only see her for meals morning & night, she has actually started sleeping in a shelter just beyond our back door & last night actually took canned food from an outstretched spoon I offered! Only 9 months later

If you do end up transferring to the taller/3 level cage, please be very careful. We lost 1 cat in our walls for several days after a botched transfer into what I thought was a crate that he'd be happier in. I now realize that, for me, I have to remember that any set up- no matter how large-is going to be a very nerve-wracking thing that simply "needs to be destroyed in search of a break out" for some poor kitties...but keeping them contained for a bit is still for the best in most cases....even with a little havoc...even if they don't understand. If only they spoke our language!

You're doing SO much for all of these guys!!!!

We have a new plan of attack for Sneaky - please let me know if anyone has any thoughts or additional ideas.

Hotmail recently changed how you attach photos, and I just checked my email and none of my emails to the shelters went through. I have tried every way I know how to send it and I keep receiving "undeliverable" messages. I was about to create a totally new email through gmail or yahoo when a thought occurred to me - why not treat Sneaky like any other lost pet?

I posted to our local "lost pets" website already and tomorrow we will be gathering poster board, stencils, sheet protectors, ect... unfortunately this is a very rural area, so it will be difficult to find many areas to post. It is right next to a very busy/dangerous "country" highway, so while there is a lot  of traffic, most will pass the signs at a high speed. Hopefully if someone recognizes his photo, they will pull over to check it out...

There is one business across the street from the property and a Home Depot about a mile or so down the road. Those are the only businesses, but we are hoping we can leave some flyers there. For the immediately surrounding neighbors, we will probably tape a flyer to their gate, but word it slightly differently to let them know that he was living on the property right next to them and is likely to roam to them first - perhaps, if we are lucky and they are very caring people, they may allow us to trap on the other side of the fence if Sneaky is still there.

Since my emails are not going through, I may just take physical flyers to the shelters in the area personally, that way I know for sure that it doesn't just become a lost email that someone forgets about. We will also post some flyers at some local vets.

We are offering a reward and trying to figure out what else we should state on the flyer aside from contact information, last known location, and distinctive features. Basically, we are trying to figure out how to go about the feral thing... we know we should mention it, and we were thinking of saying something along the lines of "Please do not approach or attempt to trap Sneaky, as he will run away out of fear. If you would like to help, contact us immediately and calmly place food out for him from a very safe distance to encourage him to stay in the area until we arrive."

I also assume we will not be able to use a regular trap, and with him being on his own for so long, netting is probably no longer an option either. So I am thinking we will probably try to make a drop trap this week, and also use the carrier/string idea should we be contacted. We also need to figure out how to broach this subject with someone who finds them on their land, as most people probably wouldn't like us trapping on their property. We need to decide how to go about explaining/requesting that in a delicate manner.

Any thoughts, critiques, suggestions?

@kittychick - That's so wonderful about your female feral! It is mostly DC who is struggling, as he is in the smaller 36" crate with a small litterbox and without an upper level like the others. He has started vocalizing the past couple of days with the most pitiful moan Weather has prevented us from setting up the kennel to move Hobo and Puff, so DC has been stuck where he is He goes nuts more and more and I usually have to clean the cage several times a day, which is stressful for both of us.

Thanks for the warning about transferring him! I don't think it's very possible to get a carrier and litter box in the tall cage It may just have to be a cat tree substitute for his enclosure. I try to be very, very careful when transferring these guys.. I think being a first timer has me being hyper-vigilant! How the heck did the kitty get into the walls?! I am so nervous about them escaping just in a bedroom!

I think that is an excellent idea!  Prayers that you find a sympathetic neighbor who will allow you to trap.  The drop trap is probably your best bet at this point!

Blessings on your for your perseverance.  Sneaky is a lucky cat, even thought he doesn't know it yet.

Thank you! I am going to try to contact some people in the city from Alley Cat Allies to see if they or anyone they know has a drop trap we could use, but we will also start looking into making one (I believe someone posted about the one they made earlier in the thread).

Should our headline be "REWARD, LOST CAT" or "REWARD, IF FOUND" - it seems inaccurate to say he is "lost", but "if found" sounds a bit awkward? Am I overthinking again? I was going to say lost but my boyfriend had reservations about it... mainly because he's afraid the landlord and property manager , who will certainly see these signs, might try to come after us somehow for misrepresenting the situation. I wouldn't think there are any actual regulations regarding something like this, but if there's a way for these people to make things harder on us, they will. 

If you think they'll cause trouble, put "Reward, If Found."  Remember to confirm your local regulations about feral or unowned cats.  You may be able to fight these nasty people with the law.

Ondine, is there anything in particular I should be asking about ferals/unowned cats? There is next to nothing online and I've talked extensively to county animal control... If we are somehow able to retrieve Sneaky, he will be in an enclosure and I would be willing to, I suppose, "officially" adopt him. As of now he is currently unowned, though.

If we were able to claim him currently as a pet (which would be difficult), then my friend could be fined for having "free roaming animals" and the landowner could bill her for additional pet deposits and any sort of penalty fee that may be involved with having never reported them to him. It seems we mostly have no rights After we get up some flyers and posters we are going to see if there is anything to file a civil suit for, though.

I'm considering perhaps using Every Door Direct Mail through USPS to send postcards directly to neighbors in the area. There are a lot of services online that offer this (for pets) but I'm not sure if they can be trusted and am finding very little to discern if they are legitimate. Some even offer to send to local shelters and vets, which would be really nice, but again, I don't know if they are trustworthy.

If there are no regulations covering un-owned animals, the landlord has no grounds.  If you are the owner now and your friend never claimed ownership, the landlord can't fine her for owning him.

Even if your friend did claim ownership, the landlord may have to prove damages, which would involve court costs, which may not be worth it.

One thing I have learned when dealing with bullies is that standing up to them usually punctures their bluster.  That's why I suggested getting to know your rights.  If the landlord tries to bamboozle you, you'll have the info you need to get him to back off.

Try googling "data universe."  There are newspapers in NJ (The Asbury Park Press is one of them) that use this service.  One of your state's newspapers may do the same.  That's where you can find info on the homeowners.  An Internet search will also likely give you info on shelters and rescues.  I would compile a list of names and addresses and produce postcards myself.  It would certainly be cheaper than hiring a service or going through the Post Office.

You might also be able to get this info from your county's website or do a search of your county records.

You are doing the right thing by Sneaky.  He will be a happier cat in an enclosure because he will be safe and secure.

We usually - since we usually only trap in decent weather (not too hot, not too cool) and then keep the holding set up in our garage (we always have fosters, plus our "own" guys inside - so that tends to be the safest, least "issue-causing" way to do it. Particularly after our escapee experience - - we did that early in our TNR experience, andI worried it was too cool to keep her in our garage (in retrospect, it would have been less stressful on her, what with the wall issue!) so we placed her in a part of our basement (it's plenty warm in ours) that has one wall that's partially unfinished, and of course the small open unfinished wall section has a large freezer in front of it, so it's never gotten finished as it's not seen. And of COURSE that's right where she shot when I transferred - thought I was being cautious, but she startled me (she'd been very standardly at the back of her small crate, perfectly still, cringing, inside the plastic cat carrier inside)---but I barely opened the small dog crate to start to maneuver things around and she saw her moment! Shot past me, pushed the door open, flew around the room into the wall behind the freezer!!! Needless to say I was panicked! I was so worried - - - begged my husband to pull the freezer out, rip up the wall. Luckily, his cooler head prevailed (she was beyond unhandlable so if we'd gotten hold of her he reminded me we'd never be able to hold onto her) and we shut the door to that basement section, put the trap in that area with her food in it, and eventually we just trapped her again! 

So just try your best to be aware - if it can happen, it might! I just was a little naive - -- now i do less that might result in an escape.

I've worked for several shelters - and the best thing you can do is take flyers in person anyway - vs email. As a person answering a phone/email at a shelter - you're generally so overwhelmed with pleas for help on a minute-to-minute basis, that people appearing with information in person are generally remembered more (meaning that cat/situation are remembered more). Again - as someone who's done the job - I couldn't help but remember people more who were there in person, who were obviously kind and concerned (and polite). I know it takes so much more time than shooting out an email or making a call, but going in person means you'll be looked in the eye with a greater chance of undivided attention by someone who's normally doing 8 things at once. 

Good luck - thinking of you and the whole gang!

Excellent idea!

I got a lot of calls for lost cat posters that said;

REWARD

For any information

leading to the recovery of ~~

Followed by a picture of the cat, a description and my phone number.

I don't think there is any need to put anything about him being feral or nervous, most lost cats are in a state of panic when they're in an unfamiliar place and would run away from strangers anyway.

The places my posters got the most attention were community trash drop-off spots, where people leave the weekly trash for collection. At least one member from every household is likely to see your posters there.

Another good place is close to local schools, kids pay more attention to cats and dogs they see than most adults do.

Does your local TV channel do a Lost Pets slot? I live in a small rural village too and the local TV station feature pictures of lost pets for a few minutes every day after the headlines.

Good luck, I hope Sneaky knows all the trouble you are going to for him.

If you want to do EDDM (I work for USPS ), you don't need to hire an online company. You can have whatever you want printed up at a regular print shop, and then mail it right at your local Post Office. Make sure you review the requirements at www.usps.com before you have it printed---it has to be a certain size and have the right indicia. Lots of people do it!

I hope you can get poor Sneaky!

BIG BIG problem - DC escaped from his crate last night.

I really want/need to address everything y'all said, but for the moment...

Weather had prevented us from setting up Hobo and Puff's kennel. We finally got it done yesterday and reinforced it as much as we could with chicken wire, zip ties, and bricks. Since it is so, so hot and humid here, I wanted a lot of ventilation, so we opted for something less "weather proof" and used a shaded cover and just made sure they had weather proof shelters.

Well, the weather was supposed to be great this week and that suddenly changed without us knowing. Last night there was a very big storm with hail and everything. And being that my friend just moved in, she was unaware that the drainage in her yard is incredibly insufficient - when she walked in the kennel, she was ankle deep in water. Puff's carrier appeared to be at the only part of the kennel where the water wasn't so bad and Hobo and Puff were huddled together inside of it.

So at 7:30 this morning I went to check things out. She has an awesome shed that is large, empty, and with many levels that would be perfect for them - except there is NO ventilation whatsoever. We thought we could maybe move the kennel to another area with better drainage (it is a huge back yard) - but the entire thing is like a marsh! Then we tried to see if we could fit it on her cement porch - no dice, too small. After brainstorming I came up with the idea to use pallets and plywood to put in part of the kennel for their shelters and food. We ran all over town this morning looking for pallets of the right size that someone was willing to give us. We finally got them and I went home to feed DC.

I finally moved him to the bigger crate last night. Given his current behavior with the smaller one, I went back over it to reinforce any problem areas (there were already at least 20 zip ties on it!). I added some more and also added really strong twist ties to each latch and I also zip tied his carrier for the time being.

Then when I went to feed him this morning, I couldn't see him. I was about to check to see if he somehow was hiding behind the carrier or behind the bed on the top level when I heard the faintest noise at the opposite side of the room - that is when I noticed the room was in disarray.

The room he's in is quite small and is my storage for my work and sometimes my actual work space - it has a bunch of old furniture and materials for me to fix up/create. It also has some nearly finished projects for a customer... and at least one of those things is already ruined. So along the walls I have various tables and chairs, some smaller projects on the tables... then in the middle there is the two large 48" crates - this leaves only just enough room for me to get to each cage to tend to the cats, meaning we are struggling to figure out a way to get to DC or to set a trap in there. 

We can't carry the crates out, they are far too big and would require the bedroom door to be open far too long. We could break them down but that would mean loudly doing so in very close proximity to a very scared feral cat... which I am very nervous to do... We can't move the furniture obviously either, though we did remove some chairs that had been stacked on some of the furniture that DC had knocked around and were dangerous to leave in there with him. I don't know how the hell to go about this and I am freaking out.

He has rushed at the door a few times since we left the room and I worry he could somehow open it. We have knobs, so I'm not sure if he can, but my boyfriend, who has been very supportive and along for the ride with all of this, is beginning to be a bit agitated. If DC were to get out he would have access to our 17 year old CKD cat, who himself is not particularly passive or aware that he is no longer a young tom cat. Again, I don't know if there is any way he could manipulate the knob, but we tied a string on it to another door knob across from it just in case.

It's also a point of contention that we just remodeled not even a year ago... so having him ruin the carpet, walls, doors, ect, is not fun to think about. And he has potential to ruin some of my work in there and already has... and he also started to destroy our new (quality) blinds. My boyfriend pulled them up to prevent that, however I feel it's a bad idea to allow him to see the window. I'm not sure what to do. I also tried to figure out a way to place the strings for the blinds safely out of the way so that there wasn't potential for him to hang himself, but I wasn't able to figure anything out.

It is due to rain again in a few hours so we have to go over to my friend's to work on the kennel. We've taken up all the food we could find in DC's room to initiate the "hunger process" but I honestly don't know where we'll go from here. I'm struggling to find a place to trap him and concerned we may not be able to retrap him so soon after the first time.

With all of my materials, furniture, tools, electrical cords, and blind cords in that room there is potential for him to really harm himself, if he hasn't already - because honestly, I cannot for the life of me figure out how he escaped from that crate. We zip tied it to death and I even added zip ties to any semi-concerning gaps just to make the gaps less noticeable. But even then, I didn't believe there was any way he could get through them.

What do I do?! I am trying so hard to keep myself together at this point, and on top of feeling awful for what Hobo and Puff went through last night and worrying about DC hurting himself and/or our home/my WORK, I have intense frustration knowing that all of this is further postponing getting flyers and posters out for Sneaky. I feel like I am so close to breaking down right now and I don't know what to do.

Do you think it would be safe for us to take the time going in there to remove all of the zip ties from at least one of the crates so that we can remove it and have more space to maneuver in to trap him?? The zip ties are tight and will be such a pain to remove.. I'm worried the noise of it and our struggle to remove them and fold the cage, ect... would make him even more frightened than he already is. I don't want to risk an attack for anyone involved, but there is just no room in there as it is...

Also, the fact that he's rushed the door a few times now makes me nervous about even going in there and risking him escaping into the house and posing a danger to our cat. What is the proper protocol for things like this? Is there something I can do to try and ensure he will hide away from the door whenever we go in?

Please please please, any help or advice is desperately needed right now. Is sedation of any sort safe or a possibility in a situation like this?

 

What a determined little rascal!  I think I would leave things alone for now.  Don't worry about the crate for a few days - let him hunker down in the room.  You can get a baby gate or something similar to hold in front of you when you enter the room.  You may need to recruit help whenever you enter and leave, just to be sure.

I have used one of those air cans they clean computers with as well.  One short burst usually freezes the cat and gives you time to get into the room.  Needn't be a long blast - just enough to get him to stop rushing the door.  It isn't as cruel as it sounds - but it does work.

I know there's the possibility of him ruining things.  I would take the blinds down - and maybe put a table or a cat tree in there for him.  Just seeing outside may calm him down.  Remember, to him this is prison and a new, strange prison at that.  He's desperate to get back to familiar digs.

If he won't use the litter box, put a couple of litter boxes in there.  Use unscented litter in both but in one, cover the litter for a time with dirt or dried leaves.  It is what he is used to using.

It sounds like you may have to use the trap to get him for the move.  Start feeding him in the trap and only the trap.

I was thinking - is there any way you can add ventilation to your friend's shed?  That could become "home base" for them, once you move them back.