Sucessfully trapped Mom and 3 kittens - smallest one got away and is missing

I have been feeding a family of ferals for over a month since mom showed up with her 2-week old kittens in my yard. They have been living happily on my patio.  Now the kittens are about 9 weeks, and mom is starting to go into heat.  My friend who runs a rescue where I got my 2 cats helped to trap them last night.  She brought a drop trap and we got mom and 3 babies in one shot.  The 4th baby, the little girl, the runt of the litter, took off after seeing her family get trapped. We left 2 humane traps set last night, hoping to catch her and also a large male, which I believe is the father.  He got into one of the traps right after we set it, and managed to eat and get out without tripping it! UGH!

We set them again, and in the morning one was tripped with nobody in it.   The little girl is nowhere to be found.  I am praying she shows up at dinnertime.  My friend is coming back tonight. She is also bringing a kitten trap.     I have bowls of water all around the yard, and in the water heater closet where the babies used as a den when they were smaller.  I left the door slightly cracked and keep checking but she is not there.  The worst of it is it is going to be 110 degrees today and 119 tomorrow here in Phoenix.  :-(   Praying for the baby girl!

Oh, poor dear.  She's probably frightened to death.  Keep setting the traps.  If you can, get a smaller one with a touchier spring.  Sometimes kittens aren't heavy enough to trip the regular traps.

Dad sounds trap savvy, so you may have to get a drop trap to get him

Thank you so much for taking care of this family.  Their lives are going to be so much easier now.

Vibes being sent and prayers being said you get the little escapee soon.

We actually caught the rest of the family in the drop trap. All four at once.  I am so sad that she wasn't in there with them. I just hope she is safe and that she comes back. Maybe we can catch dad in there tonight.   

We caught daddy in the drop trap this evening.  Sadly, still no sign of the baby.  I've got 2 traps set, as well as the drop trap which I am monitoring until I go to bed.  Will disarm it and remove the food, and try again early in the morning.  Praying she shows up.  So worried about her. 

Do you have the family on bedding? If you can get a piece of bedding and put that in a trap, with food, perhaps the smell would entice her in. 

No bedding.  It's too hot here.  The family hangs out in the corner of my patio where it's shaded.  On the hottest days I spray down the walls and the floor with water to cool it down and leave a frozen milk jug of water or a bucket of ice.  It got up over 110 today It's almost 100 right now at 10:30 PM.  It won't go below 85 tonight and tomorrow it might get up to 119.  Poor little girl!  If she doesn't show up soon, I can only hope she found another cat-loving neighbor that is feeding and watering her.  The alternative is too sad to even think of. :-(

I take it you can't touch anybody. It couldn't be big, to fit in the trap, I'm thinking of something the size of a washcloth. I wonder if a little piece of cardboard, anything that might hold a scent. 

The problem is she is nowhere to be found.  :-(  I'm sure if she showed up she would go in the trap to eat because she's got to be hungry - 2 days with no food.  If she doesn't come back by tomorrow morning, I'm not going to try to trap her again for a while since I will have to get another appointment.  My hope is she will hear mama and siblings when they return on Monday evening and join them. They will probably take off for a while, and I will let my next door neighbor know she can resume feeding if they show up in her yard.

Wow - you've gotten a lot done.  I take it you have appointments for the rest of the family.  That's actually a big deal, even though I know you're worried about the little girl.

As KSKatt suggested, if you can rub a washcloth on mom's head, then place it in the trap; the scent may attract her.  Cats are very good at hiding, so she may very well still be close by.

More vibes being sent!  Once the rest of the family is released, she will probably return.

I hope you can get the little one, one thing that works really well is playing a recording of a momma kitty calling her kittens. If the little one is around there is a good chance it will come out. Try this one 

Well, mama, daddy and 3 babies are now at the clinic getting fixed!   Mary Anne really thinks that the babies can still be socialized and adopted!  She said they have been pretty calm in their traps and have been meowing at her.  They really are adorable, so I'm hoping they can find a forever indoor home.  Mama Elsa (isn't she pretty?) will be my outdoor kitty and daddy Mufasa (he looks and acts like a little mountain lion - definitely a wild one) will be well-fed by me and my neighbor and hopefully stop spraying all around the perimeter of my house!   

No luck trapping baby Minnie (mini-me - she looks just like her mama - she's the one looking at the camera in both photos) last night, but she is safe. :-) I was sitting out on the patio this morning and heard pitiful meowing. She is in the water heater closet.  She may have been in there the whole time. She hides behind the cement blocks and I just can't see her.  Like I said, I  left water in there, so hopefully she has been staying hydrated. 

She poked her head out but as soon as she saw me she ducked back in.  I armed the drop trap and played the youtube video of a mama cat with kittens (thanks Zed!) and sat inside the patio door with the string.  She just will not come out and I'm sure she is terrified of the trap.  So now plan C is Mary Anne is lending me a tiny kitten trap that will fit in the closet. 

I left her with fresh cold water and a very tiny bit of food to tide her over. Later when it's scorching hot I will put a jug of ice in there, and will put the trap in tonight.  I will catch her one way or another!

Wish me luck!   I feel like I may have found a new vocation in TNR/rescue.  Thanks for all your support!  

Mama, Minnie and one of the 2 gingers.  Not sure if they are male or female.  Haven't really named them, as they are the shyest. 


Minnie and brother Dusty.  They are a bonded pair...

Oh, this is wonderful news.  You've made my day!

It is so rewarding when we can help these creatures who, through no fault of their own, are in dire need.

Vibes you are able to get Mimi.  She's a smart little one, isn't she?

BTW - neutering dad will cut down on his spraying considerably.

She stayed in the closet all day and when the sun went down I put the trap in there.  The door is warped on the bottom so I put a cement block up against it.  I went inside because it was ungodly hot still, and when I went out 30 minutes later, I heard loud meowing.  But it wasn't coming from the closet.  She had managed to get out from underneath the closed door with the cement block and was hiding between my block wall and a stack of garden edging bricks. Mind you it was 117 degrees today so hot as hell in that space.  She was wailing really loud.  I tried to call a couple of neighbors to see if they could help me corner her, but no one answered. finally she jumped up on the pile of bricks and got up on top of the wall.  She was panting really hard, poor thing.  So I left her alone, left the door to the closet cracked, removed the trap and put food and fresh water in there.  Mom is coming back tomorrow evening.  Hopefully she will come to mom and they will both stay safe.  Not sure how I am going to catch this one now.

She is smart!  I think once she's reunited with mom, though, your chances may be better.  Would you be able to scruff her and drop her into a carrier?  If you've gotten close enough, that might work.

Hope all goes well tomorrow with everyone returning home.

poor little thing, I hope she makes it.

Can you get a peek in without scaring her, if she's there? It would be great to see some of the food gone. Don't know if you'd be able to tell about the water.

Yes she is in there now. She must have gone right in.  She did eat some wet food and quite a bit of dry.  I went home at lunch and gave her more wet food and put a jug of frozen water in the closet because it was another scorcher - 115 today.  Mama is coming home now, so I'm sure she will be so happy to see her.  I figure both of them may want to stay in the closet while mom recovers.  I did let my neighbor know to give them food and water if they show up in case they want to escape my place.  She's another crazy cat lady, LOL! 

You are a very kind person for taking care of them. 

Knowing that you are seeing little Minnie now is such a relief! Knowing she had eaten would have been good, but her being there is awesome!

It's so scary to have a baby out by herself, but that will be done when the rest of her family is back. 

Good job!

Well, mom and dad are back.   We released daddy first and he immediately took off over the wall to my neighbor's.  We released mama in front of the open closet door so baby could see her.  Mama took off toward the back of my yard.  I THINK baby followed her, but then a little later she was back in the closet meowing pitifully.  She's got plenty of food and water and I'll keep putting it in there.  Mama may well have gone to the neighbor's too.  It's awesome we both love cats so this family will be well taken care of.   

The other babies are still with Mary Anne.  They had a respiratory infection so she's giving them antibiotics and keeping them for a few more days.  She thinks 2 of them might be able to be socialized and adopted (Dusty boy and the light orange girl), but the brightest orange girl, who has a very fluffy face may come back because apparently she's a little more wild.  She really is a beautiful cat.  I really thought she was a male.  I'd be happy to have her as my outdoor kitty along with Mama and Minnie.  I just HAVE to get Minnie spayed somehow.  I have a couple months to gain her trust again and then either try to trap her again or just grab her somehow, before she gets pregnant. 

Mama Elsa and Dusty 5/25. Amazing how much they've grown.

 
5/25.  All 4 babies nursing.  All shades of red and tan. From left to right, the gingers, Minnie and Dusty.


Dusty and Minnie 5/27