Trap malfunctioned and cat (Momma) escaped. Her trust in me is destroyed. How will I ever trap her a

Hello,

It may be unnecessary, but I'll include some background info in case it will solicit better advice.

November 2015 - sighted very hungry stray/feral cat in a small patch of woods across the street from my house. Ferals are not a common occurrence here, so I initially thought she may be someones lost cat. My attempts to find her home were unsuccessful, so I don't know if she ever had one. She was very leary of me, but she began making an appearance regularly and I fed her every time.

December 2015 - spotted 2 kittens that appeared to be about 12 weeks old with her. I realized if I was going to be feeding these cats I would need to do some research for TNR in my area.

January 2016 - registered as a colony caregiver. The colony (Momma and her 2 kittens) relocated to my side of the street. My next door neighbor does not maintain his back yard. It resembles a wooded area, but there weren't any cats there, so they claimed it as their territory.

February 2016 - I routinely fed all three cats and began preparing a plan for trapping.

March 2016 - I missed my first TNR appointment because Tink (kitten #1) was eating the food but not stepping on the trip plate. I started using different techniques to rectify that problem. Meanwhile it became obvious that Momma (Orange/White) was pregnant.

April 2016 - successfully trapped Tink and she was spayed. Momma had her kittens that I would not see until 5 weeks later. 

May 2016 - I trapped Blackie (kitten #2), and she was spayed. 

June 2016 - I trapped Momma for her spay appointment. My trap malfunctioned and she escaped. Under direction from other colony caregivers in my area, I continued to put food into the trap only. She refused to go in. She still showed up twice a day at feeding time and a couple times she went up to the trap, but she never entered. This went on for about a week and a half. Once she realized I wasn't giving in, her appearances became sporadic. So under further direction I began putting the food next to the trap in hopes of getting her into a routine again. It hasn't worked. I have barely seen her and when I do she's going into the woods across the street.

I feel terrible for her. I feel powerless and hopeless for me. I don't know where to go from here.

Does anyone have suggestions?

She's obviously been traumatized by the experience. If it were me, I think I'd take the trap out of the picture for a little while and work on regaining trust.

I also suggest looking into using a drop trap to catch the momma instead of a traditional trap.

One of our other members posted a good video demonstrating the drop trap, so I'm going to repost that for you.

This particular trap looks to be made of 2x2s and chicken wire. I'm sure you could find some DIY instructions for making your own.

Thank you for replying and sharing the video. My husband will definitely be able to build one.

I'll have to find a box trap with a guillotine type door though. Mine has the folding flap which is what it malfunctioned. There's a long metal pin that slides in horizontally to hold the door closed. The pin slid out when I was moving the trap. I was also using a bungee cord around the door for extra security, but when her weight shifted to that end the bungee had enough elasticity to create a small gap and she bolted.

It was traumatic for both of us.

I definitely agree with CatPack. A couple of months ago I had to relocate a colony of four, three of which had been previously TNR'd and were trap savvy. We only had a few days and unfortunately we weren't able to get one of the TNR'd cats in time, but were so close several times and I am positive had we more time that we'd have been successful.

Then the one cat who hadn't been TNR'd ended up escaping his recovery cage in my home, so guess what that meant? Retrapping a cat that had just been trapped and neutered several days ago. Luckily with him I was able to take my time and within a week or so had him eating at the back of the trap.

You're certainly on the right track and you have the (very precious) gift of time. Use it. Take the trap away entirely and feed her as normal until she is showing up consistently again. She may still be too scared to show up at first until she's sure the threat (i.e. trap) is no longer present, so just be patient.

Once she is eating consistently again, just slowly reintroduce the trap. Place it at a safe distance away from where she is eating for a couple of days and gradually move it closer until she is eating near it, in front of it, ect.. Then slowly move her food inside the unset trap further and further. Seriously, if it's not an emergency, take your time!

You can also entice her to check out the trap (whether she's eating in it or not) by using catnip. We tried everything - feliway, rescue remedy in the water, catnip, and so, so many different types of bait and bait trails. They would not even go for fried chicken, it was awful.

In regards to the drop trap, Tomahawk and I believe TruCatch both have "transfer" cages with the guillotine door and some pet carriers may work as well if you're very careful and can reattach the door from the top (vs. front).

We also tried a big plastic dog crate and a wire dog crate and tied strings to the doors and just waited. If you can get close enough, you can also use a net - but I don't think any of this will be necessary so long as you take your time with a regular trap.

Also, next time you're trying to trap a momma kitty you can bait her with her own kitten. Place the kitten in a carrier with a blanket over the sides and place the carrier at the closed end of the trap to where momma has a good view of baby. We recently caught two momma kitties fairly quickly this way when neighboring pet cats continually kept trapping themselves to eat the bait.

Don't fret! She can be trapped again and her trust in you restored. I have done quite a bit in the past two months to make the relocated cats HATE me - one is more standoffish (but that could be due to the new environment), the other came around within days, and the third one that escaped in my house, well... we retrapped him and immediately let him out and decided to tame him instead and now he's a cuddle bug

CatPack said:

She's obviously been traumatized by the experience. If it were me, I think I'd take the trap out of the picture for a little while and work on regaining trust.

I also suggest looking into using a drop trap to catch the momma instead of a traditional trap.

One of our other members posted a good video demonstrating the drop trap, so I'm going to repost that for you.

This particular trap looks to be made of 2x2s and chicken wire. I'm sure you could find some DIY instructions for making your own.

Click to expand...

CatPack,

I am beyond thrilled! I watched the video and my husband and I made the drop (pic below). We also came up with a solution to the problem of not having a transfer trap with a guillotine style door. We're going to use a cage divider. Once she goes into the far end of the transfer trap we'll close her in that side while we secure the flap door on the trap we already have.

We just finished it yesterday and put it out this morning. Momma, the cat who the initial post is about went right in this morning to eat. for joy! I didn't pull the trigger today though. My next appointment for TNR spay is Monday the 25th.

Thank you so much for the idea. I'm feeling much better now that I'm almost certain we're going to trap her.

Absolutely beautiful!  Good luck with your trapping, although if she eats under the trap every day, you shouldn't have any trouble.

This is wonderful! Your husband did an excellent job, so kudos to him!

Keep us updated.

You and your husband are awesome people. It is nice to read that things are working out for you. I think it is great that you didn't give up and are forging ahead.

Some cats have been known to chew through chicken wire, so just be careful.  It's not something you could leave her in unattended overnight and expect to find her there in the morning.

Red Top Rescue said:

 
Some cats have been known to chew through chicken wire, so just be careful.  It's not something you could leave her in unattended overnight and expect to find her there in the morning.

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Hmm, true.  Maybe another layer of chicken wire would help.  It would reinforce the first layer.  You can position it so it makes the openings smaller, too.

Red Top Rescue, I'm glad you brought that up.
I am planning to transfer her to the Havahart right away, but I've been wondering if she will go right in there after I open door....

Ondine, thank you. I think that's a great idea to put another layer of protection.

I'm happy with the trap, but I have been trying to think of ways to cat proof the trap for less chance of injury to her. I'm sure she'll panic and thrash and I don't want to see her get hurt. I plan to cover the traps with a sheet immediately. Hopefully that will help.

Tes, covering the trap and the Havahart will definitely help keep her calm.

Momma was spayed today. Trapped her yesterday evening. She freaked a little when I pulled trigger stick out, but she calmed down as soon as I covered the trap. It did take a couple of minutes for her to go into the Havahart, but the process was smoother than I was anticipating.

I'll be trapping three kittens next. Then I'm hoping to trap the Tom.

Good job!  Vibes the kittens and Tom are cooperative.

Thank you for the good vibes. I got the 4 month old kitten this evening as planned. It's a tortie, so likely a female. She'll be spayed tomorrow morning.

Rayasunshine said:

Thank you for the good vibes. I got the 4 month old kitten this evening as planned. It's a tortie, so likely a female. She'll be spayed tomorrow morning.

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GOOD JOB!!!