Need Help Catching A Deathly Sick Cat

Hello everyone,

I need help in catching a cat that has an extremely bad respiratory infection, I have been unsuccessful in trying to catch her for the  last 3 months. I am willing to hire someone to catch her. She already has someone that wants her and has two of her four babies. I have tried everything, hav-A heart, box trap and tried tricking her using an open ended trap to see if she could be tricked into going in after she  sees she can get out of the other side.  Nothing works and she is getting sicker and sicker by the day. 

I live in Suffolk County NY. PLEASE HELP HER, she has no shelter, the little bit of shelter she had, was taken away. I am feeding her antibiotics, but it is not doing any good, she is too sick and needs to go to the vet ASAP.

Christine M.

Hello and welcome!

You need to ONLY feed her in the back of a trap, with the door tied open so she gets used to going inside to eat. At first it will not be when you are near at all but soon enough she will feel safe going in to eat and that is when you can untie the door and set it.

Be sure the trap you are using does not have other cat smells from prior use or she won't go in it.

Just spray down with any household cleaner like 409 or any, spray it off well with a hose and let dry.

Tuna makes great smelly bait.

Kitty needs to be tested for fiv and felv, a URI that is bad gives reason to think she may be positive.

I've used a large dog crate modified as a trap.  Sometimes this works because the cat doesn't realize it is confined.

Tie a length of twine to the door and loop through the top of the crate.  Set the food at the back and walk away with the other end of the twine.  When the cat is in the crate (at the back), gently pull the door closed.

You can walk toward the crate, holding the twine taunt but it works better if you have someone else who can run up and secure the door while you hold the twine taunt.  The cat may get excited when it realizes its trapped and may run against the door, so its better to have a helper.

Whatever you trap the cat in, make sure to cover it.  This helps the cat calm down.

The other downside is getting the crate into the car for the trip to the vet.  Again a helper is needed.

Good luck  This cat seems like he really needs you.

Hi,

Thank you for your suggestions, I will try that tactic and see if it works, The one thing you mention is to wipe down the trap so it does not smell like the last cat that was trapped in it.  I haven't been doing that, so I will take the time to do that for now on, thank you. for answering promptly I appreciate any help I can get.

I so worried about her, I can't even tell you how much, especially when the nighttime comes around.

Chris M.

Hi,

Thank you for your suggestion, I was going to purchase the extra large Have-A-Heart trap so the doorway would be a bigger opening, and hoping to make her feel she was not so confined, but I already have in my possession a couple of large dog crates and I will try modifying one of them as you had suggested.

I see you live in North Carolina, when the winter comes around up here in NY all of us that feed our cat colonies and try to have everything in order before it really gets cold try our best, I have been trapping for about 5 years but this mom cat as I call her is really stubborn.  I appreciate your input, wish me luck!.

Chris M.

Good luck!  Vibes that you get her soon.

I used to live in New Jersey, so I am extra grateful for the milder winter, although my mother-in-law was raised in Florida and thinks its like the Arctic here.  I guess it depends on your perspective!

You need to put leaves and branches on top of the have a heart trap. Also on the bottom. I had the same trouble you are having. I actually put towels on top of the trap until a really nice guy told me that towels do not grow in nature. If it were not for him, I would have not saved my cat. He did such a great job disguising this trap, I could not even tell it was a trap when he was done. GOOD LUCK!!!!

And do not forget that once you catch the cat to keep it covered with a sheet or towel. You do not want to look in and say are you ok. This just scares him!