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

[ondine]

I have used drop traps but only on very trap savvy cats. The Tomahawks work very well with newbies. If you think the cats will not go into the trap, then a drop trap will work.

Do you have a crate? You can improvise a trap using that. Tie a length of strong twine to the top of the door. Loop the end through the top of the crate, put food at the back of the crate and walk away, hiding if you can.

When the cat goes in to eat, gently pull the twine to close the door. This works best if you have a helper who can run up and secure the door while you are pulling on the twine. If the crate is big enough, most cats won't notice the door closing.

I have placed a carrier at the back of the crate and fed in that, too. Once the crate door closes, you can use a stick to close the carrier. Most cats will seek refuge in the carrier. It is also easier than carrying a crate to the vets!

 

[ondine]

If you are only going to keep the cats on the patio for two months, see if you can find a dog kennel that will fit and leave you room to walk from the door to the steps. The kennel will need a roof and the corners and door secured.

Norachan's suggestion of deer fencing will work well. Use zip ties or lengths of wire to secure it. You are just making sure the cats can't escape. Heavy boards or bricks around the base can secure the kennel itself.

Try an Internet search for cat enclosures. Lots of pix will help you visualize. That always helps me, too.

 

[moxiewild]

@Norachan - Aww, thank you! It's a tiny little thing that we've struggled to actually use, so I am kind of excited to make use of it. We have plans to eventually add onto it after I finish renovators inside.

Thank you so much for the detail in your post. I have a lot of trouble understanding things without seeing them, but I kept sifting through pictures until I found one that I am fairly sure illustrates what you were talking about with the wood. And thank you, thank you, thank you for reminding me about the climbing ability of cats! I've only had a cat for two years, and adopted him (Jack) when he was 15 - he is not rowdy and does not climb or jump very high at all. And the two fosters we have are seniors as well (our working name is "Jack's Senior Home for Strays"/"Jack's Home for Senior Strays"

) and one is declawed. So I actually have no experience with cats who can jump even to counter height, or feel comfortable climbing very high and I often completely forget about that. These cats are undoubtedly younger and feral, so it's a detail I really need to keep in mind.

The good thing is that I remembered I only recently found out my best friend's dad is crazy handy and actually built their home - so I called her this morning and asked her if her dad would be willing to check out the pictures and help me figure out these last few details and he said he would! So I am about to email him and hopefully in a week this will all be set up and ready to go!

Just need to figure out the trapping now, and hammer out a few other details in a separate reply below.

@Ondine - The problem is I just don't know if they will be trap savvy or not and I feel like I don't have time to find out. I don't want to risk messing this up I wish we had more time, but hopefully the landlord will be lenient and that would help immensely with all of this.

The carrier is a great idea, but if we have to keep the cats in there for some time, I wouldn't know how to feed/water/clean up after them with a carrier :/

Do you know why I am seeing so much about drop traps being for experienced trappers? I've seen it multiple times, but no explanation of why. The only thing I can figure is the waiting, but I am confident Hobo and Puff (who are probably closer to semi-feral at this point) would likely go under a drop trap with little hesitation and even if we were only 5 feet away. As Sneaky has become more and more sick he does hide a lot more (he was initially the most social from the beginning) and we would definitely have to be out of his sight... but I think he would go under fairly quickly so long as he didn't see us.

I am thinking we could trap Hobo and Puff together at some point and once they are gone it would ensure we could target Sneaky so we could transfer him into the larger 36" cage, then leave the other 36" box trap for DC in the morning. 

I'm struggling to figure out how to plan all of this.. I honestly wouldn't be a quarter of neurotic about all of this if it wasn't for the time issue. I feel like I need to really plan every last detail to decrease the chance of error or failure and it's a lot of pressure

 

[moxiewild]

New set of questions - what do I do after trapping?

Patio is all but settled, I still have to figure out the traps, but as I move forward I realize there are more obstacles to overcome.

I've established I want to take Sneaky in for a wellness check. However, I have no idea where to take him. I've called a few vet clinics who take ferals, but they offer no discounts or anything like that. (1) Are there ever any programs that offer low cost medical options for ferals aside from TNR? If not, then we will take him to a regular vet of course, I was just wondering if anyone knows anything about whether low cost options are ever available for ferals for medical exam/testing.

We also need to take DC to see if he needs to be spayed or neutered, as he is not ear tipped. Thing is, (2) I honestly don't know where to go for a low cost TNR clinic and I am becoming confused by my search results. A lot of them seem to only offer discounts if you've taken the TNR class by that feral coalition. Or if your income falls below a certain point. Or they offer grants and vouchers only if you live within certain zip codes and I haven't found my zip code ANYWHERE. I've left a message with a few places already but haven't heard back. I'll email all of these organizations this afternoon and if they don't respond over the weekend then I'll spend Monday calling.

I also read on the feral rescue website that (3) most clinics only accept traps up to 30". Has anyone ever heard of that? It would certainly affect my purchase, and I truly worry about putting a 20+lb sick cat in a cage that small...

Additionally... how does the appointment thing work? (4) How are you to make an appointment ahead of time with something as unpredictable as trapping?

Since we are trying to prepare for DC needing to be spayed/neutered, we have an issue with the food thing. DC only comes around in the morning and we have absolutely no clue where he goes aside from that, what/when/where he eats at night. We have asked others within my friend's community and they all claim to not be feeding him, but with so many cats on the property he could very well be stealing leftover food. And because it is such a rural area, it's also conceivable he has a completely different caretaker on a neighboring property, but attempts to access/contact them have been futile. Basically, (5) we have no means of controlling his food intake in the 8-12 hours before trapping him since he is only around for breakfast. Is there anything we could or should do about this?

Also, I noticed is that the clinics I did find (that I don't necessarily qualify for) have their drop off hours between 7-8 a.m. We live about an hour away from clinics in two separate directions, so we would have to trap very early, earlier than they are normally fed. While this wouldn't be an issue for Hobo, Sneaky, or Puff because they are always around, (6) we really don't know how early before their normal meal time DC shows up, or if we could get him there before 6 in the morning (he usually eats at 7 or later). Am I overthinking this?

Another problem I realized is that my friend is a professor. During this time she is going to be preparing and administering finals on top of moving. She won't have time for most of this. For instance, ideally I would ask her to wake up at 5 or 6 for a few days just to check to see if DC is there that early. But it is the worst time I can ask that of her. I may be able to do it, but I do not know DC at all or if he would be weary of my vehicle and thus break his routine in some way.

I've realized her schedule also means I will likely be taking these cats in alone. Since I will probably have to take DC and Sneaky to different clinics, I may have to space out the days, especially if I have to go an hour out in opposite directions. But our time is too limited to space out days...

90% of my problems would not be problems if it weren't for the lack of time

(7) Maybe I should concentrate on her main three before she moves, then try to convince the landlord to allow me to continue to try to TNR DC? That way, perhaps I can still go over and feed him earlier and earlier, and just hope he'll accept food from a stranger.

I know I have a zillion questions like always and I apologize about that and thank you for your kindness and patience.

I honestly was under the impression that there were more TNR clinics available or more easily accessible. It wouldn't be an issue if I lived in the city, but most seem to have specific grants and requirements that I just simply don't qualify for. I'm really confused by it all, but I am sure once I start calling places I'll be able to figure it out. It's just frustrating because it could possibly affect my purchase/plan, which I'd like to make prior to Monday.

Any advice is welcomed and appreciated.


 

 

[ondine]

In my experience, clinics usually ask for 30" or smaller traps for space reasons. Many clinics spay or neuter up to 75 cats at a time and need the space for all those cats. If you find a clinic, they will let you know the rules. They will also be easier to work with because they understand when you can't trap a particular cat.

I would lay out a plan - which cat will you trap first, where will you take him or her for surgery and who (clinic or vet) will you take him to. Then plan where the cat will stay before and after surgery - in the trap, in a crate, etc.

If you can find a feral friendly vet who is willing to work with you, it will help. People familiar with ferals know you may not be able to trap for an appointment.

I would think the reason they say drop traps are for experiences trappers is because you have to be able to act fast to drop the trap and then you have to be able to transfer the cat from the trap to a crate or other holder.

If you plan to take the cats to a new home win a month or so, I see no reason they can't live in a large (48" or bigger) crate. That will give them room for a carrier to hide out in and a potty, plus room up front for you to feed them in. Another advantage is that often, the cats learn they don't need to fear you and become a little friendlier.

I am moving soon and plan to keep all eight of my cats in crates for the time it takes for them to adjust to the new house and each other. Three have never met the other five, so we will have some tricky intros to do. I got 54" and 48" crates, one for each.

Prior planning and making good contacts is vital to the success of any TNR project. Take some time to do that and get as much support as you can. That means talking to the landlord and hopefully, gaining his support.

 

[moxiewild]

@Ondine - Do you think because of Sneaky's size they may accept a bigger trap than that, especially since he will  be going in for medical assessment rather than TNR? Of course, I will ask this when I contact the organizations, but I am just wondering if you might know since you use the 36" trap.

Okay, I just didn't want to assume that you could easily cancel (without a penalty fee) in the event something happened.

The cats will be at their new homes in a week... that is how long I have to obtain traps, trap them, and get the enclosure up.

"Prior planning and making good contacts is vital to the success of any TNR project. Take some time to do that and get as much support as you can. That means talking to the landlord and hopefully, gaining his support." - That is the biggest issue here, I wouldn't be frantically posting if I had time to sufficiently plan, or had experience, or support/contacts/resources. It's the combination of lacking all of this and the fact that in the last week or so I've had to completely change our central plan that has me so out of sorts. We knew this would happen eventually, but we thought we had another year to prepare and plan - I was given less than a month.

And I thought I'd have more support available, but I didn't realize until now how my specific location limits my options as far as that goes.

I am hoping we will come to an agreement with the owner. I have been good on my word to him in taking 3 strays (2 of which his current tenants abandoned last summer/spring) from his property last fall, and providing winter shelter and food  to the tenants (though he didn't necessarily like that). So hopefully he will work with me on this, but he has never been happy about my friend feeding the ferals, supposedly some kittens were just born (who we think DC fathered), and he and some of the other tenants have made it a habit to traps dozens of cats every year to be euthanized and throw rocks at the strays and ferals to get them to leave. So he is a tough one.

I will just have to appeal to his end goal - he wants the cats gone ASAP so he can rent the house, and we want the cats gone ASAP to bring home with us. Same goals, just different motivations.

Until then, I will work on unjumbling my thoughts and write a list of everyone I need to contact and go from there.

- Do you have any ideas on what we should do about DC? I mean, if we don't trap him and hold him the night before possible surgery to restrict his food intake, can we still take him in? Since he shows up for breakfast every morning I doubt he's grazing throughout the night on food or prey, but you never know.  We can't be sure he will have an empty stomach for the 8-12 hours prior. And he is never seen on the property past noon and rarely after 9 a.m., so he's difficult/impossible to track down at any other time.

- Also, would it be advisable that while we have Hobo and Puff trapped that we take them in for vaccines? We have no idea when they were TNR'd but it has been at least a year (rabies is required annually here). Would that be a somewhat standard thing to do? Is there anything worth taking them in for while we have them trapped or should we just relocate them immediately to their enclosures?

- And would it be normal to have the cats dewormed and treated with flea medication and tested for FeLV (we aren't concerned about FIV)? I have seen things like that mentioned on here in regards to taking a cat in for TNR. Are there certain things I should aim for getting them beyond spay/neuter, ear tipping, and rabies vaccination?

 

[ondine]

Dc - the clinic I worked with was flexible. If I didn't get the cat in time to ensure an empty stomach, they would give me the next available day. Sometimes that meant keeping the cat in the trap an overnight or two. My vet will also hold a cat overnight but that can be pricey.

Some people do the minimum. I always treat ferals like I would a pet. That means testing, flea treatments, worming and whatever it takes to ensure the cat's health. It is rough enough living outside, so I always do my best to make sure they are healthy.

I was able to use the 36" trap at my clinic. Some clinics just don't accept them.

I'm in the car again, so I will double check your questions when I get home.

 

[moxiewild]

@Ondine, I think that pretty much cleared up my questions, thank you.

My friend said the property owner said we could not have extra time to trap the kitties. Her relationship with him has gone down very quickly to the point that she feels that even if it was good for him, he would still say no at this point to spite her/me. However, his property manager is more sympathetic to our cause, and will need me in about a month to rehome some kittens (/spay the momma, hopefully) so she is acting as our go between with the owner and trying to convince him. She has had to do this for us in the past in regards to the cats on the property and so far we have about a 50/50 success rate convincing him through her. However, that was when my friend's relationship with him was alright, so I am not optimistic

We are going to do all that we can to relocate the cats in time. The drop trap I ordered was delayed and won't be here in time, so I cancelled it. As long as the neutered three aren't trap savvy, I am confident we will be able to trap Hobo and Puff pretty easily. Sneaky is slightly more unpredictable because his behavior depends on how he is feeling, and while he always shows up for dinner, he is so much more fearful right now that I'm not sure how he'll react to a trap. And DC is a wild card. He is seldom around and apparently a scardy cat, but we have no reason to believe he's ever been trapped before, so who knows.

Now I am wondering - in a situation like this, is there any recourse whatsoever a feral caretaker has if we do not trap all of the cats on time? So far his stance is that he will not allow either of us on the property after this weekend. Is there anything she can do to sort of "claim ownership" of the cats so that she can retrieve them?

I looked into it and our city is fairly feral friendly and has an agreement with an animal welfare group regarding a TNR policy. I just need to find out if the property is in city limits, as it may very well be just barely outside. If that's the case, I haven't been able to find much regarding the county stance, but my parents know the sheriff very well and he took a special interest in the county shelter after he was elected and I made suggestions to him personally on improvement he could make (and he did). Being that this is a small area, the city and county animal control sometimes keeps animals up to a few months, and both are very active on Facebook the past few years and have made a much stronger effort to take the animals to adoption events every weekend (they never did this before).

While that doesn't necessarily mean much of anything in regards to ferals, it does seem encouraging that they may possibly work with me if necessary. If some of the cats remain on the property, would it be possible to solicit animal control to go to the property to trap them for us? Is this an option? I haven't found any sort of regulation that would prohibit them from returning them to us.

I'm going to call both shelters tomorrow, but do you know of anything else a caretaker can do in a situation like this?

 

[moxiewild]

Oh, I did mean to ask one more thing about your response - would you do the wormer, flea, ect, only after evaluation by a vet to confirm these things were necessary? Or is it more you just assume that because they are outside it is likely needed? The clinic we were thinking of going to only offers surgery, rabies, pain injection, and ear notch. They are just a Spay/Neuter clinic so I don't know if they can even offer any of the other stuff, so I am wondering if I should try and find another clinic with a bit more service available.

 

[ondine]

The clinic I used offered wormer, etc. as an extra service and charged for it.  As it was still more economical than the vet, I usually used the clinic's services.  They did test ahead of time, so I often took a poop sample.  No sense in giving the cat something it doesn't need.

I have also taken cats to the vet for a "full-service" check-up.  Thankfully, my vet got to know me and my efforts and really worked with me.

Your area's animal services sound wonderful!!!!  In my area, if a cat hisses when trapped, it is deemed "feral" and put down almost immediately.  Our only shelter does not really know how to deal with the normal reactions a cat has when stressed.

Work with whoever you can.  It occurred to me that you might be able to "lure" the cats off the man's property with food, IF the neighboring property owner doesn't mind/will let you.  The trap can be set close to the border of the properties.  If you need time, tie the trap open and feed in the trap, and only the trap.  The cat will get used to going in and eating without any trouble.  Then when you are ready, untie the trap so it closes when the cat goes in.

 

[moxiewild]

I'd like to get everything done for them that I can. Is it expensive to do the testing? It looks like we'll have them in the traps long enough that I can collect poop.

Luckily I found a vet whose interest is in feline medicine and works very closely with shelters that also accepts ferals.

I am so far impressed with our city and county! I read our city was the first city (they didn't specify first of what, exactly) to have a formal agreement with an organization to provide the TNR program.

I called both the city shelter and county shelter. Both places were very supportive of our efforts, which really surprised me. My friend's place ended up being 1/7 of a mile outside city limits, so we had to go to County. The woman there was a massive help and seemed to really care about what we were doing. The guy who helped us carry traps out to the car even said that, being that this is such a rural area, he really wished there was some barn cat program here for ferals and strays. They seemed more supportive than most of the rescues we contacted about our situation.

Anyway, Wednesday afternoon I picked up 4 traps from the county shelter and took them over. The first night we just fed them outside of the traps, with the traps closed. Then in the morning we opened them (not set, just zip tied open) and put the food inside the traps just a little bit, but none of them would go in. They just sat around them and worked at trying to paw the food out from the side. Eventually my friend just put the food in the front of the traps so that they would eat. Then last night I came over and laid newspaper down in case walking on wire was deterring them. I also sprinkled some catnip and freeze dried chicken treats in a trail leading up to the food, and put a tiny bit of tuna on top of their dry food. I also made a trail of the tuna juice, and we only gave them about half of what they normally eat, as today was supposed to be our first trapping day and we wanted them a little hungry. However, they never went in and eventually the raccoons ate everything

So this morning I went there at about 6:30. I sprayed the newspaper with Feliway, added new catnip, dosed the water with rescue remedy and gave each cat 2 Composure treats. I was really not feeling confident since they still had never stepped in the cages, so I decided against setting the traps for this morning. I just wanted to try everything we could to see if and who we could get to the back of the cage using all the tricks we had. We also are trying to make them hungry, but not withholding food completely, so I mixed just one fourth a can of fancy feast and added some sardines on top. I made a trail with the juice and small pieces of sardines. Since we are going to have them over the weekend most likely, the amount of food they eat during the trapping isn't an issue.

One theory of mine was confirmed - DC, who is not ear tipped like the others, went in almost immediately, all the way to the back. We are very confident about trapping him now.

Sneaky was too weary of my being there so he wasn't around for most of this. After Hobo observed DC, he eventually went all the way into the trap as well, so I also feel confident about him.

Now we have Sneaky and Puff. Puff only had minimal interest at first, refusing to even eat the tiny bit of sardine I left right outside of the trap. Eventually I picked up some of the sardines and replaced it with tuna. I think that was at least part of the problem, he doesn't like sardines, which is good to know. He liked tuna and seemed to like mackerel as well. But he still would not even so much as put his head in the trap Even when I left a good bit of tuna at the very front edge and added a ton of juice. Tonight we are going to try fried chicken to see if he takes to that better.

Sneaky eventually came running to the food and followed the trail about half way in and then noticed me standing inside and got spooked and ran and never came back.

So I think Sneaky and Puff will be the most difficult. While I was writing up the post the vet I'm taking Sneaky to returned my call from yesterday and spoke with me about the situation. She said that if we can get him into a carrier or wire crate, they would be fine with that. That might work better for Puff too.

My really big question right now is what order to trap them in.

I feel like it seems obvious to trap DC and Hobo first since they are more willing to go into the traps. My apprehension about it is that it would certainly scare Sneaky and Puff more than they already are of the traps.

At the same time, I feel like if we don't trap DC and Hobo first, we won't get much of anywhere in the process because whenever they finish the food from their trap, they move onto Sneaky and Puff's food. So we kind of need them out of the way for this to work, it seems. But I am just really, really nervous that Sneaky and Puff witnessing the traps going off will discourage them completely. We might be okay with Sneaky as he sometimes hangs back and may not witness the trapping, but Puff is always right there at feeding, and seems to be the most suspicious.

Are these legitimate concerns?

My next big question is whether tonight we should have one more "practice round" to make sure that DC and Hobo feel confident about eating in the cages and them set the trap for them tomorrow morning, or if we should just go for it tonight? DC won't likely be there for dinner,  but he has been showing up more the past few days. So we may only be trapping Hobo.

My concerns is that if DC is there too, I already know he will be the first in the trap. Since he's never been trapped before, he seems to not be hesitant about it. I think Hobo only felt safe going in today after seeing DC do so without consequence. If DC is the first in the trap, and Hobo sees it go off, I'm afraid he won't go back in...

If it is just Hobo, I think we'll be okay. I'm just not sure what to do if DC shows up. Because of time limitations, I am trying to find the delicate balance of trapping them as soon as possible, but without further discouraging them by seeing the others being trapped. Are cats able to observe this happening in a meaningful way or am I anthropomorphizing too much?


I am thinking if we do Hobo and DC first, then maybe we can try trapping Sneaky and Puff in wire crates. We were not able to work on the patio enclosure due to weather so it will have to wait until this coming week. Because of that, I didn't want to keep DC and Sneaky in traps that whole time and sought out other options. I was intending to try this method: http://www.neighborhoodcats.org/HOW_TO_FOSTERING_A_FERAL_CAT_SAFELY

I already had one small carrier and I bought another yesterday, though I don't know if Sneaky can squeeze into it (it says it's meant for up to 15lbs, but I don't know if that's just a safe weight for the handle when carrying or if he can squeeze into it if he needs to) so I may have to sacrifice room in the crate for something more fitting for him. I bought two small litter pans yesterday as well (don't know if Sneaky can fit in this either!). My parents are lending me one big crate, so I just need to purchase one more.

If I go this route with trapping Sneaky and Puff, I just tie a strong or twine to the door and wait? With Puff, who is more socialized, my friend may be able to just stand there and wait for him to go in. How substantial is the risk of them trying to scratch you when you go to lock it after they go in? Will they be more prone to immediately hide in the carrier? I'm also afraid that doing this far away with a string may mean that if they charge the door while I try to run up to lock it that pulling the string wouldn't be enough to keep the door closed. Do you think it will hold against their attempt to escape until I can go lock it? (I would have someone else holding the string while I do).

I am very nervous but very determined to save these guys! You've been an invaluable resource for me I apologize about the length of my posts, we're in the home stretch now so once the trapping is sorted out, I should have substantially less questions!
 

 

[Willowy]

I've caught semi-ferals in a carrier. You have to run the rope through the window bars to give it some leverage to hold the door closed. Once they go in, pull the rope very slowly so the door closes quietly, then sneak up to the carrier while holding the rope tight. If you do it all very quietly, the cat shouldn't notice you're there until you're pretty close, so you'll be close enough to hold the door shut. They'll fight and thrash around in the carrier, usually too scared to think about scratching you.

 

[moxiewild]

@Willowy - We were really hoping to use a wire dog crate like this: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/612k-7hgDNL._SX300_.jpg Would what you said still work with this?

Also, how exactly would you define a semi-feral? I lean toward calling Hobo and Puff semi-feral because they will get pretty close to you, are less jumpy, I can pet Puff while he eats and Hobo will sometimes just barely bump my hand with his nose now when I feed him. Puff recently started exposing his belly right in front of me, and they are even more social with my friend. She can pet them while they eat and every once in a while they will rub against her legs briefly. You can tell they really trust her.

Sneaky, on the other hand, is definitely more feral than he ever has been. He is so hypervigilant, that I don't think I could sneak up on him. And once he's spooked, he's gone. I don't think I could sneak up on any of them, the only way for me to be out of sight would be if I was inside the house. Sneaky used to have no problem eating in front of me, but refuses to eat if I (or any stranger) are anywhere near the vicinity. I'll have to ask my friend if she thinks she'd be able to do it.

Puff I would not have to hide from while he eats or goes into the crate. But there is definitely no sneaking up on him. They eat on a wood deck, it is too loud and they are all very vigilant about their surroundings. I know their paws can get through the crate wires, so that's what I'm concerned about, especially going up to lock it after closing the door :/

I am hoping they will be scared and I will already have a small carrier like this in there: http://ak1.ostkcdn.com/images/products/4333142/Petmate-Medium-Pet-Porter-Pet-Carrier-P12307407.jpg So I am hoping they will instinctively run in there to hide. I just worry about if they don't or if they try to charge for the door before I'm able to lock it.

 

[ondine]

All but Sneaky sound semi-feral to me.  It would appear that at one time in their lives, they had some contact with people.  Even Sneaky may have but his experiences may have spooked him more.

You can use a carrier or crate for the modified trap - whichever one works for you.  It may take you some trial and error.

I would trap them in the order they go into the trap - getting at least two done is better than nothing.  You may need to use whatever method works (trap, crate, carrier) to get the ones who are more trap-savvy.

 

[moxiewild]

Well, Sneaky was initially the most social, and Puff the most timid for the first 4-6 months. Hobo was also very, very, very timid. I never even saw him remotely up close until four months ago. The first 9 months he was very feral.

DC is new, and I've only just met him so it's hard to tell. He is certainly very skittish, about the same as Sneaky, only he is more prone to come back after being spooked. The only one I've really wondered about is Hobo, because he did start to somewhat meow a few months ago. None of the others do that and I found it strange because he has always seemed very feral, but it did make me think perhaps he wasn't at some point.

I just really don't want to risk turning Hobo off to the traps since he is already weary. Hopefully DC will not show up for dinner tonight so that I may trap Hobo. Then in the morning I'll go for DC and after that we will use the crates for Sneaky and Puff. We unfortunately can't get any of these guys in until Monday, and I feel bad about having Hobo and DC in the traps for two days... but I suppose that's somewhat normal of a time to be in a trap?

On Monday morning I will take DC to the spay/neuter clinic for altering (if he/she needs it), as well as Hobo for vaccinations and Puff too if they don't require he come to them in a trap (since he will likely be in a big crate). If not, then I will take Puff to the full service vet when I take Sneaky for his assessment. I am hoping after that I will be able to release Hobo and Puff into the kennel at my friend's house, clean Puff's crate, and hopefully have the spay/neuter clinic  transfer DC to the crate to recuperate. Sneaky and DC will be in large 48" crates until I get the enclosure done, which shouldn't take more than a week. 

At least that's the plan.

I am about to stop by the store right now to get some more fishy grossness and newspaper and also some fried chicken. Then I will head over, spray everything down with feliway and do the whole dance from this morning with calming aids and stinky treat trails. And hopefully we can trap Hobo.

Quick question - if there is newspaper in the traps, is it particularly difficult to clean out once he's trapped?

Wish me luck! I am so, so nervous!

 

[ondine]

Nerves are natural.  Sending vibes all goes well.

I always used the newspapers under the trap - not in it.  That way, you can lift the trap and replace the paper.

 

[kittychick]

I always use newspaper under the wire too - then you can keep things relatively clean and change the paper without too much chaos. 

And  good luck! Unfortunately all the planning and worrying goes out the window a bit when trapping - - they end up doing what they'll do in whatever order they want to do  But you'll get them all soon!

Keep us posted!

 

[moxiewild]

Good news and bad: 2 were trapped, but not by me. And I am so furious about how it happened.

I was aggravated last night because my friend and I agreed to meet at 4 to trap. She hadn't responded to my text earlier, so I skipped the fried chicken because I wanted it to be warm for when we were ready and wasn't sure if she was home. She was still moving stuff at the new house, so I hung around her current place for about an hour and a half until she showed up. I then went over the plan again with her and went to town to get chicken. When I came back, she and her son were leaving to take another load (they had said they were going to do that at 8, but decided to do it earlier while I was gone). In general, that was fine, I have a key to her house and she was fine with me staying to trap.

The thing is, their world is totally changing. The patio and deck are a mess, there are movers all day, lots of commotion, they are being fed much less than normal, in slightly different spots, with different food, and in traps - their only constant is her. And they respond to her so well, she can call them when it's pouring outside and they will come running.

When we started this, I knew she had a lot on her plate with moving and preparing for finals. So I told her I would take care of most everything, including financially. I told her the only thing I really needed her for was to be there at trapping so that she could call them, sweet talk them, ect.. So when she left I was irritated. Hobo was the only one around and he was our target. I had the chicken, sardines, mackerel, tuna, catnip, feliway, freeze dried chicken, fancy feast, rescue remedy... the whole arsenal to try.

And Hobo was hungry. And he wanted to go into the trap. For over an hour I watched him pondering it. There is no way for me to really be out of his sight, and while normally he is 100% comfortable eating right next to me, that doesn't apply right now, even being at a distance inside. He would circle the trap, start to go in, then look at me through the window. I am 100% positive we would have had him last night if she was there.

By the time they came back two hours later, it began raining. So I removed the bait and unset the traps. She decided to call Hobo and within a minute he came running across the feild in the rain. She asked me to set it again, but no dice. I left annoyed and disappointed.

This morning I showed up at 5 in the morning and was just going to sit in my car while waiting while she and her son slept in the house. But when I drove up I just barely noticed Puff on the porch, moving but staying somewhat in the same spot. I walked up and both DC and Puff were trapped.

Yesterday a giant package showed up at my door. It was two Havahart 1099's - my aunt, who I forgot did TNR a long time ago, sent them as a gift. I was very moved by this but also really excited because that meant Puff and Sneaky could go in the dog crates, and Hobo and DC could go in the Havahart traps, which with the divider would be easier for me to clean, feed, ect..

But while Puff was in a Havahart, DC was in one of the loaners.

So, how were they trapped?

Well, her son did it. Initially, I was told he just threw their bowl to the back and left it alone. And it was mentioned that Puff ended up in the rain a bit - it had rained briefly right before I arrived. I wasn't too happy about that. He also put their bowls in the traps. I had been using paper towels so that it could be easily removed or at the least not take up room if left in there. So now they are stuck in there until Monday with bowls in the trap :| The other thing I had immediately noticed is that neither trap was covered.

I know trappers know to cover. But at the sanctuary, it is ingrained in us for any animal. I have had to cover hundreds and hundreds of animals over the years - I am so acutely aware of the difference it makes for virtually every species of animal in our care. I have seen many animals just a few thrashes and rammings away from killing themselves only to be covered and calmed down within seconds. We have had people transport animals they've trapped themselves where the animals ended up dying due to injuries caused by being in an uncovered cage. So I feel it is the most important thing you can do for a trapped animal. To see them uncovered was awful, and it was the first thing I did when I got there.

I went ahead and took them home. I did not spend any time looking at either of them in my desperation to cover. When I placed them in the garage, DC was looking pathetic and sad as I saw just his head near the bottom of the cage. It was bloody and a lot of hair is missing from his head. I have seen at least four tufts of fur from where his trap was, my car, and his cage. Ugh.

I plugged in some Feliway and turned off the light. Then I went back to my friend's house to see if we could get Hobo before the movers came. Later on I had a chance to talk to her son about how he did it. Turns out, he did not trap them this morning. He might have DC, but Puff was trapped around one last night. This means that Puff was not out in a short 5-10 minute light morning rain - he was out in a (lightening) storm with no cover, in a cold and dangerous metal cage, then soaking wet throughout the cold night and morning.

I instantly felt like crying out of pure anger at her son and sorrow for Puff. I am still extremely upset about it, simultaneously wanting to yell and cry every time I think about it..

We almost were able to get Hobo after this, he hung around for about an hour, but my friend was loading her car - while he isn't spooked by her, it's still not routine and makes him weary. And I am sure that Hobo saw Puff and DC thrashing, crying, ect... especially since they were uncovered the whole time. He didn't eat this morning so hopefully he will be hungry enough to go in this evening when we try again.

So here's where I'm at:

- We have not seen Sneaky since yesterday morning when he barely ate anything. I doubt he is healthy enough to hunt, and I think is staying away because of all of the commotion going on, even after the movers leave. I am beginning to be very worried if he doesn't get something to eat soon, as we're going on two days with close to nothing, and I'm also worried of course, of being unable to trap him. Any advice or words of wisdom about this?

- Will DC and Puff be okay in the traps until Monday? I know they answer is invariably yes, but given what they've been through with it so far with DC's injuries and the misery Puff went through all night, I could use some encouragement that they will be fine right now. I am just sick to my stomach about it as is.

- Is there anything I can do to comfort them right now? I don't mean coddling and talking to them obviously, but is it better to have the light on or off? For Puff, I was extremely worried about his temperature, so I currently have three towels over his cage to hopefully warm him up. Both traps are off the ground on bricks at each end. I'm not sure how long I should keep that many towels over him. I'm struggling about temperature in general. It is cool right now, but it will be scorching hot later most likely, and also tomorrow. I'm worried about what temperature to keep them at, as I'm chronically overcooled and my boyfriend is chronically overheated, so both of our inner "thermostats" are off (I've heard if it's too hot/cold for you, it's too hot/cold for them).

Like I said, I currently have lights off and Feliway plugged in. Anything else I can do for them? Play calming music? I wanted to feed them right when I brought them home, but I figured that I should let them calm down. I think I am going to try to feed them after I post this though and add some rescue remedy to the food, and a few composure treats. My boyfriend wants to try adding a little Valerian root, but I'm not sure if that's a good idea or not.

Anything you can advise me on with the holding process - what to expect, what I should do, shouldn't do, what I can do to comfort them, what to watch out for - would be greatly appreciated. I am worried about DC's injuries and Puff's temperature having been completely exposed in the cold and rain for so long. I don't know how to tell if I should now remove a towel or add more or keep what's there and for how long. Maybe I will call the new vet and ask.

My heart is breaking for these guys, especially Puff

At the least we have two down and two to go. I'm trying to focus on that, but it's difficult at the moment ;/

 

[ondine]

OK, take a deep breath.  You got two!!!!  That is an accomplishment.  Keep the traps covered and the place dark.  Visit them when feeding but you can pretty much leave them alone.  They will hunker down.

Once they are vetted/fixed, keep them in the trap for a day to make sure they are OK.

You did good!!!

 

[moxiewild]

Well I didn't do too much of anything, but I am glad we have two of them, especially Puff since I thought he'd be the most difficult.

I spoke to the vet and she wants me to watch him as much as possible for signs of hypothermia in the next couple of hours. She thinks he's probably okay by now but needs to be monitored and said he may get sick later, but the more immediate threat would be if he was hypothermic.

Would it be a good idea to feed them now? I wasn't sure how long I should wait for them to have time to calm down. I would also like to get some rescue remedy in them, as well.

And also, what about the temperature? I am worried because it has been extremely hot and humid lately - even for Texas, we've had some of the worst days I've ever experienced lately. It's still relatively cool at the moment, but by the afternoon it could be miserable, in which case I am pretty certain the garage might be too hot at that point. I'm trying to figure out an alternate place to put them, but just not sure how to tell when it's too hot for them.