Please help with big decision

[fluffpaws]

I actually went to Walmart the other day and bought a laundry hamper with wheels,a lid,and a handle.IN my next attempt to get my girl to the vet I plan on grabbing her,with gloves on of course ,dropping her into the hamper and taping the lid shut !!!! It has little holes all over so there is plenty of ventilation.I can hear my vet already "Now how am I supposed to get her out of there?"

 

[fluffpaws]

On the day you plan on setting the trap hold back on food,either don"t feed her breakfast or just a tiny bit and than bait the trap that evening , you want her to be hungry enough to enter the trap. That"s always the hard part for me [not feeding them] but,they won"t go in unless they are hungry.And once she"s trapped keep the trap covered with a towel or whatever it will keep her calm. And yes ,warmed fri ed chicken is a great bait,don"t worry she won"t eat it.Mackerel is another good bait ,but I will warn you it stinks to high heavens!! LOL We are routing for you !! Come on Dinah take the bait. Best of luck.....

 

[tabbytom]

Hello folks! Just another Dynah update for you as it has been almost 2 weeks since my failed attempt to get this amazing little Cat in the carrier to bring to the vets.

She did not go back in her Cat-Cave for 2 days after the attempt, and since then she has spent little time in it. Instead, she has been sleeping in her Cat-House and spends 90% of her time in it sleeping and watching all the "critters" outside in the back room.

It has taken her all this time to get her trust back in me to where it was before trying to trap her in her Cat-Cave. And that level of trust was never very high to begin with! She is always wary of where I am and what I am doing when I enter the 2 rooms she is comfortable in. However, I think that she may be getting to a new level of relaxation and contentment. She is letting me know when I am getting too close to her by a mild short hiss. Then she is fine. I do not push it. But she will sleep completely sound now and only awake when I make a loud entrance. Reminds me of my Pepper girl and other Cats when they slept soundly. This is a great sign!

So, I have set up my next attempt to get her to the Vets by way of the HaveAHart trap. I believe that I know this Cat well enough now to catch her in the best and easiest way possible, and causing less stress on her. I am going to "dry" bait the trap now that she is getting back to normalcy. Then I will do the really tempting food thing for bait and set the trap when I think it's time. She has really gained some weight so I have begun to scale back on her wet food. The problem is her going into the trap. I think she will "smell a rat" and not go in the trap. She is just to darn SMART! We shall see.

This Cat is incredibly smart, and wary, and cunning. She is a true feral. I have to be really vigilant on this next attempt but I MUST give it some more time because the last attempt to catch her is still very fresh in her mind.

Any thoughts is always welcome and thank you all as always for helping me out but more so, helping out Dynah!

Greg

Cats are very weary of new things. I just bought a new cat cave for my boy and he's so weary about it and only went in twice and stayed for 15 seconds and otherwise, he'll just poke his head in and take the catnip I placed in there and even that, he'll get a shock as to why half of his body is in it Other than that, whenever he goes near it, he'll sniff it out suspiciously and then move away.

I guess some cats may behave this way and I guess it could happen more to rescues.

I guess sometimes we don't have the choice but to have the job done quick is to quickly grab the cat and put them into the carrier. They may hate it for that moment and not talk to you for a few hours after that but better than playing the cat and mouse game as cats are smart and they know you are trying top trap them.
Alternatively, you can stick a feather toy at the other end of the trap and wiggle it so that the cat may try to catch it from the open end of the trap and when it enters, close the door.

 

[DeesCats]

Dinah Doll , just make sure the trap door is wired open with no chance of getting dislodged and closing when/if she goes inside. I usually use zip ties also known as cable locking ties to secure the door OPEN.

 

[Kwik]

Hello folks! Just another Dynah update for you as it has been almost 2 weeks since my failed attempt to get this amazing little Cat in the carrier to bring to the vets.

She did not go back in her Cat-Cave for 2 days after the attempt, and since then she has spent little time in it. Instead, she has been sleeping in her Cat-House and spends 90% of her time in it sleeping and watching all the "critters" outside in the back room.

It has taken her all this time to get her trust back in me to where it was before trying to trap her in her Cat-Cave. And that level of trust was never very high to begin with! She is always wary of where I am and what I am doing when I enter the 2 rooms she is comfortable in. However, I think that she may be getting to a new level of relaxation and contentment. She is letting me know when I am getting too close to her by a mild short hiss. Then she is fine. I do not push it. But she will sleep completely sound now and only awake when I make a loud entrance. Reminds me of my Pepper girl and other Cats when they slept soundly. This is a great sign!

So, I have set up my next attempt to get her to the Vets by way of the HaveAHart trap. I believe that I know this Cat well enough now to catch her in the best and easiest way possible, and causing less stress on her. I am going to "dry" bait the trap now that she is getting back to normalcy. Then I will do the really tempting food thing for bait and set the trap when I think it's time. She has really gained some weight so I have begun to scale back on her wet food. The problem is her going into the trap. I think she will "smell a rat" and not go in the trap. She is just to darn SMART! We shall see.

This Cat is incredibly smart, and wary, and cunning. She is a true feral. I have to be really vigilant on this next attempt but I MUST give it some more time because the last attempt to catch her is still very fresh in her mind.

Any thoughts is always welcome and thank you all as always for helping me out but more so, helping out Dynah!

Greg

Greg,it all sounds very good BUT I'm kinda thinking you're gonna end up just suiting up ,grab and drop in and be done with it......

I've found its much easier to get er done quickly,they get startled,don't like it but as soon as whatever is done with they spring back much quicker and get over it rather than all the leary,trying to avoid stuff that goes on prior to being trapped because they know something is not quite right- then they are leary afterward for much longer - kwim?

The new cubby she's hanging out in,can you just place the carrier( without door) in front of the opening and then slide a board in between rather than trying to close a door and her escaping? Sliding a board is so easy and then just attach the door as you slide the board back out..... I'm sure you can find videos of this method for cage transferring,it's a pretty common method

 

[Dinah Doll]

Thanks to all for your insight and tips. I do not think she will go into the trap. She looked at it last night and just walked by. She is too smart for that. I am not going to "starve" her to the point that she must go in the trap to eat. Besides, she mostly eats dry food now and when I give her wet food, she just slurps up the gravy . And she refuses to eat ANY treats!

Kwik is probably right. I actually know that the grab and go will be the easiest way. No matter what, the Cat will get stressed but the quicker the better. I will get ready for this mentally but right now I am battling a really bad tooth situation so this will have to wait.

Thanks again folks and I will keep you posted

 

[Kwik]

Thanks to all for your insight and tips. I do not think she will go into the trap. She looked at it last night and just walked by. She is too smart for that. I am not going to "starve" her to the point that she must go in the trap to eat. Besides, she mostly eats dry food now and when I give her wet food, she just slurps up the gravy . And she refuses to eat ANY treats!

Kwik is probably right. I actually know that the grab and go will be the easiest way. No matter what, the Cat will get stressed but the quicker the better. I will get ready for this mentally but right now I am battling a really bad tooth situation so this will have to wait.

Thanks again folks and I will keep you posted

Oh nooooo- I hope thst tooth calms itself down and leaves you in Peace!!!!I'm sorry you've got a toothache- that's the pits

Yep,Dynah is way too intuitive for all that stuff imo,she'll just have you going nuts outsmarting our tricks- lol

Take care of you first Greg so you're on top of your game- keep us posted,,you're in my prayers

 

[pearl99]

Are there any hiding spots in her room where she sleeps? I favor grab and go too, it's what I have to do with Waffles. I have a bedroom that is just office type stuff that Waffles goes in to sit in his favorite cat tower, and I can lure him with something and then shut the door quickly and put a towel over him. He stress meows, hollers, freezes- but I can scoop him up in the towel.
So if Dynah sleeps in the one room, and it's an early AM appt., can close the door the night before, or when she's asleep in there in the morning, slither in and just grab. With protection clothing on that is!
It will be stressful but no way around that with a Waffles or a Dynah .

 

[Dinah Doll]

Are there any hiding spots in her room where she sleeps? I favor grab and go too, it's what I have to do with Waffles. I have a bedroom that is just office type stuff that Waffles goes in to sit in his favorite cat tower, and I can lure him with something and then shut the door quickly and put a towel over him. He stress meows, hollers, freezes- but I can scoop him up in the towel.
So if Dynah sleeps in the one room, and it's an early AM appt., can close the door the night before, or when she's asleep in there in the morning, slither in and just grab. With protection clothing on that is!
It will be stressful but no way around that with a Waffles or a Dynah .

Yes pearl99...Dynah is SOOO wary and ready to run at my every entrance to her " safe" rooms. She always gives herself an out or place to retreat too. She does however give the opportunity to grab her but this will still be extremely difficult. And, she has only slept in her Cat Cave once and for a short time since my attempt to capture her she was while inside it. See, that is how smart she is. She now knows her CatCave is a potential " capture place! Incredible!

I will get this done when I am ready again. Still fighting the tooth situation. But as soon as I am back in form its game on!

 

[Kwik]

Yes pearl99...Dynah is SOOO wary and ready to run at my every entrance to her " safe" rooms. She always gives herself an out or place to retreat too. She does however give the opportunity to grab her but this will still be extremely difficult. And, she has only slept in her Cat Cave once and for a short time since my attempt to capture her she was while inside it. See, that is how smart she is. She now knows her CatCave is a potential " capture place! Incredible!

I will get this done when I am ready again. Still fighting the tooth situation. But as soon as I am back in form its game on!

A friend of mine called with a similar situation to ask if I'd come help her capture her fairly new semi feral- I explained I just had a total knee replacement so I can't help and she went on to say how she wishes she was as cool,calm and collected as I am and her own anxiety is her worst onstacle

Greg,I explained " no ,I look and sound cool,calm and collected " and I'm just as anxious as anyone else when I think about having to " grab n go" Timmy- ferals are super smart,super fast and super difficult if you miss on the first try ..... if you could mask what your feeling inside with inconspicuous body language then it helps,changing up your movements around them helps instead of always approaching the same way so that you're not so predictable( if that helps at all)

Like moving the carrier around in front of them for no reason at all,you don't ordinarily move it around or go pick it up and put it down even inches away from where it was- Timmy's been going in the front room alot so I've been letting him see things get moved and nothing happens now that he's gotten used to seeing it he's starting to get curious about it " hmmm,what exactly is that thing"

 

[Dinah Doll]

A friend of mine called with a similar situation to ask if I'd come help her capture her fairly new semi feral- I explained I just had a total knee replacement so I can't help and she went on to say how she wishes she was as cool,calm and collected as I am and her own anxiety is her worst onstacle

Greg,I explained " no ,I look and sound cool,calm and collected " and I'm just as anxious as anyone else when I think about having to " grab n go" Timmy- ferals are super smart,super fast and super difficult if you miss on the first try ..... if you could mask what your feeling inside with inconspicuous body language then it helps,changing up your movements around them helps instead of always approaching the same way so that you're not so predictable( if that helps at all)

Like moving the carrier around in front of them for no reason at all,you don't ordinarily move it around or go pick it up and put it down even inches away from where it was- Timmy's been going in the front room alot so I've been letting him see things get moved and nothing happens now that he's gotten used to seeing it he's starting to get curious about it " hmmm,what exactly is that thing"

That is good advice. I will start doing that. Now, Dynah is becoming even more comfortable around the house. She has finally discovered the back porch (unheated) which is full of windows with heavy screens. She has been in that room before but would not stay but a minute. Now, with warm weather, she stayed in there for over an hour last night seemingly LOVING it in there. Lots of bugs and moths to chase and catch too! This is really great for her and now I put one of the security cameras in there to watch her play in her new HUGE room

 

[Kwik]

That is good advice. I will start doing that. Now, Dynah is becoming even more comfortable around the house. She has finally discovered the back porch (unheated) which is full of windows with heavy screens. She has been in that room before but would not stay but a minute. Now, with warm weather, she stayed in there for over an hour last night seemingly LOVING it in there. Lots of bugs and moths to chase and catch too! This is really great for her and now I put one of the security cameras in there to watch her play in her new HUGE room

Fantastic!Timmy spends lots of time snoozing out on my patio now ( finally more independent of me) so I bring the carrier out there sometimes,,next day bring it back & put it back in the front .... it's becoming a harmless non threatening thing his person does for no reason at all,hopefully he'll soon go in to investigate...... after she's really comfy out there you can do stuff like that,it really helps alot as steps to take prior to encouraging them to peek inside( a little more difficult for a singlet without other experienced carrier friendly cats to watch) but you can familiarize her for sure