So I Trapped This Cat, What About The Future?

[playerdark]

I have taken in 3 stray cats over the years and occasionally I feed a stray cat here and there. There is this young male that showed up a few months ago and lives in the abandoned lot two houses over. I am not sure if hes neutered or not. Testicles seem small from looking at them but I read on various sites that's not a sure sign.
So tonight I was finally able to trap him. It's now 1:30 am and the vet opens at 7 so I have a good 5 hours to go. I moved the trap in the garage where it's relatively warm compared to outside. but I was wondering: What if the vet diagnoses an illness that needs to be treated, I can't imagine that cat will simply walk into the trap again anytime soon, or am I wrong?

What's the general experience is it easy to re-trap a cat again? And how long until they usually fall for the same trick and walk into the trap?

If need be, I can keep him in the garage for a few days if I have to, but when my wife returns on the weekend, I doubt she will be very happy, so what if the cats need re-trapping?

Thanks for any insights.

 

[shadowsrescue]

It can be difficult to retrap a cat especially so soon after the initial trapping. If this cat needs medication, it would be best to keep him in a large dog crate in your garage for awhile.

With all of the cats I have trapped, none have ever needed more than a neuter. I took one cat in for a neuter who had been in a fight and had a large wound. The vets examined the wound and cleaned it, but no additional medication was needed.

Thank you for caring for these cats. A neuter is one of the kindest things you can do.

 

[di and bob]

I have neutered many, I usually have them vaccinated at the same time. They won't know about any diseases unless they test for them, so neutering and shots would be plenty for right now. Wounds and future diseases are greatly reduced by having him neutered, thank you for doing that. There is a week long antibiotic shot that can be given to take care of infection, it is a little pricey but well worth it. He shouldn't need retrapping, i've never had to do it, if he needs medication, I usually just gave it every morning when they come in to eat, in a small amount of tuna juice. It sounds like your wife doesn't like cats, that is a shame.I can't believe you are taking it on yourself and helping this one, thank you from the bottom of my heart! You will be blessed for your loving heart, keep us informed!
PS make sure you make it known the cat is an unknown stray and maybe will bite. Post it on the carrier. If he bites someone they might need to quarantine him for a long time or even euthanize to check for rabies, you don't want that!

 

[playerdark]

Well it seems to be unnecessary to worry about this. Here is what happened in short. I took him to the vet this morning, a vet that advertises a 100$ special for ferals, but turns out only on special days, they sent me to a shelter which was supposed to do that but they only do that for animals adopted through them.
So I ended up going to my regular vet at 8 when he opened. He checked the cat and said he was in gret health and already neutered. Also he said he was much older, about 9 years, while I thought he was just 1. Probably because he is so thin is what makes him look young.
He was very friendly and let us handle him but then he bit me without reason. Anyway he got all the vaccinations and deworming etc now, I went to my doc to get antibiotics for the bite and now he is in my garage. I took him out of the trap and he warmed up quickly, very affectionate hardly lets me move around since he's always weaseling around my legs.
He does have a biting problem though several times he made attempts but without much determination, often attacking my shoes while I was walking.
He quickly warmed up to me and sat on my legs while I was playing around, even falling asleep there. Of course I had to get up at some point. Now he lies on a bunch of old bedsheets I put on the ground.

I really feel it's a shame if I had to put him back out on the streets. However I already have two cats in the house, plus my wife and the house is one of th old small 800sqft ones from the 40s so no room for another cat. I have a female living in the garden, so I was thinking maybe there. I put the female in a carrier and got her in the garage but the male started to growl and hiss and show teeth etc, so I terminated that experiment. I don't want him to fight and chase the female out of the garden either.

So I see no other choice but to put him out again although he seems to be feeling fine in the garage, no noise, no trying to get out etc. I want to go to the local ASCAP place here in Gardena to see if they can maybe help with adoption, although I believe it will be difficult, first because I dont want the cat to sit in a cage there for months and probably nobody will adopt a cat that's living here on the streets and had to be captured to be checked and second because his behavior clearly makes him unfit for people with children, other cats perhaps or first time cat owners. But maybe they have an idea. I just hope they are more helpful than the city shelter.

If anybody here lives near Gardena, CA and is looking for a cat, give me a holler. I keep posting what happens, but right now I have not much hope that we find a home for the cat

 

[di and bob]

With all the strays we have around here, I didn't have much hope either of finding yet one more a home. I paid 35.00 to have an ad put in the paper saying it was a spayed, abandoned female that needs a good home. I got three calls!She found a home with an older couple that had just lost their 18 year old. Yay!!! I think it was the 'abandoned, spayed' part that helped. My husband said to call the others back because we had 'spares', I didn't think that was funny!

 

[playerdark]

All is well. It turned out the cat belonged to a neighbor family who let him roam around. I don't know why I haven't seen him until a few weeks ago, apparently they had him for years.
Oh well. They came over to pick him up after I posted flyers to some houses. Good luck I placed one on their house because I thought they didn't have cats but dropped one by nevertheless.
So he's back with them but will be out on the streets again in the future. I don't like it when people let cats out at night but they say he doesn't like to be inside and I can see how that is true after 3 days in my garage. He tried to get out a few times. At least our street is quiet.
They paid me the 180$ that I spend at the vet for vaccination, deworming and a 3 months flea treatment, so that was nice especially since I didn't ask them for it.
I'm glad it turned out that way because he didn't like my other cats and I would not have been able to keep him. Hopefully they will put a collar on him or at least a microchip