Trapping feral cat instructions:
The following are guidelines recommended
by Best Friends for trapping community (free-roaming
stray or feral) cats. These instructions assume that
trappers are using traps from the Tomahawk Live Trap
Company (www.feralcat.com/traps).
Specifics regarding the traps may be slightly different
if you are using another type of trap.
Finding and Funding Traps
Humane traps are widely available from local humane
societies, and shelter staff will explain how to use
them. They sometimes will know the names and phone
numbers of local nonprofit groups that may be able to
help you with trapping and locating low-cost spay/neuter
clinics. You can also buy humane traps at
www.livetraps.com.
If you need help getting funding to buy traps and do
spay/neuter, read “Fundraising for TNR.”
Preparation for Trapping
If possible, get the cats used to being fed at the same
place and time of day. Don’t feed the cats the day or
night before you are going to trap, so the cats will be
hungry. Be sure to notify others who feed the cats not
to leave food out.
You want the cat to be in the trap a minimum amount of
time before surgery, so trapping the night before is
usually the best approach. Cats should not eat after
midnight the night before surgery.
Prepare the area where you will be holding the cats
before and after surgery. A garage or other sheltered,
warm, protected area is best. Lay down newspapers or
absorbent material to catch the inevitable stool, urine
and food residue.
Prepare the vehicle you will use to transport them as
well. Putting down plastic is a good extra precaution,
but you will need to use newspapers or some other
absorbent material on top of the plastic. (Urine will
roll right off the plastic and that isn’t what you
want.)
If there are young kittens involved, they should not be
weaned from their mother before six weeks of age. If you
are trapping a lactating female, you may want to wait
until you have located the kittens and they are old
enough to wean. If you wish to foster and tame the
kittens in order to get them adopted, they should be
taken from the mother at six weeks. If you wait until
the kittens are older than six weeks, you will find that
the job of taming them gets harder the older they are.
Setting the Traps
Plan to set traps just before or at the cats’ normal
feeding time. Dusk is usually the best time to set
traps. Don’t trap in the rain or the heat of day without
adequate protection for the cat in the trap. Cats are
vulnerable in the traps and could get drenched during
storms or suffer from heatstroke in the sun. Please use
common sense.
Fold sheets of newspaper or absorbent material to line
the bottom of the trap, just covering the trip plate.
Cats don’t like walking on wire surfaces and the lining
material helps to keep their feet from going through the
wire bottom when you pick up the trap. Make sure the
lining material does not extend beyond the trip plate.
Too much lining material can interfere with the trap
mechanism or prevent the door from closing properly.
Place traps on a level surface in the area where the
cats usually feed or have been seen. Cats are less
likely to enter the trap if it wobbles. If you’re
trapping in a public area, try to place the traps where
they will not be noticed by passersby (who may not
understand that you are not trying to harm the cats).
Bushes are often places where cats hide and provide good
camouflage for the trap.
To bait the trap, place a paper plate on the ground
where you plan to place the rear of the trap. Spoon a
small amount of tuna or mackerel onto the paper plate
and place the trap on top of the food so the food is as
far back in the trap as possible while still not
accessible from outside the trap. Press the trap down
onto the food so that it squishes up through the wire
bottom. The idea is to make the food a little hard to
get so that the cat has to go deep into the trap and has
to work at getting the food long enough to trip the
trap. (Some cats are very good at getting in and out of
traps without getting caught. We don’t want to make it
too easy for them to get away with that trick. Also,
having the food essentially outside of the trap prevents
food from becoming stuck inside, and is less messy.) Do
not put any food bowls inside the trap.
After baiting the trap, open the trap door by pushing
the top of the door in and pulling the bottom of the
door upward. There is a small hook attached to the right
side of the trap top. It hooks onto a tiny metal
cylinder on the right side of the door. The hook holds
the door in an open position, which also raises the trip
plate. When the cat steps on the plate, it will cause
the hook to release the door and close the trap.
After setting the trap, cover it with a large towel or
piece of towel-sized material. Cover the top, sides and
back of the trap; fold the material at the front end of
the trap to expose the opening. The cover will help to
camouflage the trap and serve to calm the cat after
he/she is caught.
The Waiting Game
Never leave traps unattended in an unprotected area, but
don’t hang around within sight of the cats, or you will
scare them off. Remember, the trapped animal is
vulnerable. Passersby may release the cat or steal the
trap. Wait quietly in a place where you can see the
traps without disturbing the cats. If you’re quite a
distance away, you can often hear the traps trip and see
the cloth cover droop down slightly over the opening.
As soon as the intended cat is trapped, completely cover
the trap and remove the trap from the area immediately.
You might consider putting another trap in the same spot
if it seems to be a “hot” one. Be sure to dispose of the
food left on the ground when you pick up the trap. You
don’t want to litter or give out any freebies to spoil
appetites!
When you get the captured cat to a quiet area away from
the other traps, lift the cover and check for signs that
you have the correct animal and not a pet or a
previously neutered feral. If you note that you have
captured a lactating female, check the area for kittens
and remember that this female must be released as soon
as she is awake and alert after surgery so she can care
for and nurse her kittens. Cover the trap back up as
soon as possible. When the trap is uncovered, the cat
may panic and hurt herself thrashing around in the trap.
If you inadvertently catch a wild animal attracted to
the food or a cat you didn’t intend to trap, simply
release the animal quietly according to the release
procedure below.
Holding Procedure
After you have finished trapping, you will have to hold
the cats overnight in a safe, enclosed location until
you can take them to the clinic. Place the cats in the
prepared protected area. Keep the cats covered and calm,
and don’t feed them. They will remain quiet as long as
they are covered. Don’t stick fingers in the traps or
allow children or pets near the traps. These are wild
animals who can scratch and bite. Always get feral
kittens checked out by a vet and isolate them from your
pets.
At the Vet
Make arrangements in advance with a veterinarian for
spaying or neutering and vaccinating the cats. Ask about
the possibility of discount rates for stray cats, since
some vets are willing to offer such reductions as a
community service. Tell the vet and staff that they will
be dealing with feral cats so they will know what to
expect.
After spay/neuter surgery, if a cat does not seem to be
recovering well, consider having him/her re-checked by a
vet before releasing the cat. If the veterinarian finds
that the cat has a serious medical problem that you will
not be able to treat, you must make a decision, with the
advice of the vet, about whether it is safe to release
the animal or kinder to euthanize him/her. Untreated
abscesses, respiratory infections and a number of other
conditions can mean suffering and a slow death for
community cats.
Releasing the Cats
When a cat is ready for release, return to the area
where he/she was captured and release the cat there. Do
not relocate the animal because he/she will be
disoriented and will most likely die. It’s common for
cats to drive away new cats who appear in their area.
Make sure the spot you pick for release does not
encourage the cat to run toward danger (like a busy
street) to get away from you. Keep the trap covered
until you are ready to release the cat. When you’re
ready, simply hold the trap with the door facing away
from you and open the door. The cat will probably bolt
immediately out of the trap. If that doesn’t happen,
tilt the trap so the back is slightly up and tap on the
back of the trap to encourage the cat to leave. Never
put your hand in the trap! If the cat still will not
leave, lift off the rear door and wait out of sight for
the animal to leave.
After releasing the cats, hose off the traps and
disinfect them with bleach. Never store traps in the
“set” position (door open); animals may wander into even
unbaited traps and starve to death.
Shelly Kotter is the
national specialist for Best Friends Animal Society’s
cat initiatives. She advises communities across the
country about humane methods of dealing with cat
overpopulation.