Today
one of my friends asked me how I go about catching adult domesticated
lost or abandoned cat and I replied that it is not an easy task
because they are freaked out and have trust issues, but that it can
be done.
Know
that before I bring out the live animal trap I try my best to get the
cat to come to me. I use the trap as the last resort because it
terrifies the cat, that is stressed out to begin with.
When
I say lost or abandoned I am referring to cats that show up in my
woods out of the blue. Could be a cat that left their home and got
lost or it could be a cat that was abandoned. Know that my woods has
predators and it is no place for a domesticated cat.
Steps to Take to Catch a Domesticated Cat
The
first thing I do is locate the cat by seeking it with the lens of my camera. Then I will get a safe distance from the cat, lower my eyes to look at the
ground, followed by calling out to the cat. "here kitty kitty kitty". Pause to see if cat responds.
Know that if you look at the cat eye to eye that the cat will become defensive because direct eye contact indicates dominance.
If
the cat does not come right away, I will sit down and wait...calling
out to the kitty occasionally. The cat knows I am there and if it
wants to come to me it will come to me very slowly. (May take several hours)
When
waiting for the cat does not work, say the cat moves closer to where you are but is still cautious. Set out a bowl of stinky fish flavored food like Friskeies.com salmon pate or whitefish. This food puts out a strong aroma that will get the lost domesticate cats attention.
For
me it works to squat or sit down and read a book. If a cat is hiding
in my yard I will put out a sleeping bag so I can sit on it. Then
set up food and water close to where I am sitting and wait.
A few days ago I rescued a lost housecat from the woods, the rescue took 6 hours, it occurred at night when coyote were out and about. If the cat had not been stressed out we would not have rescued at night but since the cat was putting out a stress meow, husband and I reacted and did everything possible to keep the coyote back and rescue this lost cat.
When
the cat finally came to me it walked behind me and rubbed on my back,
marked me as their person. Then it stood on my lap and rubbed its
face on mine. Then I could pet the cat and get a hold of its scruff
before picking up to put in cat carrier.
Know that if this waiting procedure did not work then I would have to trap the
domesticated cat with live animal trap. If
you do not have a live animal trap then I would recommend these
online stores for cat traps.
havahart.com
lowes.com
tractorsupply.com
acehardware.com
amazon.com
Always
bait the trap with a stinky fish flavored canned food and cover the
trap with a twin size blanket. But do not cover the opening.
Learn more about trapping and baiting a trap here
Learn more about trapping and baiting a trap here
2 comments:
Wish I knew this when I lived in the trailer and the trailer court was being over run by feral cats.
Trapping is the best way to catch a feral cat. You would never attempt to touch a feral cat, they may act like they know you because you have fed them for so many years, but they have never been touched by a human and that is not good. You need to get cats sterilized so they stop reproducing.
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