How To Catch a Trap-Savvy Cat April 11, 2010 From: Weber, Jan  Sent: Saturday, April 10, 2010 8:26 PM To: Weber, Jan Subject: Obtain a carrier (3) HOW TO CATCH A TRAP SAVVY CAT Obtain a carrier (the type used to carry an animal to a veterinarian). You can borrow these from a friend or neighbor, buy them at Target or possibly K-Mart(?), or sometimes you can get one at a garage sale for pretty cheap. Do not feed the cat for about 8- 12 hours prior to trapping so that the cat will be hungry. This time can vary widely from cat to cat but should NOT be more than 2 days. Try putting the food in the back of the carrier (you can try this for a few days if necessary) and see if the cat will go in the carrier to eat the food. Sometimes they are also willing to sleep in the carrier. If the cat is willing to go into the carrier, then catching the cat should be fairly straight forward and uncomplicated. Set the “trap” up as indicated in the picture below. NOTE: If the cat is unwilling to go into the trap, and IS pregnant, you should attempt to have someone catch the cat by other means (such as a drop trap) because there is usually not enough time to try other methods. If the cat is NOT pregnant and there is some time to work with the cat, then move to part II. PART I 1.) do not open the door more than 90 degrees, prop it open with dirt or clay because the cats may rub against it or the wind can blow it open/closed and you need to be IN CONTROL of all the things which will impact the trapping so do not leave it to luck or nature for the door to stay open the correct amount 2.) it is OK to trap the cat if the tail is not all the way inside the carrier (cats are very fast and will start to turn and attempt to run out of the carrier as the door is being closed which will draw the tail in.) 3.) perform a “practice” attempt first - somewhere where the cat will not see you so you will have the “feel” of what it takes and there will be no surprises. Place newspaper in bottom of carrier to absorb any excrement. 4.) Make sure you get all the slack out of both ropes (the one to anchor the trap and the pull rope) prior to trapping. TIMING is the important factor here and many people have lost a cat due to slack in the rope. The ONLY slack should be right at the entrance to the trap door so the cat does not inadvertently trip over the rope and close the door on itself – because then it will get out and you will never catch it again. 5.) Break the food up in small pieces so the cat does not run into the trap and grab a large chunk of food and immediately exit the trap (They can be very fast!) 6.) When the cat goes in, make sure the head is down and eating (in other words – the cat is distracted), pull the rope hard and fast –KEEP TENSION ON THE ROPE until you can “walk” the rope and lock the door closed. The cat can claw your hands so place a thick towel over the door grill as you lock the door closed. VERIFY it is locked closed before releasing the tension. Cover the carrier with cloth. WARNING #1: ALWAYS CATCH THE PREGNANT CATS FIRST! FOLLOWED BY ANY KNOWN FEMALES. (the cats will quickly learn it is a trap and you want to make sure you have captured all the females before the cats get wise to the trapping and refuse to enter the trap.) WARNING #2: DO NOT ATTEMPT TO SLAM THE DOOR CLOSED WITHOUT THE USE OF A STRING OR ROPE. (your speed is no match for a cats.) When you attempt to slam the door closed on them without a rope, they will be able to get out of the carrier before the door closes completely and then you have an even greater problem because you will not be able to get them to go back in the carrier for another attempt. You usually only get ONE try at this so make it the best that you can.) WARNING #3: DO NOT OPEN THE CAGE DOOR FOR ANY REASON. THE CAT WILLESCAPE. (And you will bear witness to the speed and power of a cat) NOTE:Fix Nations has the proper equipment to transfer the cat to a metal trap so do not take the chance of losing the cat by attempting the transfer on your own. PART II Place the carrier in a reasonably protected area such as a backyard or a warehouse, etc. (where the cat is or can be fed – preferably not near a lawn sprinkler.) This should be somewhere where your carrier will not be removed (stolen) and where no harm is likely to come to the cat when it goes into the carrier. Allow some time for the cat to get used to seeing the carrier there. The object of this exercise is to allow the cat to feel that the carrier is not a threat to her. We want her to think it is another piece of “patio furniture” (because she has no reason to think otherwise). After a few days of allowing the cat to smell it and see it and touch it and get used to seeing it there, it is now time to start slowly moving the food toward the direction of the carrier. How quickly this is done depends upon many factors such as how much danger the cat is in, the level of distrust (IE: how trap savvy the cat is), etc. I have personally witnessed the whole process taking a month on a very trap savvy cat but each situation is different. You could possibly use this as a guideline. Slowly start moving the food over to the carrier until you are eventually able to put the food all the way into the back of the carrier. Give the cat time to adjust with each increment of movement as necessary. These are judgment calls and if you move too fast – then just back up a little and give more time. In other words, we will have to adjust our time schedule to what the cat requires to make it feel comfortable enough to be trapped. When the cat is willing to go into the carrier to eat the food (or sleep), you are ready to trap the cat and proceed back to Part I. NOTE: it does not matter if you catch more than one cat in the carrier. The only thing that MUST occur is that you have to be sure that at least the cat you need to catch is in the carrier when you trip it, because the cats will be quick to learn that a carrier is also a trap and then you will have taught an already trap savvy cat to be even smarter .

How To Catch a

Trap-Savvy Cat

April 11, 2010

From: Weber, Jan
Sent: Saturday, April 10, 2010 8:26 PM
To: Weber, Jan
Subject: Obtain a carrier (3)

HOW TO CATCH A TRAP SAVVY CAT

Obtain a carrier (the type used to carry an animal to a veterinarian). You can borrow these from a friend or neighbor, buy them at Target or possibly K-Mart(?), or sometimes you can get one at a garage sale for pretty cheap. Do not feed the cat for about 8- 12 hours prior to trapping so that the cat will be hungry. This time can vary widely from cat to cat but should NOT be more than 2 days. Try putting the food in the back of the carrier (you can try this for a few days if necessary) and see if the cat will go in the carrier to eat the food. Sometimes they are also willing to sleep in the carrier. If the cat is willing to go into the carrier, then catching the cat should be fairly straight forward and uncomplicated. Set the “trap” up as indicated in the picture below.

NOTE: If the cat is unwilling to go into the trap, and IS pregnant, you should attempt to have someone catch the cat by other means (such as a drop trap) because there is usually not enough time to try other methods. If the cat is NOT pregnant and there is some time to work with the cat, then move to part II.

PART I

1.) do not open the door more than 90 degrees, prop it open with dirt or clay because the cats may rub against it or the wind can blow it open/closed and you need to be IN CONTROL of all the things which will impact the trapping so do not leave it to luck or nature for the door to stay open the correct amount

2.) it is OK to trap the cat if the tail is not all the way inside the carrier (cats are very fast and will start to turn and attempt to run out of the carrier as the door is being closed which will draw the tail in.)

3.) perform a “practice” attempt first - somewhere where the cat will not see you so you will have the “feel” of what it takes and there will be no surprises. Place newspaper in bottom of carrier to absorb any excrement.

4.) Make sure you get all the slack out of both ropes (the one to anchor the trap and the pull rope) prior to trapping. TIMING is the important factor here and many people have lost a cat due to slack in the rope. The ONLY slack should be right at the entrance to the trap door so the cat does not inadvertently trip over the rope and close the door on itself – because then it will get out and you will never catch it again.

5.) Break the food up in small pieces so the cat does not run into the trap and grab a large chunk of food and immediately exit the trap (They can be very fast!)

6.) When the cat goes in, make sure the head is down and eating (in other words – the cat is distracted), pull the rope hard and fast –KEEP TENSION ON THE ROPE until you can “walk” the rope and lock the door closed. The cat can claw your hands so place a thick towel over the door grill as you lock the door closed. VERIFY it is locked closed before releasing the tension. Cover the carrier with cloth.

WARNING #1: ALWAYS CATCH THE PREGNANT CATS FIRST! FOLLOWED BY ANY KNOWN FEMALES. (the cats will quickly learn it is a trap and you want to make sure you have captured all the females before the cats get wise to the trapping and refuse to enter the trap.)

WARNING #2: DO NOT ATTEMPT TO SLAM THE DOOR CLOSED WITHOUT THE USE OF A STRING OR ROPE. (your speed is no match for a cats.) When you attempt to slam the door closed on them without a rope, they will be able to get out of the carrier before the door closes completely and then you have an even greater problem because you will not be able to get them to go back in the carrier for another attempt. You usually only get ONE try at this so make it the best that you can.)

WARNING #3: DO NOT OPEN THE CAGE DOOR FOR ANY REASON. THE CAT WILLESCAPE. (And you will bear witness to the speed and power of a cat)

NOTE:Fix Nations has the proper equipment to transfer the cat to a metal trap so do not take the chance of losing the cat by attempting the transfer on your own.

PART II

Place the carrier in a reasonably protected area such as a backyard or a warehouse, etc. (where the cat is or can be fed – preferably not near a lawn sprinkler.) This should be somewhere where your carrier will not be removed (stolen) and where no harm is likely to come to the cat when it goes into the carrier. Allow some time for the cat to get used to seeing the carrier there. The object of this exercise is to allow the cat to feel that the carrier is not a threat to her. We want her to think it is another piece of “patio furniture” (because she has no reason to think otherwise). After a few days of allowing the cat to smell it and see it and touch it and get used to seeing it there, it is now time to start slowly moving the food toward the direction of the carrier. How quickly this is done depends upon many factors such as how much danger the cat is in, the level of distrust (IE: how trap savvy the cat is), etc.

I have personally witnessed the whole process taking a month on a very trap savvy cat but each situation is different. You could possibly use this as a guideline.

Slowly start moving the food over to the carrier until you are eventually able to put the food all the way into the back of the carrier. Give the cat time to adjust with each increment of movement as necessary. These are judgment calls and if you move too fast – then just back up a little and give more time. In other words, we will have to adjust our time schedule to what the cat requires to make it feel comfortable enough to be trapped. When the cat is willing to go into the carrier to eat the food (or sleep), you are ready to trap the cat and proceed back to Part I.

NOTE: it does not matter if you catch more than one cat in the carrier. The only thing that MUST occur is that you have to be sure that at least the cat you need to catch is in the carrier when you trip it, because the cats will be quick to learn that a carrier is also a trap and then you will have taught an already trap savvy cat to be even smarter .