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Catching a Smart Mama Cat

Oh Cat People of DL, I am desirous of your input!

In the summer, we had a mama kitty show up at our house with two kittens, literally crying/begging for food on our front porch. We of course provided, so Mama and babies moved in under the porch. The mama is less feral, but still very quick and you can't really touch her. The babies are more feral.

This past weekend, I was able to trap the babies and get them to the vet to be spayed (turns out we had to little girls - sooo glad they are now spayed!) but Mama wouldn't go near the traps we had set, even when I put stinky sardines leading up to them and in them. THEN, she witnessed her two babies get trapped so she isn't going near these traps as far as I can tell.

Since she's the source of the problem (more kittens soon if we don't do something!), I'm getting increasingly anxious about finding a way to catch her to get her fixed.

This is our weekend house out in the country, so there aren't any nonprofit services or anything like that to access.

Any pointers or any resources you could share in how to snag this pretty Mama and get her fixed? She's had enough babies.

by Anonymousreply 30November 24, 2020 3:16 PM

Keep leaving out food for her on your porch. She's bound to return, and if you are quick and wearing thick work gloves, you might be able to snag her even if she puts up a fight.

by Anonymousreply 1November 23, 2020 7:41 PM

Sorry-- I realize it's DL tradition that the first post is cunty and unhelpful, but I think there's an exception when it comes to helping stray animals.

by Anonymousreply 2November 23, 2020 7:42 PM

Awww, I love cats

by Anonymousreply 3November 23, 2020 7:43 PM

I successfully trapped a previously untrappable mama cat by placing her two kittens in a closed trap and placing a second open trap directly in front of it, so it resembled a long tunnel. I covered both traps with a towel. Mama cat heard the kittens and went into the trap to get them. Thank you for going out of your way to handle the situation. Good luck.

by Anonymousreply 4November 23, 2020 7:46 PM

Be patient, OP. My friend and I once waited nine hours in the hot sun for a skittish mom but we eventually got her!

Don’t feed her the day before trapping her. You’re a great person to do this! Kisses!

by Anonymousreply 5November 23, 2020 7:54 PM

I like the ideas of R1 and R4.

My father discovered two stray cats living in his garage...a mama and one kitten. The mother was not much of a problem. Dad lured her with food, and she seemed to be familiar with human contact to some extent. The one kitten, however, was like something you'd find in the depths of a jungle. Dad finally got his fishing dip net, went out to the garage, and waited in the shadows. In no time at all, he had captured the kitten.

by Anonymousreply 6November 23, 2020 7:55 PM

Leave that puss alone! Spaying is murder!

by Anonymousreply 7November 23, 2020 7:58 PM

My wife and I have partnered with others around the area to trap or lure stray cats, simply because we love cats and the outside is a very rough environment for them. We worked on one momma for two weeks near the Pharmacy building at the University. Caught three kittens, then the last, and then finally the mom. The kittens rapidly domesticated, were vaccinated, neutered/spayed, and adopted out from the local shelter, though I wouldn’t have bet on that after they were first trapped, wild as they seemed. The mom took weeks, at home, as a foster, and still spends a lot of time by herself, but is a most loving little bundle now. Keep trying, friend. It’s always worth it, and food is a powerful lure to the hungry.

by Anonymousreply 8November 23, 2020 9:03 PM

All, thanks for the input. To answer a few comments, we are still feeding all of them - Mama and Daughters - on our front porch. I think the answer may be to try a different or much bigger trap. I'm willing to spend money on another trap if it works, because I'd otherwise spend money on catching dozens of baby kitties in the future!

R1, your idea is pretty much what I've been planning. We can get pretty close to her but we can't pet her, so I was thinking of wearing gloves and long sleeves and whatnot, and possibly trying to toss a heavy blanket over her and grab her that way. The challenge is that I likely have one shot. If I try to grab her and fail, she won't come near me again. UGH!

Keep the comments coming, please!

by Anonymousreply 9November 23, 2020 10:48 PM

Ever since my dog died a few years ago, stray cats started showing up in my back yard, so I started to feed them. Then word got out that I was their meal ticket. So lots more have arrived. My neighborhood is notorious for having a terrible feral cat population. I have trapped and had spayed (at my own expense because I live in a red state where there are no funds available for spay/neuter control) 3 batches of cats/kittens. In 3 years I have trapped and neutered 25 cats/kittens. You have to stop feeding the cat(s) a day or two before you begin attempting to trap them. Kittens are much harder to catch in traps because they don't weigh anything.

by Anonymousreply 10November 24, 2020 12:29 AM

You better be fast-handed, OP. It sounds like that mama pussy wants to get her FREAK ON.

by Anonymousreply 11November 24, 2020 12:36 AM

Tell Mama cat: "Get your tubes tied or move it along, Toots!"

by Anonymousreply 12November 24, 2020 12:43 AM

Sell Mama to a Chinese restaurant.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 13November 24, 2020 12:46 AM

Gimme that Meow Mix! Fancy Feast? Friskies? Whatcha got?

by Anonymousreply 14November 24, 2020 1:04 AM

R13 DIAGF

by Anonymousreply 15November 24, 2020 1:30 AM

OP, see if you can rent or borrow a trap. Shelters will rent them and refund the deposit. Better than just grabbing her unless you’re sure she’s friendly.

by Anonymousreply 16November 24, 2020 1:32 AM

Ask a vet how much Benadryl you'd need to sprinkle in the Fancy Feast to have her get drowsy and catchable.

by Anonymousreply 17November 24, 2020 1:57 AM

I was going to suggest something similar to R17. A moggiedon as it were.

I have tamed feral cats in the past -It takes time and food.

by Anonymousreply 18November 24, 2020 2:58 AM

Bless you, OP, for doing this.

by Anonymousreply 19November 24, 2020 3:14 AM

Blessings indeed, all (most) of you. If you’re like me and mean as sin, predatory, and don’t care much for humankind, isn’t it wonderful that there are cats. At least they truly don’t hafta give a good god damn!

by Anonymousreply 20November 24, 2020 7:36 AM

Concerning the Benadryl suggested above: Be very, VERY careful of using human medications on cats, and yes, do consult a vet first. A great many years ago, before my time, my dad had a cat who, in the midst of a blizzard, could not urinate, a quick death sentence if not treated immediately. My father was a very intuitive man, sometimes scarily so, and decided to give the cat a small amount of sweet spirit of nitre, an old remedy which relieves muscle spasms. It relaxed the cat enough that the bladder opened and copious amounts of urine were passed. He was lucky and the cat was lucky.

by Anonymousreply 21November 24, 2020 11:17 AM

I had a hissy, stinky, boney-assed crack mom who dropped litters of kittens next to her stash of cigarette butts (she was polydactyl so she could work a bic lighter).

I starved backyard creatures for three days (no composting, either). Every opossum, raccoon, rabbit, and tomcat hated her and called her names.

She brought out her babies one morning and I brought out a plate of gushy food and a butterfly net. Bitch was pissed. While I payed for the spaying, I’m not sure the shelter was no-kill. The neighborhood tomcats visited less frequently.

by Anonymousreply 22November 24, 2020 12:28 PM

R22 Euthanasia is preferable to an agonizing life on the streets. I trapped an older cat years ago who had a terrible tooth infection. They really suffer on the streets. See the gif that asshole above posted.

Thanimus, you made my day.

by Anonymousreply 23November 24, 2020 12:33 PM

Perhaps this?

Move the dish or whatever you're feeding the cat in progressively closer to a trap/cage each day. Resist the urge to look, check or get anywhere near the dish/cage while the cat is there, so that the cat is lulled into a false sense of security, as it were, learns that no one will threaten while she's eating in that space. On the last day or two or three, leave the food dish inside the trap so that the cat learns that an enclosed space is not necessarily threatening. Then, on the third or fourth day, while the cat is happily scarfing down food inside the cage/trap, quietly/calmly walk up and close the cage/trap door.

by Anonymousreply 24November 24, 2020 12:46 PM

Addendum to R24: I caught a raccoon using this method, and raccoons are way smarter than cats.

by Anonymousreply 25November 24, 2020 12:49 PM

R1/R2 is what is killing the DL.

by Anonymousreply 26November 24, 2020 12:51 PM

R9 / OP The blanket is a great idea. That worked for me in the past but you have to be fast!

by Anonymousreply 27November 24, 2020 2:13 PM

R21 MissLucy, you've mentioned your dad in previous cat threads. He sounds like a good man. He must have had quite an influence on your love for cats.

by Anonymousreply 28November 24, 2020 2:15 PM

R28 My dad was the ultimate cat man. He had an unbelievable sense of empathy and mercy. Any good qualities that I have were instilled in me by my dad - and not through preaching or demanding, but rather through learning by example. Every cat we had, with the exception of the Siamese, was originally a stray.

Not only that, he was a man who accepted others no matter who or what they were. He died a number of years ago. I miss him terribly.

by Anonymousreply 29November 24, 2020 3:02 PM

R29, your dad was a pussy.

by Anonymousreply 30November 24, 2020 3:16 PM
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