Expert: Ali - 5/17/2009

Question
I'm glad you can help me determine which is which.  I have a lot of cats(they showed up gradually over time).  I don't really know if some of them are stray or not.  I think I can tell which are feral, but I'm not so sure of some of them.  Can you please be very specific in identifying them.  I want to catch and spay the females first.  And is it necessary to neuter the males?  And how do I catch the feral mamas to take them to the vet.  I bought a trap, but how do I go about getting the cats to come into the trap.  They won't come near it.  I feel it's a waste of $130.  Please, I have never had cats before, so please don't assume I know something about something, and give me step by step procedures.  You don't know how much I appreciate it.

Answer
Esther,

A stray cat is an abandoned pet that's been allowed to roam randomly without any medical care or place to call home. Stray cats have usually been socialized with humans from an early age and most will accept handling if s/he's caught in a humane live trap. Unfortunately there are cruel people in our world who scare, abuse or otherwise harm stray cats so they can be quite skittish, if they're fearful it doesn't normally change until they're rescued and brought into a home environment. Many strays have learned to be mistrustful and are wary of human contact initially. If a cat comes up to you outside there's a good chance that s/he is or was a pet at some point.

A feral cat is usually a descendant of abandoned pets. Feral kittens are born outside in unprotected environments. The strongest and healthiest survive, however they aren't socialized with people at all, consequently they're wild animals and will do just about anything to escape people, regardless of how well intentioned an individual might be.

The best way to use a humane live trap is to bait it with something extra smelly that appeals to cats - salmon, tuna, sardines and other potent smelling fish work well as a way of enticing feral/stray cats into traps. The trap works by closing the door when the cat steps onto the plate that triggers the door to close. You'll want to read the instructions that came with your humane live trap carefully. Once you're familiar with how the trap is supposed to work you can bait it, set it up so that the food is at the opposite end of the trap from the open door and set about waiting for someone to enter the trap. I actually set the trap close to my car and wait inside for the trap to close on a kitty.

It's very important to make sure that you are able to check the trap no less frequently than every 20 minutes or so if you decide to go back into the house while you wait, because cats can become quite stressed and injure themselves trying to get away. It's a good idea to bring along a large towel or blanket to cover the trap once you've caught a cat, the reason for this is because cats will be calmer when the amount of stimulation is decreased. If you plan to open the trap after you've caught a cat in order to determine whether you've caught a stray or feral cat I'd suggest doing so in a small room - I use the bathroom. It's not a bad idea to have some leather welding gloves handy in case you're dealing with a feral, that will reduce the likelihood of serious injury when you're placing the kitty into a travel kennel to go to the vet.

I've found that trapping cats once it's dark out works better than doing so during daylight hours because cats are more active at night and there's less stimulation to upset or scare them. If you feed stray/feral cats at a specific location every night it's best to trap there. It's a good idea to have your bathroom set up to accommodate your trapped kitty for the night, having a litter pan, food and water is the way to go. I normally allow trapped cats to recuperate from the stressful experience of being trapped over the course of several days before I have them spayed/neutered and vaccinated. Male cats that are feral should be given a couple of days to recuperate before you release them back to the area that their colony occupies, females should be kept for at least 7-10 days before releasing them back to their colonies. Stray cats don't have to be re-released, they can be found good, permanent adoptive homes with forever families to love them.

I highly recommend getting familiar with and developing contacts with your local cat rescues, they can sometimes offer help placing cats so that you can keep rescuing and helping the rest of the homeless kitties. It's a good idea to try and catch feral kittens as early as possible so that they can be socialized with people and adopted into good homes so that they don't have to live the uncertain life that their parents do. Young cats can sometimes be rehabilitated with time, patience, ingenuity and a willingness to try on the part of their human rescuers. I've seen some feral cats that seemingly grow tired of being wild and invite themselves into the lives of humans.

A good policy to maintain when doing a trap, neuter, vaccinate and release program is that all trapped cats be spayed/neutered regardless of their gender. You may find yourself with sick cats from time to time, if you can handle them you can work with your vet to get them better so that they can be spayed/neutered and released or re-homed depending on what the situation calls for. Any time you have questions regarding trapping, neutering, vaccinating feral cats or re-homing strays I'd be happy to offer you any information that my experience has prepared me for.