Expert: Jessica - 10/8/2010

Question
QUESTION: I sent you a question the other day regarding my parents 12 year old female cat that got out and you sent the reply that you had already answered this question for me once before but I don't remember even sending in the question until the other day.  Although I believe I did mention that she has done this once before.  So I am sending the question in again in hopes of getting an answer.  And hopefully suggestions in reintroducing her to the other 2 cats in the household.
My parents have 3 cats. A mother and her two babies although they are all around 12 years old, the mother was 6 months when she had them. She got out of the house over a week ago and the weather is starting to get cold. they know where she is but she will not come out for them. She came out once and my father without thinking grabbed her and put her in the carrier, after of course she bit thru his thumb nail and scratched the crap out of him. Now she is refusing to come out from under the neighbours porch. they leave food out for her during the day but not at night because of other wild animals, raccoons and skunks. She will not come out if she hears their voices, she will start to come but if they speak she runs back under. There is no way to get under there to get her and she is pretty spooked. She is fairly shy but not overly shy, they have had her since she was 6 months just after she had the kittens. She got out a couple years as well but I managed to get her to come out, she wasn't' happy about the carrier but she went in and after she calmed down. My father said when he had her in the carrier this time she was whimpering. Apparently they did not have the carrier door closed properly because when they checked again after they got my fathers wounds cleaned up she had gotten out. We are rather concerned for her and any ideas would be appreciated. and where can we get a humane trap or how can we make one. I tried suggesting that they have the carrier with them and leave it by the food but they didn't go for that. Even though it is a good idea.

Thanks for you time and patience.

P.S.  Lucy is still not letting anyone touch her but she will eat in front of them as long as no'one approaches her.

Tracey

ANSWER: Hi Tracey,

I never received this question the first time, so I think something must have gone wrong with All Experts.  I apologize for the inconvenience.

I think you do need to try to catch her with a humane trap if you hope to catch her before the cold weather comes.  Some animal shelters or animal officers have them and will lend or rent them to you.  Withhold food for 24 hours, and then bait the trap with a smelly food like tuna, and place it near where you saw the cat last.  Of course, you don't want to leave the trap open overnight for the same reason you mentioned (you don't want to catch a skunk, raccoon or opossum).  When the cat walks in to eat the food, she will step on a trigger that will close the door(s) to the trap.  Bring the trap indoors before opening the door(s), of course!  The cat will be very upset and will probably fly out of the trap and run for hiding for a while.  Give her some time to calm down.  It takes most cats a couple of days.

If no one can lend you a trap, most feed/farm supply, home improvement or lawn & garden centers sell them.  You want the size that traps raccoons and skunks.  They can also be ordered online if you are having trouble finding them.  Because Lucy seems to have a knack for sneaking outside, you may want to consider buying a trap.  One of my Bengals went through a phase where she snuck outside several times in a year, and she became petrified outside.  I was very thankful I had my own trap during those times.  She was completely unapproachable outdoors, and I only got her back because she finally got hungry enough to go into the trap for food.

Best of luck!

Jessica




---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I also had a follow up question.  If and when they do get her how should we go about reintegrating her with the other 2 cats.  It's been almost 2 weeks.

Tracey

P.S.  Thanks for the answer you gave me by the way:)

Answer
Some cats can be a little spooked by the experience, so keeping them isolated to one room for a few days is a good idea.  Once Lucy is completely relaxed and is seeking attention as before, you can start trying to allow her out to the rest of the house for short periods to see how she does with the other cats.  Cats have a very long recall memory for scents, most likely well over a year, and all the cats should still be very familiar with one another this way.  However, for them to see each other suddenly after a total separation may be very stressful and confusing.  So you should work them up to spending time together using short visits.  Try to keep the visits to 15 minutes at first, or shorter if the cats react badly.  You might use this time to feed the cats something special at opposite ends of the same room, giving them a positive experience to associate with one another.  

If the visits go well, still separate them after about 15 minutes, because tension can build quickly if the cats try to spend too much time together too soon.  Try to have them visit several times daily, and increase the length of the visits each day that they are successful.  She should be successfully integrated back into the home within a couple of weeks unless she was seriously traumatized by being outdoors, in which case she may need more patience.