Trapping Cats
Need Help Trapping Cats?
For cats located in Stillwater, our OCS Trap Team can help trap the cats and transport them to the clinic. Each location must be in 30 mile area of Stillwater and we must know who is feeding/caring for the cats prior to sending out our team.
How to Trap
Helpful Tips: Bring a flashlight with you if trapping at night. It will come in handy for checking traps from a distance and might help you avoid a twisted ankle in the dark. Bring a cap for the top of the mackerel can. Nothing smells worse than fish juice spilled in the car. Don't forget a spoon!
- Preparation for Trapping
- Establish a routine and get the cats used to being fed at the same place and time every day. Try leaving the trap unset and covered with a large towel during routine feeding so the animal will get used to seeing and smelling it in the area. For several days before you need to trap, put the food only inside the un-set traps. Don't feed the cats the day/night before you are going to trap so the cats will be hungry. Be sure to notify others who may feed the cats not to leave food out either.
- Plan to trap so that you don't have to keep the cat too long before surgery. Trapping the night before is usually the best approach. Cats should not eat 12 hours prior to surgery. Prepare the area where you will be holding the cats before and after the clinic. A garage or other sheltered, warm, protected area is best. Lay down newspapers to catch the inevitable stool, urine and food residue. You may want to use pieces of wood to elevate the traps off the ground. This allows the mess to fall through the wire away from the cats.
- Prepare the vehicle you will use to transport the cats. Plastic may be an additional precaution, but remember that you will need to use newspapers or some other absorbent material in addition to the plastic. (Urine will roll right off of the plastic and that isn't what you want.) Plan your day of trapping carefully. Remember that if you trap an animal and release it for some reason, it is unlikely that you will be able to catch it again… they learn very quickly.
- If there are young kittens involved, remember that they should not be weaned from the mother before 4-6 weeks of age. If you are trapping a lactating female, you may want to wait until you have located the kittens and they are old enough to wean. If you wish to tame and foster the kittens to adopt out, they should be taken from the mother at 4-6 weeks. If you wait until the kittens are older than 4-6 weeks before trying to tame them you will find the job progressively harder with age.
- Setting/Baiting the Traps
Plan to set traps just before you normally feed the cats. This is often at night. Dusk is usually the best time to set traps. Don't trap in the rain or the heat of day without adequate protection for the trap. Cats are vulnerable in the traps and could drown during storms or suffer from heatstroke in the sun. Plan placement of traps on a level surface in the area where the cats usually feed or have been seen. Cats are less likely to enter the trap if it wobbles. If trapping in a public area, try to place traps where they will not be noticed by passersby (who may not understand that you are helping the cat). Bushes are often places where cats hide and provide good camouflage for the trap. Use smelly food to bait the trap. We find that canned mackerel is very effective and relatively inexpensive. It is best not to put any bowls inside the trap to hold food since the animal can easily hurt itself on it in a panic. Spoon a small amount of food onto the newspaper scrap and place the trap on top of the food so the food is as far back in the trap as possible while still not accessible from outside the trap. (You want the cat to go all the way into the trap to avoid being injured when the trap door closes.) Press the trap down onto the food so that it squishes up through the wire. The idea is to make the food a little hard to get so that the cat has to go into the trap as far as possible and has to work at getting it long enough to trip the trap. (Some cats are very good at getting in and out of traps without getting caught. We don't want to make it too easy for them to get away with that trick. Also, having the food essentially outside of the trap prevents the cat from eating it in the trap before surgery and is less messy.)
After baiting the trap, open the trap door by pushing the top of the door in and pulling the bottom of the door upward. There is a small hook attached to the right side of the trap top. It hooks onto a tiny metal cylinder on the right side of the door. The hook holds the door in an open position which also raises the trip plate. When the cat steps on the plate it will cause the hook to release the door and close the trap. After setting the trap, cover it with a large towel or piece of towel-sized material. Fold the material at the front end of the trap to expose the opening while still covering the top, sides and back of the trap. The cover will help to camouflage the trap and serve to calm the cat after it is caught.
- Waiting for Success
Never leave traps unattended in an unprotected area, but don't hang around within sight of the cat (or you will scare it off). The trapped animal is vulnerable. Passersby may release the cat or steal the trap! Wait quietly in an area where you can still see the traps without disturbing the cats. Check traps every 15 minutes or so. You can often hear the traps trip and see the cloth cover droop down slightly over the opening from a distance. As soon as the intended cat is trapped; remove the trapped cat from the area as long as you will not be disturbing other cats. You may consider putting another trap in the same spot if it seems to be a "hot" spot. Be sure to dispose of the food left on the ground when you pick up the trap.
When you get the captured cat to a quiet area away from the other traps lift the cover and check for signs that you have the correct animal and not a pet or previously neutered feral. [Note: Operation Catnip clips the tip of the left ear to avoid repeat animals. This type of marking is the universally accept symbol of a sterilized, vaccinated feral cat.] If you note that you have captured a lactating female check the area for kittens and remember that this female must be released 10-12 hours after surgery so she can care for and nurse her kittens. Cover the cat back up as soon as possible. Uncovered, the animal may panic and hurt itself thrashing around in the trap. Of course, there is always the chance that you will catch some other wild animal attracted to the food or an unintended cat. Simply release the unintended animal.
- Holding procedures
When cats are ready for release, return to the area in which they were captured and release them there. Do not relocate the cats! In all likelihood, other area cats will drive relocated cats away from the area you picked. If the veterinarian has indicated a serious medical problem with the cat which you will not be able to treat the vet must make the decision on whether it is safe to release the animal or kinder to euthanize it. Untreated abscesses and respiratory infections, and a number of other conditions, can mean suffering and a slow death. Make sure the spot you pick for release does not encourage the cat to run into danger (like a busy street) to get away from you. Keep the trap covered until you are ready to release. When ready, simply hold the trap with the door facing away from you and open the door. The cat will probably bolt immediately out of the trap. If it is confused, just tilt the trap so the back is slightly up and tap on the back of the trap to encourage it to leave. Never put your hand in the trap! If the animal still will not leave, prop the door open with a stick and leave it for a while. A trapped skunk or possum, which is nocturnal, may decide to sleep in the trap all day and not leave the trap until dark. After releasing the cats, hose off traps and disinfect them with bleach. Never store traps in the "set" position (door open); animals may wander into the trap and starve to death.
Note: If a cat does not seem to be recovering well from surgery during the first 24 hours after an Operation Catnip Clinic, then please call the Emergency number from the Clinic Discharge Instructions.
- Helpful videos
Trap Depot
Operation Catnip Stillwater offers traps for rent through the Trap Depot:
- The Trap Depot is open at specific times one week prior to the clinic and one week after the clinic to allow for trap pick-up and return. Specific hours of operation will be posted ahead of the clinic.
- Trap rental requests are made at the time of clinic reservations. Please remember that each cat must come in an individual, humane wire trap. We do not accept cats in carriers, cardboard boxes, or unsafe traps at the clinic.
- We require a $50 deposit for each trap rented at the Trap Depot for non-Stillwater residents. Stillwater residents are not required to pay a deposit; however, if traps are not returned Stillwater residents are subject to a visit from animal control to retrieve the traps.
Location
The Depot is located behind the Stillwater Animal Welfare at 1710 S. Main Street.