Is there anyone in Birmingham who can help me with trapping feral cats and kits?

[Desley (booktigger)]

Good luck with them.

[Millys Mum]

Yep cos they had fleas they will probably have tapeworm, please dont waste your money on Sherleys its aload of crap and it will save you in the long run to buy drontals from vetuk for £1.50 each.

Re the runt, kitten food and some kitten milk will help build her up, giving vits isnt the best way.

Please consider letting Dawn take them off your hands 

[Yvonne]

   interesting to read this and keep up the good work

Hope you are feeling better soon

[Ela]

(I think they are too young to tapeworm

At 3 mths old they are certainly old enought for tapeworm treatment.

[Hippykitty]

Sorry I haven't been updating on Purrs,  but busy with the furbabes and assessing their natures.

I have 8 ferals: 5 who are about 3 months. Of these there are two ginger twins who are very wild, one of them is even vicious. Someone is interested in homing them, even though I think she'll bring them back within a week. There is another one, called Alfie, who is going to my friend Rebekah after Xmas, provided his bloods are okay. He'll be a nice, but dominant, cat when he's more settled; imo he will domesticate fairly quickly. Smudge is a tortie and white, extremely playful, but a bit nervous. The nervousness could be easily overcome through play and patience. (I fancy Smudge myself, but not sure if it will upset the status quo with Polly and Samantha). The other young kitten, Newbie (or Nubi, after Anubis, the Egyptian goddess) needs individual attention to help her to thrive. She's definitely the runt. I've asked R to see if she can get some Kitzyme and have already given the kittens a cream roundwormer in food (I think they are too young to tapeworm).  I'm hoping that when the devil twins return the woman may be interested in Smudge and Newbie - I might ask Dawn if she'll take the two gingers as farm cats.

There are 3 who are approx 6mths old, these are the ones who've been neutered/spayed. Two are female. Winnie has the most beautiful and friendly nature and she'll domesticate almost immediately: she's wants to be a 'kittypet'. Unfortunately, she doesn't have the 'cute' factor people go for when first choosing a cat; but has the most loving nature.
The other female, Victoria, is very elegant and will also tame in a short time. She has the most amazing tail which coils when she sits.
The tom is a bruiser: huge, black and white (the females are tortie and white), and very very nervous. With a very patient owner who has experience with ferals, he could settle. He's butch, rather than cute. Otherwise, he could be a good farm cat.

I've been a bit unwell this week and unable to do any trapping, but will try to cat the mum asap. I hope I can get her before she gives birth because I'm running out of space in the back room now the cats are growing. Unfortunately, she was around on at least two occasions when the kittens were trapped, so it wary of the trap. I've doubts about whether she'll go in the trap.

If I can't catch her I'll ask the girl at the chemist to put somewhere warm for her in the shed and to feed her. The shed is an old concrete bombshelter. If we have a really harsh winter it won't help much, but it will keep her and her kittens dry. Hopefully, I'll be able to trap her.

I'll try to visit Purrs more with updates. I've been trying to spend about 2hrs a day with the ferals to get them used to people. I've asked friends to drop by so they get used to humans other than me. The sooner they're homed, the better. Shame that it's pre-Xmas, as this is a bad time to home a nervous cat.

 

[Desley (booktigger)]

Fingers crossed for them all, and glad HK had another go with them.

[Dawn (DiddyDawn)]

Thanks for that Rosella    The sooner we can get her, the better.......I really don't want her having her kittens outside     As soon as they are weaned etc, she can be spayed and I'm sure I can sort somewhere out for her but will probably leave rehoming until the spring when it's a little warmer.  I've still got the feral mum from Manchester, she's made herself at home now but is still wild, she will be found a place on a farm or stables as soon as the weather perks up but will go with another.

[Rosella moggy]

Hi Dawn

I mentioned to HK that I was happy to help out with collection from vet/driving to vet and cat food supermarket shopping when I can as she doesn't have transport. I'm not far away but work during day although available for emergencies. HK has my contact details.

[Millys Mum]

Thats great, i knew she was too nice to leave her there! 

[Dawn (DiddyDawn)]

I've just spoken to Hippy and she's going to give it another whirl at catching the mum cat    I've got to go over to Birmingham soon to drop a couple of cats off and I want to tie it all in together to save on fuel money.   I'm going to wait for a phone call to say she has the mum cat and then the other babies can be delivered at the same time 

[Hippykitty]

The last few are proving more difficult!

Noticed a cat with the correct discription hanging round my verandah, where the bags of used litter are. Have set a trap there.

Have decided to neuter and release the untameable older kittens to where they came from: the shops, hairdressers and chemists take good care of them and I can check them.

One of the younger kittens may already have a home with one of my friends. She looks after her cats wonderfully, so I know she'd have him/her neutered etc. It all depends on the rest of her feline family and blind dog (who loves cats).

I'll be contacting ela for neutering vouchers and try to get them done in the coming week.

I'm going to be really cheeky and ask for cheap food donations from the shops where I've taken them from. They're eating masses!!!

[pappilon]

  Thats great, you are really good, hope yo catch the mum too. In such short time you got so many. Good luck with rest.

Me havebeen trying to catch one, and no success , i guess i am just not good at it 

[Hippykitty]

Unfortunately, the only cat I caught today was one with slaves. The girl at chemist recognised him immediately, so released very frightened pusscat.

The babes I have are settling in nicely.

Update after I've pm'd Dawn.

 

[Dawn (DiddyDawn)]

Be prepared to do it again in 6 months when the next lot have moved in 

Don't you dare tempt fate   

[Millys Mum]

Yay, not many to go! 

Be prepared to do it again in 6 months when the next lot have moved in 

[Cheesecat]

Wow well done that is fab HK 

[Dawn F]

well done Hippy that is an amazing haul!

[Dawn (DiddyDawn)]

I'm sure Hippy won't mind me posting for her but she should be very proud of herself  Up til last night Hippy had caught 7 kittens    She has the 4 younger ones and 3 of the older one's.  Hopefully today she'll cat the last older one and mum.  The younger one's she thinks are about 15 weeks and the older kittens are around 6 months, these can be spayed and neutered all being well next week.  Mum is apparently quite round so we'll have to see if she's preggars or not.  I'm sure she'll post later to update on todays catches if any 

[Jasmine]

I admire you Hippy, something I've never done.
How's it going?

[Millys Mum]

 

[Ela]

Well  done, assuming you are going to trap them all how many more to go?

[Dawn (DiddyDawn)]

Well done hun, you'll have to start giving me a hand catching some lol.  Don't forget to send me your address before Saturday so I can arrange to pick them up.  Hopefully by then, you'll have the others.  I'm so pleased you've managed to get some, it's getting so cold out there now and it's a worry for the little ones.  Well done anyway, 

[Hippykitty]

Yay, I've caught three!! All in a few hours, then they stopped hanging round the chemists' back yard when it got dark and cold.

Checked the trap every 15mins or so. The little alleyway backs onto a number of shops and hairdresser's. Everyone wanted to know what I was up to. A guy who lives over the butcher's was a BIT too helpful, I think he may have scared the cats by hanging round too much. Gave my number to lots of people in case the trap sprang while I wasn't there.

I've caught one which is definitely from the older litter. One which I was told by girl at chemist was from the older litter, but looks much smaller than the first, and a gorgeous tom from the younger litter - he has fire in his eyes. The first one didn't decant into pen, which has caused a dilemma, as I only have one spare litter tray. The other two decanted easily. The loose one tried to escape via the closed window, but has settled down. (Touch wood) he doesn't make for the door when I've had to go in. The other two are cuddled together in the bed I've given them.

The older one and one of the kittens could be tamed, they are nervous, but not wild.
The ginger one is more borderline. He's a feisty fella.
The older one put up the worst fight in the cage.
The tortie and white was a dream to carry and decant.

The trap is like wrought iron. IT'S SO HEAVY! 

Not bad for my first attempt. 

[Dawn (DiddyDawn)]

Choosing who goes in the trap is going to be a little tricky, the only one we don't want in there initially is mum cat just in case.  They are all siblings although some are older so it doesn't really matter as they are all eating as well.  I think ideally I would want the older one's trapping first but as there's only one trap, it will be a little awkward.  If the little one's go in, I wouldn't worry too much but if we can get them all, that would be great.  The reason I'm concerned with getting the little one's first and then mum, is if the older one's are left, they may end up wandering off and looking for mum plus we don't know how old they are.  If the little one's are left and mum is as well, at least for the time being they will be okay.  How big is the pen Hippy?  It's only going to be for a couple of days anyway so I wouldn't over worry about it.    If the little kittens are handleable which they should be if they are only a few weeks, or they tend to settle in no time, there's no reason why they can't be loose in the room and the older one's penned.

Good advice Ang, that is exactly what I've suggested.........alot of people trapping don't put newspaper on the bottom, but I would imagine a cat is more inclined to go in than if it's on bare metal or mesh.

[Angiew]

when setting the trap don't put a big dollop of food on the trapping plate but behind the plate.
I've always had success with lining the floor of the trap with newspaper first.
Drop a little food up to the plate and then behind the plate mash a big dollop of food well into the newspaper lining to make them have to stand on the plate for a good meal.
I know wellcat and we provide them with pilchards in TS , so hopefully they will give you a couple of cans with the trap.

Good luck.

[Millys Mum]

It does depend on the cat, some go nuts others sit and think about how much they would like to take your eyes out 
The ferals iv dealt with have a feeder who has done a good job with gaining their trust so they are not too mad. With these cats i used an end opening basket, the door slides up, or they were transported in the trap. At this end i had the pen set up with another cage in it, the theory is if the end you want them to go in is dark and the other light they will transfer themselves into the pen!
I could then close the basket inside the pen and remove easily when i needed to clean them out.

Cos these ferals were used to human smells i didnt need to lay a trail, just some food in there and wham bam gotcha. I position some food behind the trigger to make sure they stand on it.

I wouldnt leave a trap unattended for that long as there are people who will interfere with cats in it, either let them out or something more sinister 

As you only have the one pen you need to decide which cats you are getting as mum + babies + 4 older kittens would be too much.
Have you got dawns advice as to which way round mum + babies should be trapped? Iv only caught adults so not sure on that!

[Hippykitty]

The decanting issue is a good point. Have been reading about trapping - didn't realise they went so wild in the traps, nor that the traps closed with such a bang! l

Maybe: put trap opening into door of pen, pull back sliding door and close pen very quickly!  Any other ideas welcome.

So far I've read that I should drizzle some fish oil along a trail of paper, putting dabs of fish on the trail leading into trap, then put a large dollop of fish on the trigger plate. Leave and return in a couple of hours to find a mad cat. Drop a blanket over the trap and take mad cat home. Then somehow decant into pen.

I've only got one pen.

Never done this before. 

[Millys Mum]

Thats ok then, just you said a kitten pen or a spare room!

How are you planning on transferring from trap to basket? Or decanting straight from trap to kitten pen? How many pens do you have?

I wouldnt allow your 2 to have access to them as you dont know what they could have.

http://www.cat77.org.uk/ if you look through their articles section may find something new there 

Depending on age of kittens i would ask Dawn who to catch first.

[Hippykitty]

MM, I mention in the first post of the thread that I have a kittening pen (what's the difference between this and a dog crate?) and will put them in there. Polly was feral, but nervous rather than vicious; she's a soppy old thing now.

One of the local rescues, WellCat, have offered the loan of a trap, and the girl at chemist has given me the key to the back alley so I can go through and set/check it. I'm doing lots of research on web about how to trap a feral. Any advice welcome, it's not something I've done before. I'm going to ask a keen gardening friend if I can borrow her gauntlets!!

I'm collecting the trap tomorrow, and have decided to set up the pen in a small back room. I'll sit with them and tap on my laptop to get them used to company; I'm not sure if I'll allow P and S access. I know that Polly would be okay, but Samantha is more territorial. Anyway, they won't be here for long. 

I'm tempted to take the mother, but the kittens are too young to leave her if the age I've been given is correct. Earlier I was told that they're no longer feeding from mum.

Just hope I can catch the right cats and not someones pet!

[Millys Mum]

For safety if they are really feral, use dog crates, loose in a spare room not good for someone not used to handling them! Wall of death scary 

Good on you for getting this lot sorted out, have you decided about adding one to your family yet?

[Hippykitty]

Spoke to the lady at the chemist today and asked about the shed. She's putting food in there, but they are nervous of it and apparently not living in it. I hope you don't mind, but I gave her your number: thought you'd get the details more accurately. She seems to have lost interest in helping the family, finding it too much trouble.

I'm all fired up and eager to help the poor cats. I live in Selly Oak, amongst loads of student housing (hence the ferals - they were turfed out by June's uni leavers).

Also, I'm getting conflicting accounts of the cats/kits' situation from the shopkeeper and the girl at chemist.  It was the shopkeeper who told me they were living in a shed.

I think the girl at chemist has me nailed as a mad cat woman! 

[Dawn (DiddyDawn)]

What part of Brum are you in Hippy?  Also, try a couple of carriers in the shed as well with a warm blanket, hopefully they'll all snuggle down and will be so zonked out in there, they won't notice when you close the doors 

[Hippykitty]

Hi, my local shopkeeper and chemist have been feeding a growing family of feral cats - likely that the mother was thrown out when last year's students left in June. She has 2 litters. There are 4 older ones who are probably becoming sexually mature.

I've spoken to Dawn (diddydawn), who is in Brum on saturday for the cat show. Ideally, the cats, especially the older kittens would be trapped for her to collect, neuter and place.

I have no experience of trapping, and no traps. Have phoned local CP but all their traps are in use.

I can hold the cat/kittens in a (huhum....unreturned) kittening pen (borrowed it when Polly ill, must buy my own and send it back with donation!) or a spare room - have lots of space. So they will be safe until Dawn collects them.

Any help much appreciated. 

P.S. I don't drive, which is also a pain in the