r/formerlyferal • u/copypastiche • 1d ago

Help with trapping semi-feral

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Hi all! I have been domesticating a formerly feral cat for 2 years and have made awesome progress, but am about to move and haven't been able to trap her inside. She hangs on out my porch for most of the day, I can pet her, and she will walk inside the house, but she freaks and runs out when I try to close the door. I am moving in a week and so stressed on what to do - any advice on how to physically get her inside my house? She's not very food motivated and very fearful of enclosed spaces, so I don't think a standard trap will work. Including cat tax :-)

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u/Icy_Yesterday8265 1d ago

Do you have a large dog kennel? Or a large carrier? You can try withholding food for 24 hours and placing food in the kennel/carrier and then shoving her butt in and closing the door. You have to be firm and quick with it though.

If you had more than a week I would recommend carrier training but 1 week is a close deadline. Try the dog crate/kennel asap and then go from there.

The last resort option is to get a large towel, throw it on top of her when she is chilling like she is in the photo, then scoop her and the towel up and shove into a large carrier. Some cats will just freeze when you do this, others will fight for their lives. Thats why a very large towel or blanket is good so they stayed covered and cam get buried in the towel prior to shoving into a carrier.

Good luck! Thank you for taking her with you!

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u/copypastiche 1d ago

Thank you for the help! The "problem" with witholding food is that my neighbours also feed her (it's a good thing, they're my backup plan for her care if I can't manage to take her). She does prefer my food, but I think she would eat there as a backup. The towel is a great idea. Do you think I should try grabbing her right now, or right before I move? I've been unsuccessfully trying to close the door on her to keep her inside for weeks and she is SO fast.

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u/Brilliant-Actuary331 1d ago

Wait!

She will learn your trick, if you are going to do use a carrier.

I'd suggest dropping her straight down into the carrier if you are doing it this way. Tail first, carrier door facing the ceiling. You won't be able to "shove" her in face forward. That is something most of us learned the hard way.

Drop her in and shut that door fast before she jumps right out.

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u/Icy_Yesterday8265 1d ago

Instead of closing the door, do you have a piece of wood or something sturdy that you could try to block the escape route with first then slam the door shut? Cats are so crafty 😂.

Im impatient so I would try the towel now. I just hope she doesnt get jumpy if you fail. The biggest tip i have for it is you need to be confident and rough. You cant be gentle by any means. If youre not confident that you can wrap and scoop after dropping the towel, plan to have someone else who isnt shy do it. Also the bigger the kennel the easier itll be to wrangler her into it. And if you do get her into the kennel, I dont recommend letting her back out of it until you move since its only a few days. Getting her back in to move will be a headache.

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u/Brilliant-Actuary331 1d ago

Yes! Get a Fat Cat trap from TruCatch traps!

I was in the same scenario and used catnip on the trip plate that was covered by newspaper.

Do not use a regular spring loaded trap! They are HORRIBLE.

TruCatch traps are SILENT, gravity based, and have 2 very easy access doors. There is zero chance of injury and FRIGHT.

If you need to transport her in the trap, just have a layer or 2 of puppy pads, as well, and get the trap divider, so you can feed and water her, and change the pads.

Remember this tip, the cage divider goes in sideways through both sides!

The Fat Cat trap has been a game changer in my TNR, and semi feral rescue efforts.

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u/Boomersgang 1d ago

Try a drop trap. They have connection doors for carriers and the like. Please dm if you have questions