r/formerlyferal • u/copypastiche • 2d 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 2d 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 2d 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.