Confessions of a Newbie Cat Trapper
-Helen Morrison
-Helen Morrison
Rhubarb was trapped as a stray in Cabot and is now in his forever home!
Alright. I confess, it is a bit of an adrenaline rush. It is a thrill to go out early in the morning, set traps to catch cats that are in precarious and dangerous circumstances….and to come back mid-day or later to find the cats in the traps. Sometimes it takes several days. There are always some wise and wary individuals who aren’t going to dash right into the trap for the sardines and tuna and mackerel. And it is not without its frayed nerves...those butterflies in the stomach about what you might find, or will you even be successful at all. The cats are terrified, of course. But you have to keep reminding yourself that it is to help them be in a much better set of circumstances. It is always to get them spayed or neutered and to get them the basic distemper and rabies vaccinations. Sometimes it is to bring them back to the same spot because they are feral and/ or barn cats and would not be able to be adopted and would be terribly unhappy being enclosed and unable to be outside and without their buddies. In that case, you have to find caring humans that will feed the cats regularly and make sure they have shelter. But sometimes the conditions are so horrendous and life-threatening that you have to have a plan in place for another situation for them.
And you are always thinking of the glitches that can happen and how you will deal with them. Will two cats get into the same trap? How will I separate them, so that they can be safely cared for until their appointment for treatment? What do I do if it is obvious that one of them is nursing? Do I keep the cat in the trap and try to find the kittens? How old will they be? Can I catch them and get them back with the mom? Or do I set the mom free to wait for another day when the kittens become visible and might be able to be caught? Are they in a safe enough situation to leave them in? What if the cat is pregnant? What if the cat is injured? What if I am trapping where there are owned cats around, along with the strays? What if I don’t catch all the targeted cats? Then the population will just keep growing until it gets out of hand.
All of these you have to think about ahead of time and have a plan.
My very first trapping experience was about two years ago with an elderly couple in St. Johnsbury. It was the ideal first time. These folks had their own indoor kitties, but were tending to an outside momma and five kittens who were semi-feral. The couple was already feeding them and providing shelter. They wanted to keep doing that….but didn’t want the population to overwhelm. Feline and Friends in Orleans lent us traps and showed us how to deal with various issues that might arise. It went like clockwork. Within two days we had the mom and the five kittens. Off they went to VT CAN in Middlesex to get spayed, neutered, and their shots. When we brought them back at the end of the day, we simply released them. No waiting for recovery. It is much less stressful for them to be back in their home turf, rather than in a strange place for “recovery”. All of them bolted and went into their favorite hiding places. As the days went on, they became visible again. All were well and seemed unphased. The human couple built them very nice shelters to keep them warm and dry...and have continued to feed them and care for them. They are a stable population of six.
My next adventure was in trapping or helping to trap at a farm where there were seven adults...and before we could get those, there were suddenly thirteen newborn kittens to three moms, a total of 21 cats almost overnight. We trapped those that weren’t nursing moms and got them tended to and brought back. But we let the three moms raise their kittens in the hay bales in the barn until they were ready to be weaned. The moms were then spayed. All along, the farm family tended so well to the kittens, socializing them, holding them, playing with them every day. All of them found loving homes. And the seven adults are now safe in their barn with no more kittens.
Sometimes you have to deal with situations that would break your heart….abandoned homes where there are way too many cats just left to fend for themselves, not fed, without good shelter, at risk of dying horrible deaths. You just have to steel yourself and do the best you can to trap those cats that are still living, tend to them, get them their vaccinations, their spay/neuters, and work with them so they can be adopted or can at least be on safe and caring farms. For those that you have no place for and that are too feral to be adopted, you have to find someone who will commit to feeding them regularly and to provide them shelter. It is the best they can hope for and certainly better than the conditions they were in. In several circumstances for me, this was the case….a heart wrenching hell hole for the animals to be in. Some we could socialize well enough to find them homes. For some, we found farms where they could be outside and hunt as they were used to and yet be tended to lovingly. For some, who weren’t lucky enough to survive, we just had to be thankful that they were no longer suffering.
It is an emotional roller coaster ride for sure. There is the sadness of seeing how they were living and knowing that no living thing should be subjected to the conditions they are in. But there is the joy of making it better for them, so they can be healthier and cared for….and for those lucky ones, it is the amazing feeling of seeing them able to trust humans again and of finding them the caring homes they deserve.
So, yes, I confess, it is a rush to be a newbie trapper.
And you are always thinking of the glitches that can happen and how you will deal with them. Will two cats get into the same trap? How will I separate them, so that they can be safely cared for until their appointment for treatment? What do I do if it is obvious that one of them is nursing? Do I keep the cat in the trap and try to find the kittens? How old will they be? Can I catch them and get them back with the mom? Or do I set the mom free to wait for another day when the kittens become visible and might be able to be caught? Are they in a safe enough situation to leave them in? What if the cat is pregnant? What if the cat is injured? What if I am trapping where there are owned cats around, along with the strays? What if I don’t catch all the targeted cats? Then the population will just keep growing until it gets out of hand.
All of these you have to think about ahead of time and have a plan.
My very first trapping experience was about two years ago with an elderly couple in St. Johnsbury. It was the ideal first time. These folks had their own indoor kitties, but were tending to an outside momma and five kittens who were semi-feral. The couple was already feeding them and providing shelter. They wanted to keep doing that….but didn’t want the population to overwhelm. Feline and Friends in Orleans lent us traps and showed us how to deal with various issues that might arise. It went like clockwork. Within two days we had the mom and the five kittens. Off they went to VT CAN in Middlesex to get spayed, neutered, and their shots. When we brought them back at the end of the day, we simply released them. No waiting for recovery. It is much less stressful for them to be back in their home turf, rather than in a strange place for “recovery”. All of them bolted and went into their favorite hiding places. As the days went on, they became visible again. All were well and seemed unphased. The human couple built them very nice shelters to keep them warm and dry...and have continued to feed them and care for them. They are a stable population of six.
My next adventure was in trapping or helping to trap at a farm where there were seven adults...and before we could get those, there were suddenly thirteen newborn kittens to three moms, a total of 21 cats almost overnight. We trapped those that weren’t nursing moms and got them tended to and brought back. But we let the three moms raise their kittens in the hay bales in the barn until they were ready to be weaned. The moms were then spayed. All along, the farm family tended so well to the kittens, socializing them, holding them, playing with them every day. All of them found loving homes. And the seven adults are now safe in their barn with no more kittens.
Sometimes you have to deal with situations that would break your heart….abandoned homes where there are way too many cats just left to fend for themselves, not fed, without good shelter, at risk of dying horrible deaths. You just have to steel yourself and do the best you can to trap those cats that are still living, tend to them, get them their vaccinations, their spay/neuters, and work with them so they can be adopted or can at least be on safe and caring farms. For those that you have no place for and that are too feral to be adopted, you have to find someone who will commit to feeding them regularly and to provide them shelter. It is the best they can hope for and certainly better than the conditions they were in. In several circumstances for me, this was the case….a heart wrenching hell hole for the animals to be in. Some we could socialize well enough to find them homes. For some, we found farms where they could be outside and hunt as they were used to and yet be tended to lovingly. For some, who weren’t lucky enough to survive, we just had to be thankful that they were no longer suffering.
It is an emotional roller coaster ride for sure. There is the sadness of seeing how they were living and knowing that no living thing should be subjected to the conditions they are in. But there is the joy of making it better for them, so they can be healthier and cared for….and for those lucky ones, it is the amazing feeling of seeing them able to trust humans again and of finding them the caring homes they deserve.
So, yes, I confess, it is a rush to be a newbie trapper.