Catching A Cat.

[Inchyally]

I would love some advice from some of you animal lovers.

My neighbor moved away a few months ago, and her cat escaped. He has been wandering around the apartment complex I live at for quite awhile. Immediate attempts to catch the cat prove grossly unsuccessful; a trap and food could not catch the skittish critter. He would run at the first sight of a person.

About two weeks ago, I tried to get the cat in a carrier. He had now established probably a seven-foot boundary from me. My neighbor actually had came to try and catch him herself, so I, she, and my mother set out a carrier and a trail of food, but coaxing and a meal alone did not do the trick.

Today, I have made progress trying to catch the cat, an orange 11-months old almost-adult male. The cat used to run from me if I was visible to it. Today, I sat outside with him for about an hour. He was meowing pitifully. He was at first sitting under a car in the parking lot. He ran from me at first. But I did not give up! I took some of my own cat's crunchy food and tossed single pieces at this cat. He shyed away at first, but seemed to show some trust in me, and ate the first piece. I threw some more pieces, shorter and shorter distances, closer to me. He did some very close - only about two feet from me! But a strong wind signaling an ominous storm caused the cat to panic and run far away. But I did not give up. I came over to the bush the cat had ran into and tried to lure him out. I tossed the crunchy foot and got him to come out of the bush, but rain stopped him from coming out completely. I took the remaining food for him to eat in the bush.

Now that you have read my story and my progress so far, what should I do next? I am trying to build trust between this cat and I, so that maybe one day I could get it to come in my front door, and his original owner can come to get him back. He is an extremely shy cat, and I am surprised I have gotten him to come this close. Telling me your experiences with catching cats would be wonderful. Thank you.

 

[Aussie_Dog]

In a way, leave him alone. Absolutely no pressure. I understand the difficulty of catching a cat who doesn't want to be caught, and I can't even think of anything I ever did that would help you. I can catch Buffy, usually, because I manipulate her to fit my needs, lol. Like, f she sneaks out, first thing I do is grab a can of cat food, or a bag of her favorite treats, then clink the can or shake the bag when I go outside, and she'll come running. If I wait even a couple of minutes before I attempt to get her (either by walking after her or by getting the food), she's gone. You have to catch her IMMEDIATELY after she bolts out, when she's still stunned about the fact that she's actually free, lol. Molly's easy to catch, too, since she's a scardy-girl, a sudden noise (or my helpful dog, lol) sends her running right back to the door. Willow is easy too, but if she sneaks out and we don't know, she can be gone for up to an hour and it will be HARD to grab her. Willow's like a long-distance runner; she starts off slow, but builds momentum and is at her peak after the "race" has long started. I remember one time when she snuck out through a torn window (torn courtesy of Willow herself) and was gone for 3 days. When she came back, she obviously wanted to come inside, kept meowing and making like she wanted to go to the door, but if you so much as looked at her, she'd start and jump back a few paces, then come back. If you moved towards her, she'd leap away again, wander to some grass and chew, then meow and try to come back to the door. It was the weirdest thing. Eventually we caught her when we threw some ham onto the driveway, waited, and then came out when she was well-absorbed in the food.

The guy you're trying to catch sounds like he wants to come back inside and is hungry, but he's on a "high" from being in such a stimulating environment as the outdoors. Basically you just have to have patience and some luck. Try the cat trap again (a real cat trap; rent one from Animal Control or something), and bait it with canned Fancy Feast (a smelly, yummy food that cats have difficulty refusing). With a cat trap, if he walks in to grab the food, the door will snap shut behind him, and you don't even have to be anywhere around to activate it. But whatever you do, don't try to grab him (unless he's in the trap or otherwise contained). Make like you just don't care, and if by chance you're close enough to actually grab him, DON'T. Just coo to him, stroke him a bit, and if he bolts, then so be it. He'll at least have found out that you're not going to grab him and pick him up, which means NEXT time he lets you pet him, you can pick him up. If you pet him the first time and try to grab him and he bolts (he'll be hypersensitive to your motions), he's not going to let you close enough for anything next time. Sometimes this is how I have to grab Buffy. She'll be wary, not sure what my intentions are, and if I move too quick, she'll take off. But if I move slowly and just start stroking her chin or butt, she'll relax. And when I do catch her, I reward her in some way.

Catching a cat is tricky business. But basically try to remember to keep your voice quiet (no yelling, "Dammit, cat! Stop running!" lol), and your motions smooth and slow. And try to not look the cat in the eyes, which is an aggressive move in the cat world. If you do look at him, blink slowly. It's supposed to signify trust.

 

[Mikaila31]

Find one of those humane trap and put some really smelly food in it. When you see the cat set the trap as close as you can and walk away. Hopefully you will come back to a trapped cat. Let him lose inside and ignore him for a few days, give him food and water of course, but let him get situated before you approach him.

 

[Inchyally]

Thank you both! The problem is, he would completely avoid the trap, and the later attempt with the carrier proved no different. I set food in the carrier. I Put a trail of food up to it and leading into it, and he would eat all the food leading up to it, then walk around it. He wouldn't even approach the first trap, which was a real one from a cat shelter. I'm still working on getting him close enough to touch. He freaks at the slightest movement so I am very slow and still with him. I am quiet with him except calling his name to get his attention.

 

[Mikaila31]

Try putting fresh catnip in the trap.

Some cats go crazy over catnip, some will ignore it though.

 

[betta fish]

When I worked for the rspca I had to catch many cats using traps, I found the best food to use as bait was tinned sardines, strong smelling and cheap to buy, always place the trap under cover, either under a shrub or cover it with blankets, don't feed anything else and don't leave any food near the trap only inside, sooner or later the cat should enter the trap if hungry enough and remember to keep the trap in the same place all the time, you could always get the cat used to being fed in the trap without priming it for a bit too

 

[seffieuk]

Interestingly I am in the same position at the moment - I don't have a cat trap so I am slowly getting him to trust me, it has taken me three weeks for him to allow me to stroke him, he is a stray, young as well, he has fleas and ear mites I suspect so really want to get him to the vets for treatment but mostly to scan him to see if he has a chip I think that within the next week I will be able to pick him up and pop him in a cat box well, that's the plan

Good luck with the capture

Seffie x

 

[dgwebster]

I dont know why but somehow I am what could only be described as a "cat whisperer" - they love me, even the viscious ones. Which is even funniers as at heart I am a dog person (despite owning two cats and no dog right now.)

This may sound insane, but if you can be around for a while, try peanut butter on hot toast. You need to be around as this will also attract mice and rats like nobodies business and the idea is to get the cat interested and near enough to grab. have a towel ready for grabbing.

 

[Aussie_Dog]

This may sound insane, but if you can be around for a while, try peanut butter on hot toast. You need to be around as this will also attract mice and rats like nobodies business and the idea is to get the cat interested and near enough to grab. have a towel ready for grabbing.

It doesn't sound that insane, lol. I've never had my cats crowd around me for peanut butter toast (well, if they do, it's hard to tell it apart from all the other times they crowd me, for every other meal I have, lol). But one of my girls, Willow, loves peanut butter. Put a little on your finger and she just starts licking away. First cat I've had that liked peanut butter.

 

[dgwebster]

from what i've found I think its more the strong odour - will attract anything thats hungry haha. Of course, I now have a new kitten added to our family an if he is anything is to go by, my trainers would also make a good lure.....

 

[Inchyally]

Update - I caught the cat by luring him into my apartment with food then slamming the door when he came in. He is now back with his owner.