Place a tablespoon of tuna at the very BACK of the trap through the top of the trap. If you place the food too closely to the trip plate, the cat can lean over it rather than step on it. You do NOT have to use a lot of tuna. You will be feeding them later after trapping them. If your cats are used to a favorite food, you can use that too, preferably wet food not dry.
Release the trap door and set the hook which activates the trip plate .Cover cat when trapped with old sheets or towels. This helps decrease the stress and they settle down. Remove trapped cats from the trapping area so they don’t scare others away. The cats can be fed food thru the top of the trap. Wet food is preferable because there is moisture and eliminates the need to put a container of water in the trap. Do not attempt to transfer cats to carriers as they are very fast and will get out. Leave them in the traps until surgery.
The sound of trap doors can scare some cats away. Keep in mind that they are hungry and will come back for food. Sometimes, they will wait until it gets dark which makes them feel safer, so be patient!
Do NOT leave traps open overnite or unattended or you will be trapping wildlife such as skunks, opossums or raccoons. If you did not get all of the cats, close the traps down for the evening and start again in the morning in daylight. The longer the cat goes without food, the greater your chance of success. BE PATIENT!
Cats will be returned for recovery to you in traps and keep them in a quiet, warm place. They can be fed through the top of the trap, again with wet food. In most cases, a male cat can be released out of the trap 18-24 hours after surgery. Females should be left in the trap to recover for 48 hours. There are very few cases that a cat should be in the trap for a longer period. The clinic will inform you if there are additional needs.
PLEASE do not remove cats from the safety of a humane trap and place them into a room. WHY? Because the natural instinct of the cat is to jump and try to find a way out. The cat needs to be in a small contained space for the first 48 hours to avoid ripping open their stitches.
Lactating mothers can be fixed! The surgery does not interfere with the ability to make milk. The staff will inform you if they need to be released same day of surgery and will give you proper instructions for post surgery care before release.
Kittens that weigh 2.5 – 3 lbs can also be fixed.Rabies shot not given until 3 months old.
All cats receive a left ear tip; ALL cats receive a green tattoo along the incision line.
ALL free roaming cats should be ear- tipped. It is done under anesthesia and does not hurt them but it does PROTECT them! Why? Because the ear-tip (left) is a universal sign that this cat is fixed and vaccinated. For communities that have animal control/ kill shelter contracts, these beautiful cats are killed because they are not adoptable and take up space.An ear-tip may save their lives!!!
