07/07/2025
๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ข๐ง๐ ?
We are often asked by members of the public what trapping actually is. We often hear 'you just go out on the street and catch cats with your hands?'. Well, no. So here is the post to explain what does it mean exactly. I will use the last trapping as an example and try to explain it bit by bit. Attached are some photos, will try to find a bit of time to create a video too.
Firstly, we don't go randomly to trap cats. We also don't go to every single one who is reported to us. We first try to talk to the person who reported to establish the circumstances and find out if they exhausted all avenues of finding an owner first. We also don't go trapping unless we know we have a space in foster homes to do that. Or a rescue space offered elsewhere.
The next step is an assessment visit. We go to the location to talk to the person who reported it and see the setup. We need to know where the cats are, where they are hiding, what is the access point, and who is feeding them. We advise of regular feeding routine to help in trapping. Feral or stray cats will not go into the trap unless they are very hungry, so we also advise to stop feeding before we first attempt trapping. We often leave unset traps, so the feeder can feed them in there to get them used to going into traps without fear.
For instance, we have been called about a feral mum with 3 kittens on a very busy street who brought in her kittens to this person's garden. Mums photo was put on social media to try locate the owner first, but we found out they are a long term strays. The day after, we received a call that there was another mum with 3 newborns in the garden. After a few photos, we knew they were not newborns, but 4-5 weeks old kittens. Anyway, we assessed the situation and dropped food to the feeder, so she could start a feeding routine and we made a trapping plan. The long term plan was to TNR feral mums and rehome kittens.
Next, we visited again with all our equipment, but we found out there are massive gaps under the fence where the kittens where hiding, so we made a contact with neighbour who was very helpful and gave us access to his gardens. There were only two of us and 4 exit points, so we needed to come back again with more volunteers.
The next day, we came back to see smaller kittens playing happily in the grass, and because of their age, we were able to grab them by hand. Older kittens were very skittish, and when they saw us grabbing others, they hid, and we didn't have any more luck that day with kittens, but mum of the younger ones got into the trap. We had 3 younger kittens and their mum at that point.
We've been told they are usually there very early in the morning, so the next day, we came back again at 5 am. We saw all 3 older kittens, but only one got into the trap. The other two ran off when they saw it. We needed to trap two more kittens and their mum.
Then mum moved her kittens to an alleyway nearby, but luckily, we found them. We put a trap up and after couple of hours we trapped mum, accidentally because we didn't want to trap her before all kittens are safe, but because we were quite a distance (you won't trap a cat sitting by the trap) she went in so quickly before we could scare her off. Once we had her, chances that she would go into the trap again before giving birth to another litter were slim, so we didn't chance it and didn't let her go. We stayed for another 3 hours trying to coax kittens in using mum as bait, but to no avail. Should have mentioned there were many other cats who were constantly trying to get into the trap as well as hedgehogs! That evening, we were tired. After 5 hours of trapping, we needed to get mum to foster home, so we went back home before 2am!
Now, we knew kittens are alone and vulnerable, so we were determined to go back twice a day to trap them as soon as possible.
The next day, we went back with mum in a crate. We placed her right next to it, so she could call them. After an hour, we trapped one kitten, but we were terrified at this point, because the other kitten was way more skittish, and we really didn't want to leave him alone. We placed the kitten right next to Mum, and after another hour, their crying coaxed the skittish last kitten in ๐ Mum of the younger ones turned out to be friendly and just a baby herself at 5-6 months old, shes been neutered and she will stay with kittens until the optimal time spent with mum should be offered if there is a possibility which is 12 weeks old and then will be rehomed. The other mum was neutered and will be released after recovery.
It took us many calls and messages, 6 visits, and over 20 hours of trapping, including the ones at night in a dark alleyway. Six volunteers were involved, and two foster homes who are cleaning and socialising them to prep them for adoptions all day long for at least 6 weeks. When we asked for funds for new traps, it's because we really need it to reduce time spent and efficiency trapping.
One neighbour asked us about our work and he was shocked it was volunteering. And that the treatment of each cat costs at least double than the adoption fee. We also often pay for that from our own pocket. Kittens from this site have already been at the vets for an eye infection. This is an extra expense on top of neutering, vaccinations, microchip and parasite treatments, food, and litter. The same neighbour asked why? Why on earth do we spend our Friday nights and early mornings trapping for free to pay for their treatment, knowing that the adoption fee is not going to cover even half of that. The answer is that we are not a business. We are a non-profit group of volunteers, and we do it because we love seeing cats rescued in full meaning of that word (full vet treatment before adoption). Trust me, there are cowboy rescues who are not doing the bare minimum of even neutering (be aware they are even in our area). Rescuing doesn't mean only trapping. It's also full vet care and proper adoption. And we love seeing dishevelled cats who blossom in their new homes. That's why we do it.
On this particular trapping site, a lot of neighbours were friendly and even offered us coffee when we were sitting at night in a dark alleyway. But not always everyone is friendly. We often meet with a lot of hate, throwing stones at cats to prevent them from going into the traps, calling police on us. It makes a massive difference. So please, if you see volunteers trapping, be nice and kind. We give our time and money to save them, not to shove them quickly to the first possible home offer.
Be kind to us, donate to a good rescue and most importantly adopt don't shop and neuter your cats please!
