Before trapping, you need to see how many cats are in your neighborhood so that you know how many need to be trapped. For this, it’s always best to start a feeding station nearby where you can start the neighborhood cats on a feeding schedule. Because cats are usually more active during dusk and dawn, I would pick one of these for your feeding time. The cats will start to come out at this same time everyday and then you can start seeing how many cats have been hiding in your neighborhood all along. For example, in college I thought there were approximately 2-4 cats near my apartment. Once I started feeding them around dusk, they all got trained to come near my feeding station at this time. I then realized there were easily over 20 cats!

You’ll also want to be on the lookout for ear tips! Ear tips are a universal sign that a feral cat has been fixed already. If you see cats with an ear tip, don’t count them in your numbers for cats that need to be trapped.

If you’re lucky, you might live near a spay/neuter clinic that takes TNR/community cats without an appointment. Most clinics however, require an appointment be made to be prepared for their surgeries. Call around to see which clinics have a TNR/community cat program near you. Clinics with these programs in place tend to have reduced surgery prices since they don’t receive a medical examination due to safety risks when dealing with feral cats. The TNR packages tend to include the surgery, rabies and ear tip.

You’ll need: a tarp or pee pads, newspaper, stinky bait, and some large towels that you don’t mind getting dirty, and a humane trap!

The tarp or pee pads are to line your car during transportation as well as a section of your floor in your home while the cat waits overnight & recovers. The newspaper will be needed to line the bottom of the trap to support the cat’s feet and it also acts as an absorbent pad if they pee or defecate while in the trap. For the bait, you’ll want to use very stinky and high reward food such as oily sardines or tuna in oil. The more fragrant and high reward the food, the more inclined the cats will be to go into the trap! Make sure the food you get is cat safe and doesn’t contain any additives that can cause them GI upset. You’ll need large towels to use to cover the traps to make the cats feel safe once trapped. If not, the cat will freak out and can harm themselves trying to push through the cage to escape. Lastly, you’ll want to make sure you have a humane trap to safely and ethically trap the feral cats. Clinics with TNR programs tend to rent them as well so you can ask the clinics for a trap when you’re scheduling an appointment.

Make sure not to feed the colony for the 2 days leading up to the appointment to ensure the cats are hungry enough to eat the bait in the trap.

Once you’ve acquired a trap, make sure you get familiar with it! In the Kitten Lady’s video I’ve attached, you can see how the trap functions and how she sets it up to help you. She also shows you how to line the trap with the newspaper and bait in a way to entice the cat to go into the trap fully and trigger it to close.

Once you’re all set, you can set your traps up outside! Make sure to place them along the side of a building or close to bushes so that a cat will be more inclined to enter. Avoid placing the trap in the middle of an open area since they tend to be more vulnerable and might be less likely to enter. You’ll also want to make sure you put the trap on a flat surface, if the cage is wobbly, a cat won’t want to enter since it’ll feel unstable and unsafe.

Then you’ll want to stay nearby so that you can hear when the trap triggers but not too close that you’re lingering and making the cats suspicious of entering the trap.

Once you’ve trapped a cat, gently lift up the towel to see if the cat has an ear tip. If they do, you’ll want to release them since they’ve already been altered. If they don’t have an ear tip, CONGRATS! You’ve just trapped your first feral cat! Place the trap indoors to keep the cat safe from predators or the elements until your appointment in the morning. You’ll want to keep the cat away from your own animals if you have pets to avoid transmitting diseases or parasites like fleas.

Line your car with the tarp or pee pads to avoid a mess in case the cat pees during the ride. Make sure you’re on time for your surgery appointment. Listen to your clinic’s directions closely and they’ll usually give you a time for pick up.

Once you pick up your cat(s) from surgery, the clinic will give you discharge instructions. You’ll wan to make sure you read these carefully since you’re new to trapping. These discharge instructions will also tell you to keep the feral cat indoors after surgery until the next morning to ensure they don’t have any side effects or complications from the procedure.

Although uncommon it is possible for them to have side effects or complications from the medications used or the procedure itself. These cats have never been to the vet before and could have underlying illnesses that make them more at risk so it’s important to monitor them closely. Pregnant cats or cats in heat can be at higher risk of complications after their spay due to increased vasculature. Feral cats can often have untreated wounds that when combined with healing of invasive procedures can unknowingly put them at increased risk as well. You’ll want to check them for signs of bleeding or lethargy before releasing them!

When it’s time, you can take the cat in the trap back to the location where it was originally trapped. You’ll place the covered trap on the ground, remove the towel, and lift the door of the trap! The cat will most likely run out and into some shrubbery to hide.

If possible try to trap as many cats at the same time to prevent the cats from learning to avoid the traps. Each cat trapped is a decreased chance of them having kitten outdoors! TNR saves lives!