BS: Advice on catching young pussy

Subject: BS: Advice on catching young pussy
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 02:50 PM

This is NOT a chicken-hawk thread!

LOL

Anyway... There's a young 'wild' kitten living in the neighbours garage or somewhere close by... It shows up on the back porch for food from time to time, but it's really very unapproachable...

The local humane society wants a 40 buck deposit for an 11 buck a week rental for a trap that'll catch every other beastie in the hood... but there's a 2 or 3 week waiting list...

At the very least, I'd like to get him caught, and fixed... He can be released after that... but lemme tell ya, he's SOOO frigg'n cute, he'd make some little kid very happy... But I gotta get him trapped before he grows too old to 'bond' with people... I also wanna get him before harm befalls him, or he gets sick from hunger...

Any suggestions? Smear myself with fish oil and wait for him to atttack me? LOL

Subject: RE: BS: Advice on catching young pussy
From: Deckman
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 02:56 PM

Hey guy ... you're dealing with a ferrel cat here. I've got YEARS of experience at this. I've got to make a couple of business phone calls and then I'll get back to A.S.A.P. It ain't 'gonna be easy. Bob

Subject: RE: BS: Advice on catching young pussy
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 02:57 PM

The fish oil is probably going to be your best bet.

Put food out and wait by it, but not where you are too close. If he comes regularly, sit a little closer each time until you practically have the food in your lap. Let him get used to you. If you just grab for him, he will mistrust humans for the rest of his life. Mind you, some of the sickos there are in the world, that's no bad thing.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Advice on catching young pussy
From: Amos
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 02:58 PM

Just go sit on the porch and make a noise like a salmon, Clinton. You already have the smell part down, I think!!! :>)

A

Subject: RE: BS: Advice on catching young pussy
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 03:01 PM

LtS... ya... that 'slow approach' thing is the plan of action now...

Heh... Wanna hear a neat side bar?? When we got out youngest cat, she was barely more than a handfull of fur and ears... she wouldn't eat anything but the dry kibble our older cat gets... no wet food... no fish... nothing! LOL Our older cat used to look at her turning her nose up at fish like she had a lobster crawling out of her ear!

heh

DM... I await yer advice... Ferral.. ya... but young enough that hopefully if I get it soon enough, it'll domesticate easily...

Subject: RE: BS: Advice on catching young pussy
From: Little Hawk
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 03:36 PM

I looked at the thread title and thought: "What moronic dimwit launched this one?" Ha! Turns out to be my old buddy, Clinton.

Well...a few thoughts here.

I appreciate the fact that you want to help this cat. That is laudable. You might, with some work, be able to construct a sort of cage trap with bait in it and a trapdoor activated by a long string. The cat would surely go in sooner or later for the food, then you pull the string and voila! A couple of girls I knew caught a squirrel that way, and they are pretty alert too (the squirrels, I mean). The problem was that then they were not quite sure how to deal with the angry squirrel, so they finally released it.

Think about it from the cat's point of view for a minute though. Would you want to be trapped (while you are still young enough to "bond with people"), "fixed" (a misnomer if ever there was one), and then released??? I think you would harbour ill will toward people who did something like that to you. :-)

The question is, Clinton, ARE you still young enough to bond with people? I note that my own tendency toward bonding has lessened somewhat with advancing years, but it's still there to some extent. I wonder how being "fixed" would affect the situation? Hmmmm...

Here's another idea. You feign death. Go into the backyard and make like you're having a seizure or a heart attack or something, then collapse and lie there with your tongue hanging out. After maybe an hour or so the cat will not be able to resist investigating and will come right up to you and sniff you to see if you're dead. You then (and this has to be fast) GRAB the little rascal! I recommend a set of heavy leather gloves that go up to the shoulders at least for this technique...maybe even a catcher's vest and mask.

Well, these of course are somewhat specious arguments, but they are kind of fun. Here's hoping you do succeed in befriending the cat somehow.

And I am not a chicken hawk! I think I'm a sharp-shinned hawk or a goshawk or soemthing along that line.

- LH

Subject: RE: BS: Advice on catching young pussy
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 03:49 PM

They charge for that kind of thing in the States? But that's the kind of thing humane societies exist for in the first place surely, and that's basic equipment! It's like a firebrigade asking to pay for them to hire a hose before they come and put your fire out.

Liz's approach makes sense. And Little Hawk's I would advise against. You'll never be able to grab the kitten that way, I reckon.

This site sounds like it might be some help - How to Tame Feral Cats and Kittens

Subject: RE: BS: Advice on catching young pussy
From: Little Hawk
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 03:55 PM

Aw, darn, McGrath! I was hoping he'd go for it... :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Advice on catching young pussy
From: Phil Cooper
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 03:58 PM

My cat, Worf, was a feral rescue kitten. He still is skittish and won't go into a room without making sure he knows where the exits are. However, once he decides you're all right, he's the most affectionate cat we've had. His mother was also feral and learned to avoid traps. She would leave a litter in the neighborhood every year and the kittens would get caught and tamed up. Worf learned to avoid the traps like his mother, but two of his littermates had been caught. He kept coming to the window to see them. One day the person who had the other two kittens opened the window. Worf came in the house finally, and then she closed the window (took a house sized trap to get him). He was kept in a bathroom where he was handled a lot every day. I visited him several times over a period of a couple weeks before I took him home. It was worth the effort to tame him up. Good luck.

Subject: RE: BS: Advice on catching young pussy
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 04:08 PM

Well, if it was a young mountain lion or a skumk, Little Hawk, there could be a lot to be said for your advice to Clinton...

Subject: RE: BS: Advice on catching young pussy
From: GUEST,MMario
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 04:12 PM

just have to point out...Clinton lives in CANADA, not the US.

Subject: RE: BS: Advice on catching young pussy
From: Amergin
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 04:15 PM

thank god for that...

Subject: RE: BS: Advice on catching young pussy
From: Walking Eagle
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 04:16 PM

Clint--face it, you have been adopted.

Much easier to catch the young rascals when the weather is bad. See if you have any luck on a rainy, stormy night. Don't forget to wear thick gloves when you try to handle the little beast. And boy, can they BITE!

Subject: RE: BS: Advice on catching young pussy
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 04:17 PM

"They charge for that kind of thing in the States?"

Slight hair to split...

I'm NOT in the "States"

And yes, our Humane Society charges for stuff like that... The Humane Society needs money to run... and this is one of the ways they make it...

"I think you would harbour ill will toward people who did something like that to you."

It's a cat... they have a 2 minute memory... Only slightly longer than a goldfish...

There are lots of organisations who catch/fix/release wild cats... Especially in areas where there are too many cats to 'home' out... and where they're doing their job of keeping the local vermin under control... By catching and fixing as many as they can, they help keep the cat population under control as best they can... And fixing a wild cat does precious little to its behaviour... So it's not like it's a major "blow" to kitty...

Subject: RE: BS: Advice on catching young pussy
From: GUEST,Blind DRunk in Blind River
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 04:18 PM

Man, you are luck y I loged on! What I don't know abowt this cant be tought, eh? firszt off. You gotta like have the look man. Chicks dig a guy if he has the look. You also gotta have some money. You gotta have the gift ofthe gab. And wheels are a big asset. But there are other things too. Like what did nature give uyou to work with? Know what I mean?

Look Clinton man its' a big subjeck and I know I can help so like heres the deel. You drive up to Blind River eh? Meet me at Tim Hortons any afternoon around 3. I am the dude with the red baseball cap and the showlder length bland hair and msutache and the "finger" T-shirt. Ask for Shane. You will find me right away cause I am like an Adonnas in this town eh?

I will tell you eveything I know for a case lof beer and 3 packs of smokes. Make it Moslon Export and Players Light. After that man your on your own.

- BDiBR

Subject: RE: BS: Advice on catching young pussy
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 04:35 PM

*sigh*

Subject: RE: BS: Advice on catching young pussy
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 04:36 PM

Sorry about that. Silly mistake to make. But it still seems a strange way to raise the money, that's what jumble sales and charity shops are for. Charge for doing what you are there for, and it gets in the way if being able to do it.

Giving a young Tom the chop definitely changes its way of life. Cuts out most of the fights and reduces the territory he patrols. With a female stopping her having kittens is a rather major change too.

Either way the cat would be likely to live a lot longer.

Subject: RE: BS: Advice on catching young pussy
From: Ebbie
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 04:41 PM

Clinton, I think you're going to end up with a wonderful cat. I did.

Years ago there was a feral cat who had a litter of kittens every year somewhere back of my lot, and I wanted one of the kittens. I started putting a bowl of food on the back porch- the mother, so far as I know, never indulged, she'd hang back whining anxiously at her six young'uns. I stayed at the window watching and as soon as the bowl was empty or the kittens had had enough I went out and picked up the bowl, which encouraged them, I think, to grab it while the grabbing was good.

I left the kitchen door wide open. Eventually I moved the bowl to the kitchen entrance and eventually one curious kit wandered into the house. I was nearby and softly closed the door.

It took a while but that kitten became a wonder cat, a real snuggler. When I stayed up too late, in her opinion, she'd dash repeatedly for the bedroom and pace up and down on the pillows, until I gave up and went to bed.

Good luck. (And if the kit is fixed, it will probably live a whole lot longer, not to mention peaceably.)

Subject: RE: BS: Advice on catching young pussy
From: NicoleC
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 04:43 PM

It's a cat... they have a 2 minute memory...

Bwaahahahaha!

Clinton, you've never been owned by a cat before, have you?

Cats are likely to PRETEND to forget, but that's about it :)

Subject: RE: BS: Advice on catching young pussy
From: Cluin
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 04:55 PM

I'll get an e-mail off to Marlin Perkin's old pal, Stan Brock (the guy who made the Crocodile Hunter guy look like a piker). He'll be over with chase it down with a lasso while mounted bareback on an ostrich, but you should be prepared to have him hanging around the place for a few days, shirtless, shoeless, and drunk.

(kinda like me, remember?)

Subject: RE: BS: Advice on catching young pussy
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 05:00 PM

"Feral" is really only correct for a cat that has cut all its ties with people, and is living as a wild creature. A kitten that hasn't yet settled down and taken possession of a human isn't quite the same thing. And there are lots of cats who drift around visiting a number of households, and settling down for a few days or weeks here and there, and they aren't feral either.

Most cats seem to find humans quite handy to have around, and it's likely this one will decide to try doing that, if approached politely, and treated with due respect.

Subject: RE: BS: Advice on catching young pussy
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 05:17 PM

" hanging around the place for a few days, shirtless, shoeless, and drunk. (kinda like me, remember?)"

Ahhh... one of my most erotic memories...

heh

"I think you're going to end up with a wonderful cat"

Oh, I have no designs on keeping this one for myself... we have two already.. one who was a 'rescue' after hitting 'adulthood'.. she has all the classic symptoms of a once 'feral' who now enjoys living indoors... but she's not a real affectionate cat... And when we brought the new kitten into the house last year, she was a right bitch for months while she grew accustom to tolerating this new presance... I wouldn't put her through the stress of ANOTHER kitten...

"you've never been owned by a cat before, have you?"

Put it that way, and no I haven't... -I- am the alpha beast in this place and my pets know it... And I've had cats all my life...

Subject: RE: BS: Advice on catching young pussy
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 05:18 PM

Ya.. good point McGoH... Feral is a specific term... call this one 'wild'

heh

Subject: RE: BS: Advice on catching young pussy
From: Deckman
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 05:22 PM

Sorry to be so long getting back to you. O.K., seems to me you've got several issues here: first is catching the kritter, then comes the problem of what to do with it after you've caught it. I know lots of male friends that have had the same problem and all they can think to do is marry them. But, that's another thread.

Here's a trick I have used successfully several times. And it does take time and patience. I don't know if you're a fisherman, but get a large salmon net. The bigger the better. Mine is 30" across the hoop (we have big salmon out here). Lay it out in the yard and start placing the food inside the hoop that's laying flat on the ground. After the kitty trusts the food, and the net, and you enough, all you have to do is flip the net over and you've got the kitty safely pinned to the ground.

Now, the work starts.

By the way, is it still small enough for the crock pot? Just kidding! CHEERS, Bob

Subject: RE: BS: Advice on catching young pussy
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 05:28 PM

Nice idea with the net thing DM... although it'd have to be a really small weave net to nab this little dude...

and as I said before (I suspect we're cross-posting) I have no designs on keeping this guy for myself... He'll get taken to the Humane Society, where some little boy or girl will find him and give him the good home he deserves...

Crock pot? Hell, I could nearly swallow this wee guy whole...

Heh

Subject: RE: BS: Advice on catching young pussy
From: Deckman
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 05:35 PM

That's why I gave up fly fishing. It takes so long to clean them. You gotta pull off their wings, and legs, and gut 'em. And it takes hundreds to make a decent meal! Bob

Subject: RE: BS: Advice on catching young pussy
From: kendall
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 07:29 PM

I had a similar experience, and the key is patience. Keep putting food out, GOOD stuff, not crap that it can get just anywhere, and as someone suggested, be patient, and allow the cat to come to you. As a little boy of 5 once said to me, in order to pet his pet chicken, "You gotta act like you don't want to." This kitten used to come to the edge of the lawn and cry every day. I started feeding it, and in a few weeks it was eating out of my hand. Whatever you do, DONT GRAB IT. Cats hate being ignored. Maybe thats why women like cats, they have much in common!

Subject: RE: BS: Advice on catching young pussy
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 08:28 PM

Don't like being grabbed either.

Subject: RE: BS: Advice on catching young pussy
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 08:37 PM

2 minute memory!!! Ever taken a cat off a mouse or other victim and put pussy in the house? I'll guarantee you pussy will go back to exactly the same spot over an hour later....

Catching, a combination of bait (a bit of food) and a lot of patience will work.

Subject: RE: BS: Advice on catching young pussy
From: Deckman
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 08:52 PM

Same thing happens with a guy. As you said ... take a guy off a woman and an hour later he's still looking for the ... oh, never mind!

Subject: RE: BS: Advice on catching young pussy
From: Bobert
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 09:02 PM

Okay, Clinton, all joking aside, GUEST, Jon has just given you the formula: food and patience. I've have a 12 year old cat who was born to a wild mother in a crawl space under my office and that exactly what I did to catch her and bring her home.

Start with the feeding and bring the food bowl a little closer every day to where you can sit and talk with the cat. The cat will eventually get to within just a couple of feet of you and as long as you don't make any attempts to *grab* it, the cat will come and rub its head on your leg or hand. Play hard-to-get for many days but let the cat know its okay to rub on your legs. Their will come that day when the cat will allow you to pet it but that day isn't the day to try to pick it up. It won't go for that at all. Should you need to pick it up to move it tom like your home (or its new home) it isn't gonna like this so be sure to have a cat carrier box readied and get the grabbing and placing in the box done quickly.

As fir the new home, be sure to have a food source available fir kitty and all should go well.

My cat is still very much wild but she is sweet and will walk in the gardens with me and rub on my legs and let me pet her. But I know not to try to pick her up. That's a no-no.

Good luck.

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: Advice on catching young pussy
From: Sorcha
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 10:20 PM

Use something nice and smelly like tuna or salmon for bait, with canned kitten food.

Subject: RE: BS: Advice on catching young pussy
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 10:53 PM

Two minute memory? Please tell that to my cat that I tried to put a flea collar on two weeks ago. He's still pissed off and collarless.

Subject: RE: BS: Advice on catching young pussy
From: Bobert
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 11:50 PM

Well, Bruce, he'll get over it. He really will. A little tuna will accelerate the process...

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: Advice on catching young pussy
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Jul 03 - 12:24 AM

Good luck! Lots of good advice.

Subject: RE: BS: Advice on catching young pussy
From: NicoleC
Date: 30 Jul 03 - 01:26 AM

Bruce, you should see my kitty right now. Like a manic depressive, she waffles hourly between, "Ohmigod, there's boxes all over the place!" and "Ohmigod... there's boxes all over the place..."

I can't WAIT to drive all the way to LA with a howling cat.

As for the collar, get a new one and stick it on the floor near kitty's playthings. While playing with kitty, wiggle the collar and try to get him to bat at it. Rub with catnip if desired. Repeat for a month or so, until kitty is bored with collar as no longer an unusual item, then try CASUALLY placing the collar on him when he's in a good mood.

Mine had an irrational fear of harnesses that her previous guardian swore she had tried for years to cure, and this method did the trick. Now when she hears the harness, she comes running to go for a walk!

Subject: RE: BS: Advice on catching young pussy
From: gnu
Date: 30 Jul 03 - 06:56 AM

I never used to put Cheucie's collar on very tight so that she could get out of it if need be, say, if she caught it on a branch. If it came off, she would bring her collar home in her mouth, set it down, sit, and look at me, indicating that she wanted it put on "now". The trick was this... For her first collar, I got a bright red one and made a big fuss about it as if it was a special present, from presenting her with the box containing it to excitedly opening the box. Then, when I put the collar on her, I admired and praised the look of it whilst petting her. I even put her in front of the mirror and showed her how nice it looked. After she got use to it, the flea collar was easy. Funny thing though - she would come home sometimes still wearing the red collar but no flea collar.

Subject: RE: BS: Advice on catching young pussy
From: Dead Horse
Date: 30 Jul 03 - 02:33 PM

I always use the same method for catching young pussy as I do for catching young beaver!

Subject: RE: BS: Advice on catching young pussy
From: rangeroger
Date: 30 Jul 03 - 08:56 PM

Kevin, your comment about the fire brigade is interesting in that where I live, we have fire protection districts. If you don't belong,ie;haven't paid to rent the hose,they will watch your house burn. If you live on forested land they will put the fire out if it endangers the trees.

rr

Subject: RE: BS: Advice on catching young pussy
From: Hrothgar
Date: 31 Jul 03 - 04:51 AM

I have the wrong approach to feral cats, based on the damage they do to native wild life.

Shoot the bastard!

Subject: RE: BS: Advice on catching young pussy
From: kendall
Date: 31 Jul 03 - 08:11 AM

To apply that same logic, consider the damage HUMANS do to the bovine, poultry , and fish stocks. And there are more of us than of feral cats.

Subject: RE: BS: Advice on catching young pussy
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Jul 03 - 11:26 AM

I find that NOT making fuss at all is the best way to do anything for/with a cat. Putting on collars, giving medicine. If you act like it's a big deal, they respond accordingly and won't let you catch them.

We don't use flea collars--there are products out there that are much more effective and comprehensive. Ask your vet about Revolution--it takes care of fleas, ticks, earmites, heartworm, probably a few others, with one monthly application on the back of the neck where the cat can't lick. I use it for 6 to 8 months a year, during the most active flea and mosquito season.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Advice on catching young pussy
From: Hrothgar
Date: 03 Aug 03 - 07:06 AM

Don't give me ideas, Kendall.

:-)

Subject: RE: BS: Advice on catching young pussy
From: Naemanson
Date: 03 Aug 03 - 03:42 PM

I had a cat once that a girlfriend brought home. It was living wild but she easily caught it because it was sick, crawling with fleas and probably starving. And it was a young kitten. She took it to the vet and got it cleaned up and made well again. When it was old enough we had her spayed.

We lived in a two bedroom apartment and knew if we let The White Cat out the door we'd probably never see her again. So we kept her in and ntertained her as best we could. She let us pet her and play with her. She loved her toys and was perfectly willing to occupy a room with us. Her favorite game was chasing pennies we rolled along the floor. I decided she must be a Republican considering her penchant for cash. Another favorite game was chasing soap bubbles.

But she never became a loving cat who would climb into your lap. She enjoyed being petted and I could pick her up and hold her for a short time but she'd rather be on her own four feet.

When my girlfriend left she didn't take the cat. That cat was my comforter through a pretty hard time though there were never any instances of holding her or hugging her like a stuufed toy. She wouldn't put up with any of that. Eventually she got to where she would sit on the couch with me but never close enough that I could stroke her for very long.

During the day she would sit on the window sills and watch the world go by. It did that at high speeed with cars whizzing down the road. I knew that she would be a target if she went out there. There were dogs and children and cars and who knows what to end her life. But I also knew that she really wanted to be out there, hunting and doing cat things. She was never completely happy as an indoor cat.

My next girlfriend was allergic to her. At first that was only an inconvenience but as we moved closer and closer to living together and marriage I realized I would have to do something about The White Cat.

I took her to the farm. At some point each of us kids have given an animal to our parents to care for. The farm was isolated enough that The White Cat could become the outdoor cat she wanted to be.

At first she was very skittish in her new location. There were three dogs living in the house as well as three or four cats. It took her a week to explore the house. But then she discovered that the outer doors would open for her and she could go outside. The way my parents describe it she was beside herself with excitement. She spent every waking hour outdoors. They saw her exploring the edges of the yard where the grass becomes hayfield. They saw here pussyfooting through the wreckage of what had been a barn. She was happy at last.

Then she disappeared.

She was gone at least ten days before my mother called with the news that they thought she was dead. She'd been gone too long. I told them I had expected something like this and not to worry. If she was dead she'd died where she had needed to be for so long. I told her not to worry. I felt bad but I knew it was for the best.

And two days later she turned up again, skinny, dirty, and perfectly willing to be an indoor cat for a while. She ate well, and lazed around, cat fashion, building up her strength. And then she disappeared again.

This time she was gone at least two weeks before Mom called me to pass on the news. Once more I reassured her that it was OK and not to worry.

Then, a little while later, Dad went down to the spring to get water for his aquarium. And he saw The White Cat hunting in the woods, making her own way around, quite happy and completely uninterested in anything he had to offer. He called her and she just watched him for a while and then disappeared into the brush.

No one has seen her since. She probably didn't survive the winter. It was a rough one. I went up in October, after my relationship died, and walked the woods calling for her. She wasn't responding.

I suppose she could still be up there, hunting and making her way through the world. Or she could be gone for good. But I know she was where she had to be. I know she was as happy as she could be. I am satisfied I did the right thing releasing her into the wild.

She was The White Cat and she will live in my memories for a long time.

Subject: RE: BS: Advice on catching young pussy
From: Deckman
Date: 03 Aug 03 - 03:54 PM

That's a very sweet story. Thanks for sharing it. I am a cat person also. Bob