How to catch a feral cat?

[Jimin]

There’s this feral cat that attacked my girls a few nights back. Luckily all of my girls survived but they were still traumatized and one had a lot of missing feathers.

I locked them up in their coop the next night but the cat came back and tried to reach its paws into tiny gaps and managed to rip out more feathers. My girls were screaming so I was able to run out and shoo the thing away.

When my dad came back from work today, we did some major reinforcements on our coop. All the tiny gaps and possible entries were closed up and we pretty much boarded the majority of the coop and then triple wired the entire thing.

Because of covid-19, I pretty much don’t sleep at night. So I can listen and monitor my girls while they get their rest. I knew this cat would come back and low and behold at 1:30am I hear yowls and loud meowing from my window. The cat is probably super frustrated MUAHAHHA.

But, I took a closer look at the thing and the major concern I have now is that the cat looks like it has a disease. The thing is smaller than your domestic cat but really aggressive. It’s face looked swollen and definitely some eye discharge.

I live in a residential area and we have little toddlers running around during the day. I’ve only seen this cat at night but the concern is still there because it could transmit diseases to my neighbors cats who chill outside. By the way, I’ve never had a problem with my neighbors cats. They tend to just vibe with my hens.

I was going to contact my local animal control but they said that they are most likely to euthanize it. I don’t know how to catch the thing safely and frankly I don’t know much about feral cats so if anyone has any suggestions or recommendations I would really appreciate it!

 

[Jimin]

There’s this feral cat that attacked my girls a few nights back. Luckily all of my girls survived but they were still traumatized and one had a lot of missing feathers.

I locked them up in their coop the next night but the cat came back and tried to reach its paws into tiny gaps and managed to rip out more feathers. My girls were screaming so I was able to run out and shoo the thing away.

When my dad came back from work today, we did some major reinforcements on our coop. All the tiny gaps and possible entries were closed up and we pretty much boarded the majority of the coop and then triple wired the entire thing.

Because of covid-19, I pretty much don’t sleep at night. So I can listen and monitor my girls while they get their rest. I knew this cat would come back and low and behold at 1:30am I hear yowls and loud meowing from my window. The cat is probably super frustrated MUAHAHHA.

But, I took a closer look at the thing and the major concern I have now is that the cat looks like it has a disease. The thing is smaller than your domestic cat but really aggressive. It’s face looked swollen and definitely some eye discharge.

I live in a residential area and we have little toddlers running around during the day. I’ve only seen this cat at night but the concern is still there because it could transmit diseases to my neighbors cats who chill outside. By the way, I’ve never had a problem with my neighbors cats. They tend to just vibe with my hens.

I was going to contact my local animal control but they said that they are most likely to euthanize it. I don’t know how to catch the thing safely and frankly I don’t know much about feral cats so if anyone has any suggestions or recommendations I would really appreciate it!

Update: I did some research and found out that some cats can’t stand the smell of oranges and coffee. Makes a lot of sense, because I threw a few clementines into my girls’ run about 2-3 months ago. They didn't eat a single one and the citrus never really decomposed until recently. The citrus just rolled around to the edge of the run and I guess unintentionally made a barrier to ward off the feline now dubbed Lucifer (Luci for short).

The balls of citrus eventually got weathered down to nothing so I guess I’m gonna have to renew the thing and spread citrus peels around the coop and run. Pretty much, I’ll be “salting” their house to thwart the demon. A bit worried that my tiny doggo might accidentally ingest the coffee grounds so I might just throw that into the compost pile imstead,

 

[SurferchickinSB]

Update: I did some research and found out that some cats can’t stand the smell of oranges and coffee. Makes a lot of sense, because I threw a few clementines into my girls’ run about 2-3 months ago. They didn't eat a single one and the citrus never really decomposed until recently. The citrus just rolled around to the edge of the run and I guess unintentionally made a barrier to ward off the feline now dubbed Lucifer (Luci for short).

The balls of citrus eventually got weathered down to nothing so I guess I’m gonna have to renew the thing and spread citrus peels around the coop and run. Pretty much, I’ll be “salting” their house to thwart the demon. A bit worried that my tiny doggo might accidentally ingest the coffee grounds so I might just throw that into the compost pile imstead,

Well, if that does not work, maybe you should see if Animal Control will lend you a live trap and then you can set the trap at night and catch it and bring it to Animal Control and let them deal with it. They will probably have to euthanize it, but it’s better than having a sick cat around attacking your girls and getting other animals sick around it. Euthanasia is not always a bad thing like people think, it just puts an animal out of its misery.

 

[Naser]

Live trap baited with cat food, sardines or something similar

 

[neo71665]

.22 but I live in the country

 

[Shezadandy]

There might be a feral cat rescue in your area that has the resources to capture (live baited trap) and then address the cat's medical needs - but if the problems are too big they might have to euthanize it unless you can afford to have it treated yourself. Trap and release I think is what they call it- if treatable, they'll neuter it and mark it in some way (a small clip off the ear is common so they can identify it as already having been neutered).

 

[Hidrainja4]

Depends on your local resources. We have a no kill shelter that would take it . I would have to use a have a heart trap , cook chicken for bait is popular with cats. The animal warden would take it to the shelter . I could not take in. Have a heart trap is great. Be prepare to catch several neighbor cats before you catch the feral cats. I live close to railroad tracks feral cats are part of the natural fauna here. Fix the holes in your coop!! cover windows and such with hardware cloth. If a cats can stick its paw through so can a raccoon then you will have carnage.

 

[Howard E]

The easiest and best (albeit seldom the least expensive) solution to all predator problems, including feral cats, is to put chickens in safe housing that no predator can get past. Do that and no harm comes to the birds.....ever. You (and the birds) get to sleep sound at night with no worries. If you are unable or unwilling to do that, then trapping becomes an option some turn to as the solution.

In that regard, once you have made the decision to trap it to solve the problem, feral cats are no different than any other predator. You trap it, you kill it. Problem solved. Don't think of them as any different than swatting a bug. Other than scale, they are no different. If you can't accept that, then stick to live and let live and go back to working on exclusion.

To trap a feral cat, assuming you have a live trap, dry cat food. Make a bread crumb like trail of individual scattered pieces starting outside the door and leading cat to back of trap, where the mother lode resides. If you catch a neighbor's cat, pick the trap up, give it a good shaking to make the experience memorable and unpleasant, then cut them loose. They won't be back. Do the same with any possums.......unless you want to kill them too. Do the same with skunks at your own risk.

Once you have your feral, up to you to decide how to end it. Most will use a .22 to the head. Employ the double or triple tap if you are a bad shot.

 

[SueT]

What are you planning to do w it if you trap it? Release it somewhere else to be a problem to others, and to suffer and die? Let the animal control take it. You are lucky to have this option.

 

[Jimin]

What are you planning to do w it if you trap it? Release it somewhere else to be a problem to others, and to suffer and die? Let the animal control take it. You are lucky to have this option.

Someone recommended that I look up feral cat rescues and give it to them instead. Who said I would release the thing somewhere else?