Monday, December 1, 2008

Mysterious Kitten (part 2)

We have determined four adult ferals like the wonderful appealing smell of Feliway, in fact they like it enough to rub their furry little bodies on the trap I set for the kitten, then decide to take a nap right next to it. So that sounds all good, right? Wrong, the kitten won't come out if the other cats are there.

Next, I tried a little catnip. Uh Oh, can you see it now? That went over real well. Instead of relaxed cats enjoying the soothing results from feliway, now we have four crazy wild ferals having a blast in the cat shelter.


The trap.
The new sleeping arrangements, once the kitten is trapped.
Where the kitten currently lives.
I lifted the roof of the house, and there she was, and where she is currently.
I am absolutely crazy, I know. I have my doubts that I am going to be able to tame her now. I won't give up, but I have never dealt with such a stubborn, hard to trap kitten before. Adults, yes. Kittens, no.

Yesterday, I blocked one entry again, and opened the roof, and tried to get her to walk out into a carrier. She won't budge. The little house she is in has 2 levels. The top level is completely insulated, with just a little crawl space to crawl to the bottom. Once she is on the bottom, she is in another area completely out of reach. No way can I get her out of there without just taking the entire house out of the shelter, and making her leave. She has made herself completely at home.

Now I am thinking since we see her chasing crickets all the time. Perhaps if I put a jar of crickets in the trap, she will be curious enough to go in. I don't care how insane that makes me, I am up for trying anything. Hubby keeps telling me "you have to get the kitten, you have to get the kitten". UGH! I know already, it isn't like I haven't been trying. Hubby put on his leather gloves thinking he could grab her. Uh, no, I already tried, and she is getting big, and not such a small kitten anymore.

The really humorous part of this, is every time I go into the shelter now, the other four ferals follow me, I am sure just snickering in their kitty language with one another watching to see what other interesting smells, foods, feathers and little gadgets I am bringing them for their amusement.

So, I am off to go sit in the shelter and see if I can come up with any other crazy cat trapping ideas.

9 comments:

Dana said...

Thats so funny, I love watching my cats on catnip. They never liked it when they were kittens. Maybe the net is sounding like a good idea. I know you dont want to traumatize her. The cat that adopted us a few months ago has a bad habit. He climbs my window screens. Is there a way to stop this behavior? Oh, 5 dogs and a hubby in bed!! When Justin comes home I usually end up on the couch:(

Dog_geek said...

That is one determined kitten, but you are also very determined, so I know that you will win in the end.

Can you reach her in the bottom of the house with a snappy snare?

Can you take the whole house out of the shelter? It seems like it is easy enough to trap her in the house - can you just put the whole house in a separate enclosure, or fix the door of the house so that it exits into her new enclosure?

flydragon said...

You sure are having one tough time with this finicky, feral, furry, feline. I looking forward to reading a post about you scurrying about trying to catch crickets:)

Stacy Disarrayed said...

OH I hope you get it!!!

Anonymous said...

From what I can see it is a beautiful cat. My favorite has always been Grey strip . After my big boy got ran over I just couldn't stand it none would ever take his place.Right before he got killed he had fathered a litter and I took up with one calico baby. She laid with me all the time and I would cry missing her father. Now she is my HUGE girl muffin.

Betty said...

I do so hope you get her before much longer. How are you going to entice those crickets into the jar...what do they eat anyhow? Teehee. Oh, by the way, feel free to send me any poetry your hubby has written...would love to read them.

T said...

Mrs.Ruiz,
Cats are always fun to watch when they experience catnip, especially for the first time.:)

Stacy, I hope I get her soon too, She is a stubborn little stinker.

Brenda, she is a pretty little thing. She has a grey tabby tail, solid grey body with white feet, and an orange and grey tabby face. Too cute!

Flydragon and Betty,
Well I have been known to do some crazy things when trying to trap cats, but this time I will take the easy way and stop by our local Petsmart and buy some crickets. HEE HEE!

Dog geek,
I can't get a snare in the bottom level. If you look at the pictures you can see there is no bottom to the houses. They are also built in a way to block the wind, so when she jumps down to the bottom, she is behind a board toward the back of the shelter, no way to reach her.
I have 4 houses all next to eachother, so, she will go from house to house, when I am out there, and once she is on the bottom, I have no way of knowing which house she is under.

Moving the houses really is next to impossible, each one weighs almost 80 lbs, and taking them all out, just isn't possible.
I really do appreciate your suggestions. I might see if I can somehow block the back of each house underneath, so I might be able to push her into the carrier that way, but in order to do that, I will have to move each house, which will be a LOT of work.

Stay tuned, I must get the little thing, that isn't so little anymore, very soon.:)

Dana said...

Have you trapped that kitten yet?

T said...

No kitten yet! She is a challenge!