How to Get Stray Cats into a Trap
There are several reasons why the cat is ignoring the trap. Firstly, if the cat belongs to someone it’s going to be eating at least once a day. This means that the cat is prowling around on a full belly when it roams into the yard. Secondly, the trap could be placed in a spot the cat isn’t frequenting. A place less traveled so to speak. Thirdly, the cat is picky and doesn’t like the bait that’s being offered.
To catch the cat, observe where it goes in the yard. Where is it at when you see it? Cats usually hang out in the same spot or close to it so place the trap in that area. If you’ve chased the cat away several times it will be watching for you and may appear to disappear. You may not see it for a few days or weeks and then it will suddenly reappear. While the cat seems to just reappear it’s been there all along. Its been hiding from you or it changed the times it goes into your yard. For instance, if you spotted it at 2:30 every day and you stopped seeing it, it could have changed its time to 12:30 or 5:00.
Watch to see if the cat is being fed. There are some people who disappear for a day or two and leave their cat behind to fend for its self. They don’t feed it until they get back. During this time the cat will be looking for food and if you’ve baited a trap and placed it where the cat usually goes in your yard around the time the cat is usually seen then the odds increase dramatically in your favor for catching it.
Its harder to catch a cat with dry food as bait. Dry food doesn’t smell as strong as canned and cats don’t as readily pick up the scent. The upside of dry food is that it lasts and doesn’t spoil as easily as wet or canned. The canned food will spoil quite rapidly if it’s hot out. In a matter of hours if it’s extremely hot. If its cool out usually within a day. The canned food has a strong smell though and can get cats attention much faster. Canned food with a strong smell that usually works in getting a cat into a trap is tuna or any food with a fishy smell. Also to tempt a cat even more place some catnip on top of the food. If the cat won’t take the bait then experiment and try different canned food flavors.
