Set Up Your Holding/Recovery Area

• Choose an indoor, dry, temperature-controlled (about 75°F), and safe overnight holding/recovery area to potentially use before and after the cats’ surgeries.
• Some examples of acceptable locations are bathrooms, basements and garages.
Make sure the recovery area is quiet and inaccessible to other animals.
• Ensure that all entries in and out (doors, windows, ceiling tiles, etc.) are closed at all times in the unlikely event that a cat escapes from the trap.

Assemble Your Trapping Kit

Your trapping kit should include:
• A FRIEND. Alley Cat Allies recommends trapping with at least one other person for your safety and peace of mind. A cell phone and flashlight are also suggested for these reasons.
• TRAPS. You should have one trap per cat
• BAIT. You need to give cats a reason to enter traps. We like using several large pop-top cans of tuna, mackerel, sardines, or other smelly fish. The canned fish should be packed in oil so it does not dry out. If you don’t bring pop-top cans, be sure to bring a can opener.
• WET WIPES or paper towels for easy cleanup.
• FORKS or spoons (to scoop out the bait).
• NEWSPAPER to line the bottom of the traps and tape or clothespins to hold it to the trap floor if necessary (like on windy days). Magnetic vent covers also do the trick!
• TRAP LABELS with room for the date, cat description, exact location where the cat was trapped, and room for any observations, such as noticeable injuries.
• TRAP COVERS that are big enough (i.e., beach-size towels, blankets, or sheets—cut to size) to fully cover the top and all four sides of each trap. One cover per trap.
• CARABINERS, twist ties, or pipe cleaners to secure the closed doors of the traps.
• TRASH BAGS for tuna lids, used plastic ware, etc.
• THICK GLOVES to wear for your safety and comfort while carrying the cats in traps.
• VEHICLE LINERS such as cardboard, large plastic trash bags, a plastic shower curtain, or towels. Puppy pads also work well if cats have accidents.
• BUNGEE CORDS to hold traps securely in place in your vehicle during transportation.
• PATIENCE. Trapping can be time-consuming and sometimes a bit stressful. If you remember to stay calm and follow the plan you created, you will be successful!

Make Spay and Neuter Appointments with the Clinic

Pick the day you will trap and schedule your neuter appointments as close to the time of trapping as possible. Check the weather report and plan accordingly. Aim to trap the day before or the morning of the appointments.

Trapping

On the day of trapping, prepare all the traps. Do all your setup and preparation away from the colony site. Remember: community cats are generally fearful of people.  Trapping will also go more smoothly if you don’t disrupt the cats’ feeding area. Throughout the entire trapping process, clinic stay, recovery, and return, you should make the environment around the cats as calm and quiet as possible. This will help minimize their stress.  Withhold food 24 hours before trapping but always provide water. This will ensure that the cats are hungry enough to go into the traps. Remind other caregivers and neighbors
to withhold food as well.

1. Count all your traps and record how many you have. Draw a rough map of where you’re placing traps to help keep track of them. Write down which cat came from which location, if your trapping area is large.
2. Line trap bottoms with a liner, such as newspaper or vent cover. If using newspaper, tape or clothespin the paper down if it’s windy.
3. Run a test to make sure the trip plate is functioning properly before you bait the trap.
4. Place about one tablespoon of bait at the very back of the trap so the cat must step on the trip plate to reach the food. You may choose to put the food on a safe, disposable container (such as a plastic lid or paper plate). Drizzle some juice from the bait in a zigzag pattern along the trap floor toward the entrance. Also place a tiny bit of food (¼ teaspoon) just inside the entrance of the trap to encourage the cat to walk in. Do not use too much food at the entrance of the trap. The cat must be hungry enough to continue to the trip plate, and they need to have a near empty stomach for at least 12 hours before surgery.
5. Place the traps on level ground at the colony site. The cats will not enter an unstable or wobbly trap. Make sure the traps are not placed on a hill where they could tip or roll over when the cats enter them. Metal traps should never be placed on particularly hot or cold pavement, or they could become painful to cats’ paws.
6. Fill in the exact location where you are setting the trap on your trap label. This will make return much easier!
7. Cover the traps and leave only about 1/4 of the front of the trap exposed. If you find the cats aren’t going into the traps, try removing the covers. Every cat is different, so you may need to use a combination of covered and uncovered traps.
8. Set the trap and move away from the area and out of sight of the cats.
9. Be patient. At each trap, wait for a cat to enter and for the trap to close.
   Tip: Keep an eye on the traps at all times for the safety of the cats and to make sure your equipment is not taken or tampered with. Observe from a location far enough away that the cats will not be disturbed, but close enough to see all the traps. NEVER leave a set trap unattended.

Once Cats Are Trapped, Calmly Approach the Traps

1. Do not open the traps or touch the cats, even if it appears the cats are hurting themselves. Cats may thrash around after being trapped. Do not be alarmed by this— they are just scared and it is completely normal. Covering the trap will calm them down almost immediately. Remember: the only time cats should be removed from traps is during surgery and when you return them to their outdoor homes.
2. Secure the closed doors of the traps with carabiners, twist ties, or another securing item.
3. When trapping an entire colony, use your best judgment about removing each cat as they are trapped. Going to get one trap could scare away the other cats and disrupt the rest of the trapping. Wait to remove the trapped cats until other cats are not around. When setting out your traps, partially cover the back end of them to give trapped cats a bit of security until you can cover them fully.
4. Keep in mind, these are only guidelines. Some situations may call for you to deviate from them, so trust your instincts. For example, if a cat is severely thrashing around, you may need to immediately cover the trap and remove it from the area. If you are trapping in very cold or hot weather, cats should be covered and moved to a temperature-controlled location (like your car) as soon as they are trapped.
   IMPORTANT: It is possible for a cat to die from hypothermia or heat stroke when confined in a trap outside. A simple guideline—if it is too hot or cold outside for you, then it is too hot or cold for the cats to be sitting in a trap. Move trapped cats to a temperature-controlled holding area as soon as possible.
5. Count your traps again before leaving the trapping area to ensure you don’t leave any behind.

Recovery

1. Each cat should be returned to you in the same labelled trap in which she was brought to the clinic, with clean newspaper inside. You should receive medical records, including rabies vaccine  certificates. Be sure to save these for your files!
2. Let the cats recover overnight in their traps, in the recovery area you have set up for them. Make sure the traps remain in the climate-controlled and quiet recovery area that you already prepared.  When a cat is recovering from anesthesia, she is unable to regulate her body
   temperature. This is why it’s so important for the recovery area to be warm but not hot— about 75°F.
3. While the cats are recovering, keep their traps covered. This reduces the stress on the cats and ensures both you and they are safe.
4. Monitor the cats. Check in regularly, about every hour or two. Keep an eye out for bleeding, infection, illness, or lack of appetite. If a cat is bleeding, vomiting, breathing irregularly, or not waking up, contact your veterinarian immediately!
5. Feed kittens under 6 months old shortly after they wake from anesthesia. Adult cats can be fed a few hours after they wake, but you may wait to feed them until after you return them to their colony site. To learn how to safely feed cats while they are in their traps, go to alleycat.org/PostSurgery.
6. Cats can be returned to their outdoor homes 24 hours after surgery if they’re clear-eyed and alert. You may want to make exceptions for cats who are slow to recover or need continuing post-operative care. Since anesthesia drugs can impair cats’ ability to regulate their body  temperature, make sure cats are well recovered if it is exceptionally hot or cold outdoors (learn more at alleycat.org/WinterTips). The general rule is that the sooner the cats are returned to their outdoor home, the better. Confinement is extremely stressful for community cats.
7. Return the cats to the same location where you trapped them. Early morning is a good time, as it is quieter. Point the traps away from roads or high-traffic areas so the cats don’t run into them. Open the front door of the trap and then completely remove the cover. If the trap has a back door, move the cover away and pull the door up and off (if possible with your trap), then completely remove the cover and walk away. Be careful to keep your distance and keep your fingers and hands as far from the cat as possible when opening the trap. Sometimes it takes the cats a moment to realize where they are, but they will run off once they get their bearings. Watch videos of cats being returned and how to carry out TNR at youtube.com/AlleyCatAllies.
8. Once you have returned the cats, provide food and water. If you are the cats’ caregiver, you can resume the cats’ regular feeding schedule. The cats may stay away from the area for a few days after being returned, but they will come back eventually.
9. Clean traps with non-toxic disinfectant, throw out all newspaper, and wash trap covers.