TNR Handbook - Neighborhood Cats
TNR Handbook - Neighborhood Cats TNR Handbook - Neighborhood Cats
The Neighborhood Cats TNR Handbook 3) Bar the carrier door by sliding the yardstick through both sides of the cage just in front of the carrier door. 4) Open the cage door. 5) For extra security, lock the carrier door. 6) Clean up and leave food in front. 7) Unlock the carrier door, using a plate or book to avoid scratches. 8) Close and lock the cage door 9) Remove the yardstick 10) Use the yardstick to maneuver the carrier door open. 11) Twist-tie the carrier door to the side of the cage. 12) Cover the cage partially or fully with the sheet. If you’d prefer, you can remove the carrier with the cat inside while you’re cleaning, of course after you’ve locked the carrier door. When you’re finished straightening up, put the carrier back inside, bar the door with the yardstick, unlock the carrier door, close the cage door, etc. • Feral Cat Handler (a better way?) The Feral Cat Handler is a product that may be an easier-to-use alternative for the Feral Cat Setup then the carrier and yardstick technique. The Handler comes in the shape of a rectangular box and has dimensions (17” L x 12” W x 12” L) similar to a small cat carrier. It has two doors – a sliding guillotine door in front and a small porthole with a round cover/door on the side. When the Feral Cat Handler is placed in a cage, the cat enters it through the open porthole. This would comport with typical feral behavior in seeking out dark, enclosed spaces. The cover to the porthole can be tipped shut and into a locked position from outside the cage by reaching in with a yardstick or something similar. In effect, the porthole and its cover serve the same purpose in the Feral Cat Setup as the yardstick barring the door of a normal cat carrier. The Feral Cat Handler’s porthole system is certainly faster and easier than the yardstick method, and its sliding guillotine front door allows for much safer and easier transfers from traps. We ourselves are not experienced enough yet in the use of the product to fully evaluate its usefulness as part of the Feral Cat Setup, but it looks like it’s well worth checking out. A Feral Cat Handler is essential if the cage involved is one that only has bars in the front, like most of those in veterinary and animal control facilities. There are no sides in those kinds of cages for a yardstick to slide through and bar a carrier door. The product comes in two colors, blue or white. More importantly, the guillotine front door comes either clear or smoked grey. You definitely want the smoked grey so the interior will be darker and more inviting to the cat. Here’s how to order: 73
The Neighborhood Cats TNR Handbook Feral Cat Handler White with clear or smoked door (No. 711 or 712); $49.50 (1 to 5), $47.30 (6+) Blue with clear or smoked door (No. 721 or 722); $52.80 (1 to 5); $50.60 (6+) Available from Tomahawk 1-800-272-8727; www.livetrap.com (click on “feral cat handler”) A similar product called the Feral Cat Den is also available. It’s smaller (15” L x 11” W x 10” H) and only comes with a clear front door: Feral Cat Den White with clear door (Model M-FDWC); $49.00 Granite with clear door (M-FDGC), $52.00 Available from Animal Care Equipment & Services (ACES) 1-800-338-ACES; www.animal-care.com/cata06a.htm (listed on the website under Safeguard Products) • Trap-to-carrier transfers A trap-to-carrier transfer should be a rare event and typically is not necessary during a TNR project. Whenever possible, the cat should be confined and transported in the trap. This is safer for all involved and lessens the opportunity for an escape. However, if you’re using the Feral Cat Setup, you may need to transfer into a small carrier so that the cat can be placed inside the cage. If the carrier is a Feral Cat Handler from Tomahawk or a Feral Cat Den from ACES, then the transfer from a trap is relatively easy and similar to a trap-to-trap transfer. (See “Trap-to-trap transfer” in Chapter 8.) The Handler is butted up against a wall or something immovable and its guillotine door is lined up with the rear door of the trap. The trap at this point should be covered with a sheet. Weight is applied to hold the trap down and, if a second person is present, she should hold the Handler in place. Both the rear trap door and Handler front door are lifted and the sheet on the trap is unfolded towards the Handler, causing the cat to move from light to dark and into the carrier. A trap divider to gently push him forward may be needed if that doesn’t work. Both doors are shut when the cat is inside. If you’re transferring into a normal carrier with a swinging front door, the process is trickier and requires even more care. Butt the back of the carrier up against an immovable object like a wall and open the carrier door as far as it will go to the side. Then move the trap so that its rear door is up against the front of the carrier, blocking the carrier’s opening (Figure 6). Notice how the carrier’s front door is positioned to the side, away from the trap. If there are two people, one person holds the carrier in place, the other keeps the trap from moving. If you’re doing this alone, make sure the carrier is firmly Figure 6 against the wall and cannot shift as long as your weight is on the trap. 74
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The <strong>Neighborhood</strong> <strong>Cats</strong> <strong>TNR</strong> <strong>Handbook</strong><br />
Feral Cat Handler<br />
White with clear or smoked door (No. 711 or 712); $49.50 (1 to 5), $47.30 (6+)<br />
Blue with clear or smoked door (No. 721 or 722); $52.80 (1 to 5); $50.60 (6+)<br />
Available from Tomahawk<br />
1-800-272-8727; www.livetrap.com (click on “feral cat handler”)<br />
A similar product called the Feral Cat Den is also available. It’s smaller (15” L x<br />
11” W x 10” H) and only comes with a clear front door:<br />
Feral Cat Den<br />
White with clear door (Model M-FDWC); $49.00<br />
Granite with clear door (M-FDGC), $52.00<br />
Available from Animal Care Equipment & Services (ACES)<br />
1-800-338-ACES; www.animal-care.com/cata06a.htm (listed on the website<br />
under Safeguard Products)<br />
• Trap-to-carrier transfers<br />
A trap-to-carrier transfer should be a rare event and typically is not necessary during a<br />
<strong>TNR</strong> project. Whenever possible, the cat should be confined and transported in the trap.<br />
This is safer for all involved and lessens the opportunity for an escape. However, if<br />
you’re using the Feral Cat Setup, you may need to transfer into a small carrier so that the<br />
cat can be placed inside the cage.<br />
If the carrier is a Feral Cat Handler from Tomahawk or a Feral Cat Den from ACES,<br />
then the transfer from a trap is relatively easy and similar to a trap-to-trap transfer. (See<br />
“Trap-to-trap transfer” in Chapter 8.) The Handler is butted up against a wall or<br />
something immovable and its guillotine door is lined up with the rear door of the trap.<br />
The trap at this point should be covered with a sheet. Weight is applied to hold the trap<br />
down and, if a second person is present, she should hold the Handler in place. Both the<br />
rear trap door and Handler front door are lifted and the sheet on the trap is unfolded<br />
towards the Handler, causing the cat to move from light to dark and into the carrier. A<br />
trap divider to gently push him forward may be needed if that doesn’t work. Both doors<br />
are shut when the cat is inside.<br />
If you’re transferring into a normal carrier with a<br />
swinging front door, the process is trickier and requires<br />
even more care. Butt the back of the carrier up against<br />
an immovable object like a wall and open the carrier<br />
door as far as it will go to the side. Then move the trap<br />
so that its rear door is up against the front of the carrier,<br />
blocking the carrier’s opening (Figure 6). Notice how the<br />
carrier’s front door is positioned to the side, away from<br />
the trap. If there are two people, one person holds the<br />
carrier in place, the other keeps the trap from moving. If<br />
you’re doing this alone, make sure the carrier is firmly<br />
Figure 6<br />
against the wall and cannot shift as long as your weight<br />
is on the trap.<br />
74
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