Figure 12-1 shows the Setup fullyassembled. The bottom of the cage islined with newspaper. The den with asmall towel inside sits in the rearcorner to your left as you’re facing thefront of the cage. This leaves theround side door accessible from theside. Towards the front of the cage,the litter pan sits to the left and thefood and water bowls are to the right.A sheet covers the back half of thecage at all times and can be pulledover the front half when you want tomake the cat’s environment as calm aspossible.For the litter pan, you can use asmaller one, measuring approximatelyFigure 12-110 inches in width and 14 inches in length. Or a small plastic dish pan with similardimensions will work. Using shredded newspaper instead of regular litter may help keepthe cage cleaner. Placing the cat insideDon’t try to transfer a cat directly out of a trap and into a cage. This type of transfercarries a high risk of injury or escape because both the trap door and cage door have to beopen at the same time. Because the door of the trap is much smaller than the door of thecage, a large gap above the trap is created. All the cat has to do is exit the trap, twistaround, jump over the trap and take off. You won’t be able to pull back the trap and shutthe cage door fast enough to stop him. A much safer technique is to transfer the cat fromthe trap into the feral cat den, then put the den inside the cage. (See “Transfers fromtraps” in Chapter 9.)If the cat will go directly into the Setup after a visit to the veterinarian or spay/neuterclinic, give the den (with a towel inside) to the staff and ask them to put the cat in whilehe’s still sedated. That way, when you pick him up, he’ll already be inside. Make surethe side door is locked before you carry him home(Figure 12-2). It’s difficult for a cat to open theside door even if it’s unlocked, but things can shiftand move around during transport and you want tobe as safe as possible. If you’re using an oldermodel den without a side door lock, use a piece ofduct tape to secure the side door. Also check thatthe front door is locked.Once the cat has been transferred or isotherwise inside the den, place the den, stillFigure 12-2: closed & lockedlocked, into the Setup cage. Next, put in the litter110
pan, food and water. When everything is in place, unlock the den’s side door, but do notopen it (Figure 12-3). Shut and secure the cage door, reach through the bars with abroomstick and then, pushing up from its lower left, lift the side door of the den into itsopen position (Figure 12-4). While it’s possible with the Tomahawk feral cat den to lockthe side door into an open position, do not attempt to do this. You need the side doorunlocked so you can open and close it from outside the cage. The side door should stayopen on its own anyway without being locked into that position.Finally, cover the entire cage with the sheet to calm the cat. Once he’s gotten used tohis new space, you can pull back the sheet, but always leave at least the back halfcovered.Figure 12-3: closed & unlockedFigure 12-4: open & unlocked Feeding and cleaningOnce the cat is inside the Setup and the side door of the den is open, he’s free to moveabout, eat, poop, scatter the litter, shred the newspaper, tip over the water dish, etc.Usually, your guest won’t behave that badly, but you will need to regularly feed and dosome housekeeping. Before you open the cage door to get to work, the cat must beinside the den with the side door shut. Normally, this is not a problem because mostferal cats will spend almost all their time in the den and all you’ll need to do is reachthrough the bars of the cage with the broomstick and tilt the side door closed. If the cathappens to be out when you want to get in the cage, she’ll usually head straight backinside the den as soon as she sees you approaching.If she starts to get comfortable outside the den and doesn’t go back in when youapproach, then you may have to coax her. Pulling back the sheet all the way and leavingthe entire cage uncovered might do the trick. Other methods include making a loudnoise, tapping the side of the cage, poking very gently with the broomstick or spritzingwith a light spray of water. If these don’t work and the cat just won’t go in the den, waitand try again later. Under no circumstances should you open the cage door while the catis out.Once the cat is inside the den with the side door closed, you can safely open the cagedoor. The first thing you should do is lock the side door of the den. As mentioned, it’s111
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TNR HandbookThe Guide to Trap-Neute
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Table of ContentsForeword by Susan
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Chapter Ten: The Neighborhood Cats
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ForewordOne of the first ferals I e
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Introduction“If we keep ‘em in
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2. What is Trap-Neuter-Return?Trap-
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c) Fewer nuisance complaints. As me
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and as their hunger grows, they wil
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3. The TNR Process - An OverviewEve
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After you’ve determined how many
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for this purpose. Once you can talk
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like the board of a homeowners asso
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information provided because of the
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act to discourage cats from enterin
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epel. It operates on four “C” b
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• Free-standing fencesPurrfect Fe
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• Type of feeding stationThe perf
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Amazon (www.amazon.com) for “Le B
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will be drawn to this easily reache
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a search for “heated water bowl
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interior warm enough to prevent or
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food works best for your budget, th
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steroids, tranquilizers, anesthetic
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weather, loud construction work nea
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• Feralvilla Outdoor Cat ShelterD
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• Styrofoam boxesRestaurants and
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Another option is the Snuggle Safe
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apart. Knowing the correct number,
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4. Schedule the spay/neuterAfter yo
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three more traps than the number of
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Tomahawk Live Trap- Neighborhood Ca
- Page 66 and 67: 11 inches in height. In our opinion
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- Page 72 and 73: drop trap (code: KITDT) - see Figur
- Page 74 and 75: That said, not every community offe
- Page 76 and 77: practice. In our experience, there
- Page 78 and 79: saving one day. Also remember, you
- Page 80 and 81: intrusions you and others make into
- Page 82 and 83: doing so. Don’t check too frequen
- Page 84 and 85: Winter trappingSome trappers in nor
- Page 86 and 87: around and inflict a severe bite or
- Page 88 and 89: The bottle-and-string method is use
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- Page 94 and 95: Unless a caretaker objects on relig
- Page 96 and 97: Caddie” by Tomahawk (see Figure 9
- Page 98 and 99: effective, some experienced trapper
- Page 100 and 101: feet long, and lean it up against a
- Page 102 and 103: sodium hypochlorite on the label of
- Page 104 and 105: PreparationsAs with any trapping, i
- Page 106 and 107: 4. Anchor the trap. Place a heavy o
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- Page 128 and 129: “snap” test, it produces a resu
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- Page 132 and 133: Before releasing a spayed female, r
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- Page 136 and 137: and water bowls - see the Feral Cat
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- Page 140 and 141: long will show signs of being socia
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- Page 150 and 151: alternatives, like scratching posts
- Page 152 and 153: • Where to lookIn order to attrac
- Page 154 and 155: In case you’re unable to return t
- Page 156 and 157: 18. Feral Cat ResourcesBooks Implem
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- Page 160 and 161: ToolkitsAction Kit: Advocating for
- Page 162 and 163: Appendix BHOW TO BUILDTHE NEIGHBORH
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Trap LogProject/Colony: ___________
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In memory ofBobby Kergis1952 - 2011