It was a beautiful spring day in L.A. as Dali Colorado and Liz Cava from FixNation traveled to Long Beach to speak to 24 very bright and energetic young children attending a week long humane education camp at the Los Angeles SPCA Humane Education Camp, at the P.D. Pitchford Companion Animal Village & Education Center.

Although we can’t consider feral cats pets or companion animals, people definitely bond with their backyard stray cats, even though they can’t pick them up or pet them.  We spoke to these kids about how a feral cat colony starts in the first place and the importance of spaying/neutering their own pet cats.  We talked about how cats often get abandoned outdoors, when people lose their jobs, their homes, and move away—leaving their formerly tame pet cats to fend for themselves outdoors.

We talked about how the kittens born to these abandoned former pet cats are born “wild”, and that it can be dangerous to try to pick them up or pet them.  Wild is wild.

We talked about the humane approach of trap-neuter-return (TNR), and how this approach sterilizes the cats, thereby cutting down on the number of homeless kittens born outdoors.

We showed iPhoto and video presentations with many pictures of all the FixNation ferals our trappers have emailed to us—both before being sterilized/vaccinated/eartipped—and after.  The iPhoto presentations have specific songs linked to them.  One of the songs used in the kitten presentation was Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire”.  The kids wound up stomping their feet in time to the song.  Dali was pleasantly surprised to see that many of the kids actually knew the words to this vintage Johnny Cash song and sang right along with him.  All the kids verbally ewww’d and awww’d over the kitten pics.

It was great to enlighten these bright kids about feral and stray cats.  We’re also thrilled to report that our presentation and talk was so well-received, we’ve been invited back!

If you’re interested in having FixNation educators present at your school, church, or community group, contact us today!

Last week we had one very pretty, very pregnant momma cat who decided to deliver her kittens right there in the trap upon her arrival at our clinic!

First bit of good news, all five of the kittens came out healthy and strong. We then determined that momma cat was a friendly stray, which was the second bit of good news. She was very tame as can be and easy to handle, so the first-time trapper who had brought momma cat in decided to foster the new happy family until the kittens are big enough to wean and adopt out.

As a caregiver, if you ever find yourself in this situation, here are seven important things you need to remember when caring for a momma cat and her nursing newborns.

1) GIVE A GIRL SOME PRIVACY.

Momma cat and her babies should be set up in a room or area that is quiet and private, away from the hustle and bustle of the household. A spare bedroom or a bathroom works well, if you have the space. Taming cages also work, as do closets (if they are open and well ventilated). To make a bed for them, you can use a big basket bed, a medium-height cardboard box, or even an extra-large dog carrier. You’ll want enough room that mom can stretch out to nurse and edges high enough so that the babies don’t fall out. If the mom is feral or really skittish, you’ll probably want to keep her in a taming cage. The key is to make sure the area is private and clean. Keep the other animals in the household away from them. Also keep the area warm, as kittens can get chilled easily. If you put mom and her babies open in a spare bedroom, she may move her kittens around the room repeatedly. In the wild, this is how they protect them. Don’t worry too much about it; she will gather them all up to nurse.

2) FEED THE BEST QUALITY WET FOOD YOU CAN, AND LOTS OF FRESH WATER.

Momma cat will be doing most of the work, so you need to take good care of mom. She in turn will take care of the babies. Feed momma the best quality wet food you can; if you also feed dry, then leave some dry available for her. Mom needs lots of good quality wet food so that the babies get the best nourishment possible from her while they are in their growth phase. Kittens will nurse every 1-3 hours for the first three weeks. Only when they hit four or five weeks old will they be ready to start weaning off mom and onto wet food.

3) CLEANLINESS IS NEXT TO GODLINESS.

You’ll want to use bedding material that is soft yet washable; towels and fleece blankets work great. Change linens daily, especially in the first few weeks. One trick is to layer several layers of towels on the bed, so that you can take the dirty layer off the top and have a fresh set underneath. Make sure to keep the bedding area dry and warm.

4) FLEA CONTROL IS NOT A LITTLE THING.

Kittens can quickly get flea anemia, so it’s really important to keep momma, kittens and the bedding area flea-free.Use a flea product such as Revolution, Advantage or Frontline on mom only. Do not use flea products on newborn kittens; it’s not safe as they are too young. Instead, if you see fleas on the kittens, you can bathe them using Dawn dishwashing liquid and use a small flea comb as needed to get the fleas off. Avoid antibacterial soaps. If you have to bathe kittens, make sure you dry them well and keep them warm as they can get chilled easily.

5) USE A NON-CLUMPING CLAY LITTER (LIKE JOHNNY CAT).

Initially, mom will be the only one using the litter box. Kittens won’t start using a litter box until about four weeks old. Until them, mom will just lick them to stimulate them to go to the bathroom and then she’ll lick them clean. It’s best to use a non-clumping litter such as Johnny Cat while the kittens are nursing. Clumping litter works by clumping as soon as it gets wet — this can be dangerous to kittens because if they ingest any, it can clump in their intestines. Johnny Cat is a safe, cheap option until the kittens are old enough to know not to eat the litter. Also, keep the litter box away from the food bowls as much as possible (although we know sometime’s it’s tight in a taming cage).

6) CLOSELY MONITOR EVERYONE’S PROGRESS.

If you don’t have a lot of experience with nursing moms and kittens, it’s a good idea to bring momma cat and babies in to see a vet at around 1-2 weeks to make sure everyone is doing well. It’s very important that kittens are gaining weight steadily, so you’ll need to monitor their progress week over week. You’ll also want to FeLV/FIV test momma cat, because that will give you an indication of whether the babies will have FeLV or FIV. Everyone should also be dewormed for hookworms, roundworms and tapeworms, and also vaccinated. Check with your vet about the deworming and vaccination schedules.

7) HANDLE THE KITTENS EARLY TO SOCIALIZE THEM.

You can safely handle the kittens at any age. Momma cat might get a little panicky, so be considerate of her, but she isn’t going to reject the babies just because you touched them. Handling the kittens will ensure they grow up very tame and social, which will make it easier for you to find great homes for them. Just make sure you wash your hands before and after handling the kittens.

Momma cats can be fixed once their babies are 5 weeks old. At that age, kittens are eating on their own and going to the bathroom on their own, so they can be away from mom for a day while she gets fixed. If mom is feral, when the kittens are 5 weeks old, that is the point when you can get mom spayed and release her right where you trapped her. Kittens can be safely fixed as soon a they hit 2-3 lbs., which is generally between 8-12 weeks.

For more information on caring for newborn kittens and what to expect during each week of their growth, see Kitten Rescue’s web post “Kitten Care Handbook: The Basics.”

What’s in a name, right? In this case not much. Ringworm has nothing to do with worms. Nor does it always show up as a ring!

Ringworm is a skin infection caused by a fungus, otherwise known as dermatophytes. These are microscopic parasitic fungi that live on the skin, specifically in hair follicles. Ringworm is a very hardy fungus that can be present in soil. Cats and cattle are the two species of animals that seem to get ringworm the most, although dogs and other animals can contract it. Humans can also get ringworm, either from a pet or from their environment. Athlete’s foot and jock itch are two types of ringworm that humans can get, sometimes from public places like locker rooms or public swimming pools.

Cats can contract ringworm when they are exposed to infected soil, when they come in direct contact with another infected animal or person, or indirectly through their living environment. Because the spores are microscopic and contagious, ringworm can be passed between cats via shared bedding, shared grooming tools, cat carriers, furniture, carpeting, etc. It’s also hard to get rid of; ringworm spores can be persistent in the environment for up to two years.

Those most susceptible to ringworm are kittens and cats less than one year old, who are still developing an immune system, or cats whose immune systems are suppressed, such as FIV+ cats. Longhaired cats are also more prone to ringworm than are shorthaired cats. Senior cats, stressed cats (maybe due to a recent move, a new cat in the household, or a recent adoption) and free-roaming cats that are outside and exposed to soil are all more susceptible to contracting ringworm.

Ringworm generally first shows itself as a small lesion with scaly skin in the center, which then grows to be a ring of patchy hair loss. Ringworm lesions and patches of hair loss are frequently localized to the cat’s face, ears, and limbs, but they can occur anywhere on the body. The patches don’t always occur in a circle, either; sometimes ringworm shows up just as patchy baldness, and it can be with or without redness and/or inflammation. There is usually mild itching associated with ringworm, and cats will often show an early sign of ringworm by scratching at their ears. Hair-loss patches can come and go during the infection cycle. Just because the patch is going away doesn’t mean the cat is cleared of the infection.

Ringworm is definitely contagious — both to other pets and to humans. That said, it’s important to know that ringworm on cats will generally self-resolve within two to four months — meaning, it typically goes away on its own if you do nothing at all. For feral cats, ringworm is generally not treated and it normally self-resolves. For tame cats, there are things you can do to speed up the healing process, as well as decrease the chances of reoccurrence.

Diagnosing Ringworm

Vets will normally first check for ringworm by using what’s called a “woods lamp.” Under the lamp in a dark room, the ringworm fungus fluoresces apple green. Normally the whole hair shaft will glow, especially the base. A woods lamp is not complete indicator, though, because only about 60% of ringworm fungi show up under a woods lamp. To make things more complicated, doxycycline, terramycin, carpet fibers and dust can also cause the hair shaft to glow.

The most accurate diagnosis is by a vet taking a sample skin scraping from your cat, usually with a toothbrush, and then growing the culture in a lab. The culture can take 10-21 days to grow. This is a routine culture that your vet can perform, and it’s really the most accurate diagnosis.

Treating Ringworm

Vets will generally prescribe some combination of the below treatments for ringworm, to speed up the healing process:

• Clipping the hair – This is important to reduce the spread and so that the treatment can reach the skin, especially for cats with longer hair. Clipping should only be done by your vet, because you need extreme care to avoid further traumatizing the skin or further spreading the infection. Clippers should be sterilized and hair disposed of carefully.
• Lime-sulphur dips or enilconazole (Clinafarm EC) – This is the most often prescribed treatment. The infected cat is bathed with the lime-sulphur solution twice a week for 2-4 weeks. The lime-sulphur dip smells bad and there may be some slight discoloration of the cat’s coat, turning it yellowish, but that will go away on its own. Don’t rinse it off, and don’t let your cat lick the coat while it’s still wet from the dip.
• Antifungal liquids containing itraconazole – Similar to lime-sulphur dips, this solution is sponged on or applied to the cat’s coat, every other week for six weeks (three treatments in total). It is safe to use in kittens from 10 days and up, but use extreme caution if treating pregnant queens.
• Topical anti-fungal creams (i.e. miconazole or thiabendazole) – Anti-fungal creams are applied topically once or twice a day for 2-4 weeks. Antifungal creams are typically recommended for use on both people and pets with ringworm and are very effective. They also help reduce any itching and redness.
• Oral anti-fungal medication – your vet may prescribe oral anti-fungal agents if the lesions are severe or if the nail beds are infected. Sometimes these oral medications have serious side effects, so you should discuss with your vet what the possible side effects are before beginning treatment.

As you are treating a cat for ringworm, you will want to take the cat back in to your vet every 2-4 weeks to take a new culture. The cat is not considered fully cleared of the infection until you get two clean (negative) cultures two weeks apart. Also, because the ringworm taxes the cat’s overall system, you will want to make sure your cat is on high quality diet, specifically feeding good quality wet food. Good quality wet food will strengthen their immune system, so the body is getting the nutrients it needs and is supported during the healing process.

Also, if you or someone in your household has HIV or is undergoing chemotherapy, these individuals are more at risk of contracting ringworm from a pet.

Preventing the Spread of Ringworm

Single-cat households

Even if there are no other cats in the household, you still may want to consider restricting your infected cat to just one room in your house to make cleaning easier. Do not allow the cat to go outdoors.

Multi-cat households

Whenever you take a new cat into a multi-cat household, it’s good practice to isolate new cats for 14-21 days before co-mingling them because any contagious diseases or infections generally show up within that timeframe. If you were able to successfully isolate the cat prior to the spread of the ringworm infection, you will want to use extreme caution between handling the infected cat and caring for your regular crew. Be very careful to wash your hands, use gloves and change your clothes after handling the infected cat.

If you have a multi-cat household and you have taken a ringworm-infected cat into your house, you should consider having all cats checked by your vet. Because the spores are microscopic, there is a strong likelihood that the other cats in your household will still contract ringworm. However, also know that it might not affect all of your cats. Remember, it affects kittens and cats under one year, seniors, longhairs and cats with compromised immune systems the most. A healthy, adult cat might not be affected. Generally, the more cats involved, the longer the treatment time and the longer/more difficult it is to decontaminate the environment.

If you were able to successful isolate the cat prior to the spread of the ringworm infection, only co-mingle cats again after the ringworm-infected cat tests negative on two consecutive cultures, each two weeks apart. If you weren’t able to isolate the cat prior to the spread, you may need or want to consider treating all of the cats in your household.

Cleaning the household

Vacuum daily and thoroughly. Ringworm spores are very light so vacuuming is actually very effective; a vacuum can suck up the spores easily. Vacuum all surfaces, furniture, drapes and carpets and follow with a damp mop where possible. Empty the vacuum bag or canister frequently, and if it’s a canister, bleach it out using a bleach-water solution (1:10 – one part bleach to 10 parts water). Use a bleach-water solution to disinfect all hard surfaces and try to leave the bleach on for about 10 minutes to kill all fungi. Also use bleach in the laundry for pet bedding, towels, etc. It’s a good idea to have your heating and cooling ducts professionally vacuumed out, too. Make sure you use a bleach-water solution to cleaning your grooming tools, cat carriers, litter pans, traps, taming cages, collars, toys, baskets, etc.

If you are a rescuer, be very cautious about using other people’s grooming tools at adoption events or sharing cat carriers unless they are thoroughly bleached. Also at adoption events, you always want to disinfect your hands in between handling different cats, and make sure that potential adopters disinfect their hands before petting or handling cats, too.

Sources:

“Ringworm (Tinea): Fungal Skin Infection.” Merckmanuals.com. 2009. April 10, 2011 <http://www.merckmanuals.com/home/sec18/ch212/ch212c.html>.

“Ringworm in Cats.” PetEducation.com. 1997-2011. April 10, 2011 <http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=21&aid=223>.

Newbury, Dr. Sandra, DVM. “Dermatophyte Treatment in a Nutshell.” Sheltermedicine.com. 2006. April 10, 2011 <http://www.sheltermedicine.com/education/lecture-library/ringworm>.

Do you have feral cats in your neighborhood that you would like to get fixed? Do you have a friendly stray cat that is hanging around who you are concerned about? Have you noticed litters of kittens springing up left and right? Or are you just simply a responsible pet owner and would like to get your cat spayed or neutered? If the answer to any of those questions is yes, then we can help you.

FixNation is a non-profit organization providing free spay/neuter services for homeless stray and feral cats. We also offer low-cost spay/neuter services for tame pet cats. Our goal is to humanely reduce the number of homeless cats throughout Los Angeles by sterilizing as many as possible.

FixNation supports Trap-Neuter-Return, or TNR for short. TNR is a community-based program where concerned citizens humanely trap feral cats, have them spayed or neutered, and then return them to the exact location where they were trapped so they can be cared for and live out their natural lives. We loan out humane traps for free to the public, plus we provide training on how to properly and safely TNR. We make it as easy for you as possible to help the homeless cats in your neighborhood.

Our “Free Feral Program” for Homeless Stray & Feral Cats

FixNation offers free spay/neuter services for homeless stray and feral cats. Under our “Free Feral Program,” all homeless cats who will be eartipped for identification purposes will receive the following free services at the time of surgery:

• Spay or neuter surgery
• Physical exam
• Rabies vaccine
• Feline distemper vaccine (FVRCP)
• Revolution – to treat fleas, mange, ear mites, hookworms and roundworms
• Pain medication
• Fluids
• Antibiotic
• Droncit injection – for tapeworms, only as needed
• Limited medical treatment
• Lots of TLC!

The eartip is the universal symbol that an outdoor or free-roaming cat has been fixed. It is done while the cat is under anesthesia, is relatively painless for the cat, and does not significantly alter their beauty. We also go one step further and apply a bit of pain medication paste to the freshly tipped ear, to make it even more comfortable for the cat.

Eartip

We can do small eartips for any homeless cats or kittens who you may be trying to adopt out and our services will still be free, provided the cat or kitten is indeed homeless. Just make sure to request a small eartip when you check in if this is the case.

You do not need to live within the city of Los Angeles in order to bring cats to our clinic. We will service cats from any area, provided the cats can be safely transported to and from our facility.

Click here to get started with our “Free Feral Program” today

Tame Pet Cats

FixNation offers low-cost spay/neuter services for tame pet cats who are not being eartipped. The cost of a female/spay is $55 and a male/neuter is $40.

We also offer the following additional services for tame cats while they are here for spay/neuter surgery:

• Rabies vaccine – $8
• Distemper vaccine (FVRCP) – $8
• Revolution (flea treament and dewormer) – $20
• Microchipping – $25
• Feline Leukemia/FIV combo testing – $25 for cats not being eartipped
• Nail trims (tame cats only) – $5

Please be aware that our additional services are only provided at the time the cat is here for spay/neuter surgery. Since our main mission is to humanely reduce the number of homeless cats in Los Angeles, this is where we concentrate our time and attention. We do offer low-cost monthly vaccine and microchip clinics, in case your cat is already fixed and you are interested in vaccines or microchips only.

Click here to get started and make a tame cat appointment

Let’s face it, cats are part of our community. Both the ones who call the outdoors their home and the ones who live inside our houses. TNR starts with people just like you. When you decide to take action to help the cats within our community, or even fix your own cat, you help to build a better community for all.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

1. Proper Placement of Stations

Feeding stations should be discreet, low-profile and they should blend in with the immediate surroundings as much as possible. Try to keep them out of sight from the general public. Two reasons for this — first, cats won’t want to go to a high trafficked area to eat as they won’t feel safe, and secondly, this way it draws as little attention as possible to where the cats are getting fed, which affords them greater protection. If someone wants to harm the cats, it’s a lot harder for them to do that if they don’t know where you are feeding.

2. Constructing Your Feeding Station

There is nothing worse than having a big bowl of dry cat food that has been rained on – it turns to soggy mush and after about a day it can even get moldy. Cats won’t want to eat it and YOU will get stuck cleaning it! Feeding stations need to be waterproof.

Ideally, the feeding station you construct should be able to fit your bowls of food and at least one cat, so at a minimum one cat can eat at a time and that poor cat doesn’t have to eat out in the rain in inclement weather. Water bowls don’t necessarily have to be inside the feeding station, although it’s nice. If you can’t do a station that sizable because of the need for discretion, the bigger priority is to make sure the food stays dry and protected.

A slick and easy way to keep feeding stations dry is to take a large rectangular Rubbermaid storage bin, tip it on its side and put the food bowls in it. The bin serves double duty both as camouflage and it protects the food from the elements. If you get blustery rain where you live, you can take the lid to the storage bin and cut it length-wise and then put it back on the bin, so that the top half acts as an awning of sorts. Zip tie the lid in place. If you need to, you can even place the entire bin on a couple of wood boards or cement blocks so that it’s up off the ground and out of any puddles.

Depending on how many cats you’re feeding, an empty cat carrier with the door taken off can also be a waterproof feeding station. Your average medium size cat carrier can fit at least one if not two big bowls for food. Similarly, any sort of large plastic bin or wooden box with one side cut open will do. The most important factor is that it’s waterproof.

Dog houses may work, depending on your colony situation, but they aren’t always that great. If there is only one small entrance/exit – one cat might come in and startle another cat eating, which can be a recipe for a cat fight that will literally blow the roof off the house. Dog houses can make great feral cat shelters, but shelters are a little different from feeding stations. With feeding stations, you want to keep the station so that it’s relatively open and easily approachable by cats.

If you’re feeding by a fence or a wall, try propping up a piece of plywood against the fence in a “lean-to” sort of way, so that it offers shelter for the food bowls, plus it acts as camouflage. This works especially well if the lean-to is between bushes and a fence or wall, as the bushes help keep the lean-to in place.

Or you could rock it really cheap and easy: Use two cement blocks and plop a piece of plywood right on top in between, exactly the same way you built bookshelves back in college. Put the food bowls underneath the board in between the cement blocks and voilà, a cheap but effective feeding station.

3. Choosing the Right Feeding Dishes

You’ll want to choose an overall bowl style that will work best for your own situation. As a general rule, though, it’s important to select bowl colors that will blend in with the area where you’re feeding. If you’re feeding in an open, natural setting, choose earthy colors such as tans, greens, browns and blacks. A bright red bowl in a park or nature setting will stick out like a sore thumb and draw unnecessary attention. Go with muted and dark colors.

Plastics, metals and glassware are the most widely used materials. Heavy plastic bowls are versatile and easy to clean. Metal can retain heat or cold more than plastic, staying cool or staying hot longer. Use caution with glassware, since glass dishes can break and you don’t want broken glass around ferals. If you go with glassware, try Pyrex since it doesn’t break so easily.

Paper plates and paper bowls can be a cheap and easy option, but they aren’t water resistant like plastic and they tend to blow around as soon as they’re empty. If they are not picked up diligently, they can make an area look trashy. Use paper plates appropriately and sparingly.

Some people love using the plastic trays that you get frozen food in. These trays can be saved from your frozen dinners and reused for feeding cats, or you can buy them in bulk at places like Costco. These are better than paper plates in that they are waterproof, plus you don’t have to wash them, you just throw them away after one or two uses. However, because they are really lightweight, just like paper plates, these plastic trays can blow around and make an area look littered. Be diligent about picking them up. And better yet, recycle them.

Gravity dry-food dispensers are another feeding option. These can either work really well or not at all. Oftentimes, the food doesn’t always fall down on its own as it’s supposed to and it takes some jiggling to get it to fall. If these tip over or get water in their base, they can make a bit of a mess, too. These type of feeders seem to work best over shorter periods of time (i.e., weekends) or in parking lot feeding situations.

Brown paper bag trick — One great trick, especially in areas that you can’t get to daily, heavy urban areas or areas that may be slightly hostile to feeding cats — is the brown paper bag trick. Take a double bagged brown grocery bag and cut the bottom 4″ off, so you have a sort of “trough”. You can use that to hold your dry food. This is a lot less obvious than paper plates or bowls scattered around because at first glance, it looks innocuous, like trash. People don’t see it and immediately think that someone is feeding, like they do with a plate. Plus, it can hold a lot of food until you can get back to that feeding area again. One drawback is it can get wet. But for the dry spells here in SoCal, and especially in back alleys or urban settings, it works great.

4. Avoiding Ants

Ants can plague feral feeding stations. Most people find that “moat” bowls work well. This is where you have a large outer bowl filled with an inch or two of water and you put a smaller bowl inside it holding the food. A 9×13″ baking pan can work well as an outer bowl; fill it with an inch of water and then place in it almost any size inner bowl. Moat bowls can be easily homemade and are very inexpensive.

Ant-Free Feeders with Fitted Tents – Then there is our personal fave, the ant-free feeders with tents. These are the Cadillac of bowls! The colors are muted and natural, it’s a “moat” bowl system where the inner bowl clips in place (guaranteeing the bowls will stay put), they are made of hard plastic that is easy to clean, and they really hold a lot of food. What’s more, they have a custom vinyl tent that does an excellent job protecting the food from getting wet from any direction, while allowing cats to easily stick their heads in to feed. These bowls are a little pricier than the homemade options, but they are well worth it for any longer-term colony feeding stations.

5. The Art of Feeding

Make sure there is fresh water daily and that water bowls aren’t full of algae scum. In cold weather areas, you’ll need to keep the water from freezing solid. We don’t really have that problem so much in SoCal, so we defer to our NY friends to show us how it’s done (See Neighborhood Cats article “How to Prevent Water From Freezing“).

Dry food bowls should be free from debris like leaves and dirt. Every couple of days either swap out the bowls for fresh ones or thoroughly clean those bowls with soap and water before refilling them.

Keep the overall feeding station clean! This is often where people go wrong and why neighbors complain about people feeding cats. If there is food scattered everywhere, empty paper plates blowing around, empty Friskies cans scattered and dirty water bowls, this is not only going to be unhealthy for the cats, it will attract unnecessary attention to them as well. Trashy feeding stations are also more likely to attract various kinds of wildlife, like opossums, skunks and raccoons, which again are major causes for neighbors to complain. Keep a “clean-up” kit in your car that includes: Paper towels, disposable gloves, an extra jug of fresh water, wet wipes, doggie pick-up bags (you can use to clean up cat feces), an empty trash bag, dish soap, a flashlight and a small broom and dust pan.

Your best bet is to get into a cycle of feeding at the same time every day. Feed once a day, be it in the morning or evening. Ideally, it’s best to leave the food down for about 30 minutes or an hour, let the cats eat each in their own turn, and then to pick the food bowls up for the night so the remaining food doesn’t attract wildlife. We know that’s not always possible; sometimes you can’t get to a feeding station daily. Do your best to keep it clean, contained and discreet. Daybreak and dusk are the two best times to feed, as cats are up and active then.

6. Close Monitoring of Your Colony

After you feed, don’t race off! Plan to spend about 15 minutes observing what happens. Either sit in your car or watch from a short distance away. See who shows up, whether they are eartipped and what kind of shape they are in. If you are not already keeping a log of all of the cats in your colony, you should try to — jot down names, breeds, colors and descriptions, who you get fixed and when, etc.

Monitor how much food the cats are eating on a daily basis. That alone will give you an initial indication of how many cats you may be feeding, and you’ll know what is “normal” for that colony. If they are going through their food faster than normal, you may have a pregnant mom or some newcomers who have showed up. If they are eating less, you should try to do a headcount on the cats to see if they are all okay.

With the cats who do show up to eat, watch for health issues that could need medical attention. Watch for signs of mange. Look for URI signs like runny eyes or snotty noses and listen for sneezes. If a cat seems to be losing weight or if their coat seems matted or unkempt, like they aren’t grooming themselves well, it is likely an indication of illness and you should trap that cat and take him/her to a vet immediately.

7. Safety Always

Be safe. We can’t stress this enough. If you’re feeding in a sketch area, go at a time when there is the least amount of foot traffic and try to go during daylight — either at the crack of dawn or just before dusk. Keep a flashlight on you and always have a cell phone with you. If you go feeding alone, use a check in system with a buddy, particularly if it’s a dodgy area. Try to avoid feeding while strangers are milling about. If your regular feeding area seems to be getting compromised for any reason, try to gradually move the feeding station 10 feet at a time down to somewhere a bit safer – either away from traffic or from harmful people. Don’t ever put yourself in an unsafe situation just to feed.

A couple other thoughts on privacy — make sure you don’t show or discuss your feeding station with just anyone at random. You never know who might do what to the cats, and your ability to keep their space private and confidential means safety for the cats. That said, you should show at least one or two trusted friends the feeding station(s) so that you always have a backup. Due to health issues, vacations or simply life circumstances, you never know when you’ll need a backup who can cover the feeding for you for a while. This is all the more reason to have a log of who you’re feeding and where, in case someone needs to cover the feeding for you.

8. And the Most Important of All…Feeding AND Fixing!

Providing food, water and shelter for outdoor cats is important, but it’s also equally important to make sure all of the cats in the colony are spayed and neutered as quickly as possible, once you start feeding a colony. If not, your small colony will quickly quadruple in size in a short period of time. Spaying and neutering the cats will not only stop the cycles of kittens, it will eliminate the problematic behaviors such as howling, fighting and spraying. If you’re feeding, you’ve got to be fixing.

Bon appetit!

Other Resources:

FeralVilla – Maker of wooden platform feral feeding stations
The Outdoor Pet Feeder – Moat system ant-free feeding bowls and tented bowls
“The Mote” – Waterless moat-style ant-proof bowls
Raccoon-Free Feeding Stations – How to construct a feral feeding station that raccoons can’t reach
Feral’s Place – Insulated Outdoor Cat Shelters and Feeding Stations
Photo examples of feeding stations and feeding platforms

by Liz Cava

Some cats just don’t seem to want to go into the trap, no matter how hard you try. You’ve used smelly bait, you’ve withheld food to get them hungry, and yet you still sit out night after night and come up with an empty trap!

Here are the top 10 tips and tricks I’ve collected over the years that may help you nab your wily kitty:

1. Pray.  Even if you don’t pray…pray.
2. Drink.  Even if you don’t drink…drink.
3. Communicate telepathically with the cat. Even if you don’t believe in communicating telepathically with a cat…send them mental mindwaves to let them know their life will get better if they just—GO—INTO—THE—TRAP.
4. Disguise the trap with foliage, tree branches, etc. so it looks nothing like a trap. (And boy have we seen some interesting trap camouflage come into the clinic).
5. Disguise the trap with cardboard, covering it completely with cardboard on all sides so it looks like a mysterious box. Very important to make sure the cat still has plenty of ventilation.
6. Sprinkle catnip all over the inside of the trap. In fact, we’ve even seen someone hang a catnip toy from the top of the inside back of the trap. You laugh? She got the cat.
7. If the cat is an indoor/outdoor cat, try opening the back door just a little bit and set the trap inside the house—rather than in the back yard.
8. Two of our favorite words – Laundry basket. This strategy is particularly good for those cats who are “kinda sorta friendly who you can sometimes pet or touch but only briefly and while not making direct eye contact”. You know the ones. Take a plastic laundry basket and plop it down over the cat when he/she is least suspecting.  “Spider” the basket (with the cat under it) onto a sturdy piece of plywood or a plastic sterilite container lid.  Duct tape the whole thing together and bring kitty into the clinic just like that.  Be sure to bring a empty trap with you so the cat can recover in the trap after surgery.
9. Kentucky Fried Chicken. Evidently the “original recipe” is paw-lickin good. Get a drumstick (yes it must be original recipe) and tie it to the top of the inside back of the trap.  This is a great lure for even the hardest to catch ferals. (Don’t worry about getting it out of the trap, either; technically with this method there will be food in the trap after midnight, but they never eat the drumstick while trapped).
10. Valerian Root Extract Oil.  Buy it at a health food store, break open the capsule and sprinkle it over your bait.  We have no idea why it works, but it does. Expect to be swarmed by bugs though—as it seems to attract insects, too.

If you’ve tried at least five of the tips listed, or maybe even just three in combination with #2, we consider you a seasoned master trapper. Good luck getting your kitty!

A young couple, James O’Neel and Justine Hong, came in to FixNation recently for trap training classes. They had an orange tabby cat who needed to be TNR’d. This orange girl constantly hung out on the top of a concrete wall in between their condo yard and the yard next door. According to James and Justine, this orange kitty would not come down onto the ground for anything! They only ever saw her up on the wall. She was very skittish and very elusive.

While this Cirque du Soleil aerial scenario would present a tricky challenge for any trapper, the situation was compounded by the fact that this poor girl had a huge open wound on her side, what looked like a giant abscess that had gone south. James and Justine knew they needed to trap her immediately so they could get her the medical care she needed.

James and Justine devised an ingenious approach. They propped a big wooden door up on top of the concrete wall and secured it, which acted as a platform. They then positioned the trap up on the door/platform. They took the rear sliding door off the trap and began to feed inside the trap, slowing moving the food bowl back a day at a time, until the cat started feeling more secure about eating inside the trap. Finally the rear door was back on and the trap was set… and lo and behold they got their girl!

When this orange tabby cat came into FixNation for spay surgery, it looked almost like the entire side of her body was one big gaping wound, completely open and exposed. This poor pumpkin probably wouldn’t have made it much longer had she been left to fend for herself.

Our awesome FixNation vets shaved half her flank and stitched her entire side up, administered Convenia (a long-acting antibiotic) for the infection, and then orange tabby girl went back home with James and Justine later that day.

Orange tabby girl has now resumed her perch on the wall, and from the pictures we can see she is healing beautifully!

We love hearing the amazing success stories. Great job, James and Justine, for some smooth trapping work!  Time, patience, and persistence literally saved this cat’s life.