FCM Community Cat Trappers

When we are called in to a colony, there is so much more happening than just the act of TNR. After we get the call that there is a possible colony, one or two of us will head out to assess the area and speak with the person who called the cat/cats in. We need to establish that there is a caretaker and figure out when and where to trap. We cannot do TNR without a caretaker. If we are in a residential area, we will speak with neighbours ("hi! we're crazy cat ladies!") and hand out informational fliers. We ask for photos of any owned, outdoor cats and explain what we are doing and often get permission to trap on their property as well. During that first visit, we ask the caretaker if there are any “friendlies” and get permission to get them into rescue. This can sometimes be a bit sad. Often the caretaker is attached to those friendly cats. But most know it’s in the cat’s best interest to be in a home. Our partnership with our local rescues is huge in this step. We have amazing rescues in our area and are so grateful for how readily they agree to take on our friendlies.

Once the initial assessment is made, we can get to work! We show up with our cars full of traps, bait (something stinky and fishy), bait dishes (Flat plastic lids are the best!), blankets, crates... sometimes trail cameras and coffee. Alllllll the coffee. Traps are set and either someone sits and watches them or we have rotating checks. Someone will come by every hour or hour and a half to see if we’ve got a cat. If we are SUUUUPER lucky, a caretaker will watch them and call when there is a cat in the trap. Or a caretaker is keen to do their own trapping! Once we have a cat in the trap we cover the trap with a blanket and head to the vet. If we’ve caught a kitten, we frantically reach out to all our rescue contacts to see if anyone has an available foster. If kittens are in an age range where they can be socialized, they are not returned to the colony. That window is small though. Kittens at a new colony are always top priority. We MUST get them out and into rescue. The kitten mortality rate is high on colonies and removing them likely saves their lives. On a good day, the vet’s office is able to sedate in the trap and perform surgery right away. Other days we transfer the cat from the trap to a holding cage at the vet to await surgery. Once surgery is done and the cat has come around, the vet will call us to come pick up the neutered, vaccinated, & tipped cat. We take the cat back to its territory and release! Always as close to hiding as possible. We don’t want them running! We keep doing this until we believe we’ve caught and neutered all the cats on the colony. We confirm we are done by setting up cameras at feed stations and checking for tips. I feel like this is a hugely important step in what we do. All it takes is missing one cat for us to be back again in the same area again in 2 years. We MUST complete.

Once we have confirmed a colony is complete, our work doesn’t end. We check in with caretakers regularly to see how everything is going. Caretakers let us know if new untipped cats have shown up or if someone isn’t looking well. Sometimes we do a slooooow, suspicious drive through the colony street to see if we can spot any of "our cats". Possibly our favourite thing about a finished colony is getting updates and photos from caretakers. This is Parker. The caretaker sent us this photo after release. He was a singleton trap, but look how good he looks! Love your ear tip, buddy ❤ In some cases, like FeralTown and Colony A, we ARE the caretakers. It's not the ideal situation. We prefer our resources to go to actual TNR work.... but we now have a troupe of kickass volunteers who are also helping with trapping and feeding. Read less...