How do I catch at cat?

[Mick F]

Calm down please, I've not got a 12bore or even a catapult.


Update:
I was out - as is my habit - for a beer or two just down the road. Out at 5 and back for 6:30. Same as last evening, tomcat was in when I got home!

Because I'd locked the catflap and closed the kitchen door, we had a "little problem".

Nellie was asleep on our bed, and Sadie asleep on the settee - the situation when I left.
When I arrived home, same thing, but as I carefully opened the kitchen door, there was a panicking tomcat scratching furiously at the catflap. Meanwhile both Sadie and Nellie panicked too - and Nellie was sick on the bedroom carpet! Euch!

Back in the kitchen, I was fully dressed and donned my gauntlets and proceeded to corner Mr Tom. I was prepared, but had no real idea of my way forward. We have a big green bin for plastic bottles etc that was actually empty, so I plunged it onto Mr Tom as he tried to escape through the locked catflap. The bin made a good seal on the doormat and I slid the mat+bin away from the door so I could open the door to allow an escape route if things went pear-shaped. I stood there a couple of minutes with my foot on the bin and slowly took my foot off.

Nothing.

Silence.

I moved away and looked for something heavy, and picked up a bag of cement.
(please don't ask why we have a bag of cement in the kitchen!)

I left it like that for a while, wondering what to do next, but aware that Mr Tom wouldn't be able to breathe very well and I couldn't leave him like that for long - although I did consider it!

I formulated a plan to upturn the whole thing and replace the cement. I took off the cement ........... nothing, still and silent.

I carefully picked the bin+mat up, and turned it over, but because the mat is soft and bendy, Mr Tom got a claw out - and then his head - through the gap before I could get the cement in the way. He shot out through the open door and over the fence and was gone.

Nellie was terrified. As soon as I'd opened the kitchen door after Mr Tom had gone, she was off like a shot - and I had to clean up our bedroom carpet.

Sadie OTOH, was very suspicious and sniffed all over the kitchen and the door mat and door area and took a few minutes to study what had gone on. Eventually, she went out.

So that's it. Nellie bolted, Sadie out and suspicious.

I'll make sure the catflap is set to "trap" before I go to bed and I'll try again.

[thirdcrank]

It's easy being wise after the event (especially sitting here miles away from the action) but if you had slid something rigid under your bin - its own lid might have been ideal - your prey would not have been able to escape. I'm not suggesting a plastic bin is an ideal environment for a cat but it would be OK in there while you made a decision about its future.

(In spite of the catapult provocation, I've resisted the temptation to have a catalogue of puns - almost.)

PS - I'd always assumed you went to a builders' merchant for your concrete blocks.

[gaz]

...(please don't ask why we have a bag of cement in the kitchen!)...

Key ingredient for Rock Cakes.

[Slidingpillar]

Most cats hate being wet. Arranging next time he come in for a thorough soaking might just get the message through that your kitchen is not the place to be.

Although there is a chance he'll not appear for a bit now anyway after tonight's events.

[Mick F]

...........there is a chance he'll not appear for a bit now anyway after tonight's events.

Fingers crossed.

Sadie is back in and asleep by the fire, though I would suspect that Nellie is catatonic.

[pete75]

The cats protection league round here have a program of trapping, neutering and then releasing feral cats. Worth contacting your local branch to see if they do the same. Apparently they have to be released in the same area but neutering is likely to modify the cats behaviour.
Sounds like this one is old if it's reduced to raiding bins at a time of year when wildlife is still plentiful.

[Mick F]

I'll chat to SWMBO later today and see what she says re RSPCA/CPL.
No sign of Mr Tom overnight - perhaps he's learned that he can't mess with our catflap, and hopefully he'll keep away permanently.

Nellie came back late on last night and spent the night on our bed. She's out now and she's fine.

As a reference to another of my animal threads, remember the peacocks?
They're still hanging around and both Sadie and Nellie are wary of them. Ditto Mr Tom, because a week or two ago they chased him off with one heck of a squawking and flapping of wings. Mr Tom was off on his toes!

[[XAP]Bob]

I carefully picked the bin+mat up, and turned it over, but because the mat is soft and bendy, Mr Tom got a claw out - and then his head - through the gap before I could get the cement in the way. He shot out through the open door and over the fence and was gone.

I'm sorry that had me laughing quite alot.

Once cornered cats will tend to be relatively still, then make a wild break.

They know when they can't do anything - and you need lightning fast reactions to stop them once they get going.

[Mick F]

Yep.
That's where I went wrong! I took my eye off the ball.

Latest plan I've concocted if he gets trapped tonight:

1. Get him under the green bin as before - complete with cement bag.
2. Hold him there until he's still.
3. Meanwhile get an old duvet cover, and tape the open end to the floor with gaffa tape.
4. Carefully remove the cement bag.
5. With a good deft movement whilst holding down the bin, slide it into the duvet cover.
6. Replace the cement bag on top - on top of the duvet cover.
7. Unpeel the gaffa tape and use some more the close the duvet cover into a sack shape.
8. Remove the cement bag and pick up the "bag of violence" and shove it in the boot of the car to await onward transport.

[gaz]

Are you going to sell this plan to the people who make the Tom and Jerry cartoons?

[[XAP]Bob]

If you can get him in the bin again.

I'd go for the fully armoured scruff of the neck approach, but as you've already discovered you need to be quick.
Do you have a room you can trap it in (e.g a utility room of some sort)
- leave it litter, give it some food/water
- phone the various cat people, or wait for the Mrs.

[thirdcrank]

I'd be slow suggest anything I thought was cruel and I think the cat would be better off than you may think in the bin with the lid on for a shortish time ie long enough to drive anywhere. (A couple of years ago, I went away on hol for a week having unknowingly locked somebody else's cat in our garage. It was in there well over a week without food or water, although it obviously had plenty of air. I found it when I came home and it left entirely unaided, while I had gone indide the house to think up a cunning plan.) I think it would run less risk of injury in a bin than it would wrapped in a duvet.

[Ray]

Having had to deal with similar situation myself I realise it is a serious problem which needs addressing properly to avoid distress to both humans and feline. Nevertheless, there is something irresistibly amusing about this sorry tale; not sure why. Perhaps it's the way you tell 'em

To be serious, though, I do agree that -

I think the cat would be better off than you may think in the bin with the lid on for a shortish time ie long enough to drive anywhere. . . . I think it would run less risk of injury in a bin than it would wrapped in a duvet.

Assuming you can repeat the deft trick of binning the intruder, fix the lid (or something similarly resistant to wild animals) securely and transport the cat to wherever or whoever you decide. If the lid fits closely you could perhaps trap something under it to allow a small amount of air in, or even drill a few holes in the bin if it's only to be used afterwards for recycling plastic stuff.

Have fun. Sorry, that's flippant; happy trapping.

Ray

[jan19]

I don't think driving it miles from its home and releasing it is particularly humane.

Cats are territorial animals - although in the case of an un-neutered tom this territory will be quite large - so if you dump this poor animal miles from home it will be completely disorientated and may get into fights with cats already there. You are simply moving the problem onto someone else.

I would seek advice from an animal charity. They will know what's best to do.

Jan

[Mick F]

Wise words Jan.

No sign of him since the Bin Incident.
Hopefully this a permanent situation.

Mrs Mick F is home now and fully in the picture of the last few days. We've chatted about all this. We don't have a suitable room - tiny bungalow - though have a shed or two. Trouble is, eventually the door is going to have to be opened. Cat transporter basket is the best option, but how do we get it in?

Just say we've got him in some sort of container at 2am. Then what? Leave him overnight and hope we can get someone to take him? We live in a rural environment and have few options.

My duvet idea is to get the mat and bin inside the duvet too, then pick the whole lot up with the open end tied. I could then transport him somewhere and untie the duvet. "Somewhere" could be the vets, the RSPCA or the like. It could also be Dartmoor, though TBH it does seem cruel for the reasons Jan suggests. I'm not a cruel person, but I do have a few vindictive ideas!

One I like is when he's in the upturned bin, drill a tiny hole in the side, get a nice full aerosol of WD40 and empty the can through the hole. That would slow him down a bit after he's breathed that in.

Or drag the bin outside and fill it with water from the hose.





Hopefully, he won't be back.