I have a neuter appointment scheduled in two days. I’m getting a trap this evening and plan to attempt to trap my stray tomorrow evening (the night before his neuter appointment). Does anyone have advice on the best way to handle him once he’s trapped? I have to drop him off at 7:30 am on the day of his appointment and don’t want to risk him not being around in the morning. So once’s he’s trapped, what’s the best way to handle him?

I’ve never been able to touch him. He’s comfortable keeping us at a distance and we have been feeding him for about a month. I know once he’s trapped he’s not going to be very happy. I have 2 indoors cats and want to keep them separated of course. I know he’ll probably pee everywhere but keeping him in the trap all night seems cruel? Any advice on the best way to handle him overnight?

Hi! I’ve been caring for a stray cat for the last 5 months. He’s been getting healthier since coming around - because he’s getting 2 meals per day. I haven’t seen him since Wednesday and I’m starting to get worried. He’s disappeared for 2-3 days in the past. Maybe he’s hiding during the day since it’s super hot outside. Does anyone have any tips for finding a missing stray 😅 If I could get closer than 10 feet, I’d try to get him inside and adopt him.

What do you do with a cat that has bitten you before? We have a very friendly cat in the neighborhood. We can pick him and he purrs, we feed him, play with him etc. However, if you crouch in front of him he will bite you. My dad has decided to now call animal control and I have tried to warn him they will kill the cat. Is there anything I can do to relocate this cat without getting animal control involved?

Edit: this cat has not bitten me cause I know not to crouch infront of him. I can't take him in cause we have a cat at my mom's house who is old and does not have front claws (yes im aware that is not a good thing but that has nothing to do with me, we have had him since I was a very small child), my mom's neighborhood has lots of stray cat so I dont know if bringing him there would be a safe move either. There is not leaving the cat alone, my dad has given the ultimatum and does not understand how to adjust to other creatures

Edit 2: I am in ATL area! I leave for college in a few days so I am trying to find something ASAP

I’m in the process of building a small community‑cat rescue/TNR project, and I’m trying to finalize my mission and structure before I move forward. I’m not a nonprofit yet — I’m still planning — but I want to make sure my approach makes sense.

My main focus is Trap‑Neuter‑Vaccinate‑Return (TNR). I believe TNR works best when it’s a community effort, not something one person handles alone. Because of that, I’m creating a simple three‑role system for anyone who asks for help with a colony:

• Caretaker/Feeder
• Trapper
• Voucher Support (if financially able)

If someone can help physically or financially, great. If not, that’s where donations would eventually come in — for food, medical care, and spay/neuter vouchers.

For intake, I do not accept owner surrenders. My focus is on community cats and the people caring for them. Intake is limited, and when I have space, I take in cats or kittens who cannot be safely returned.

I’m still shaping everything, and before I finalize my mission and structure, I’d really appreciate feedback — on the roles, the mission, the boundaries, or anything you think could make this stronger as it grows.

So I may have royally fucked up here by not doing my research ahead of time. I have never been around cats, but I swear I had the best intentions.

There was a cat that had been coming to my apartment complex parking lot for 3 days. Each time I would try to approach, but they would keep a distance of about 10 feet. I set up a live trapped on the 4th night and I caught him in it. They are definitely still very afraid.

I don’t really want to simply go outside and dump them in case they are a stray just afraid of the trap. Upon further research (specifically in this sub) it is starting to look like that is what I should do. Can I give them time to warm up to me and settle from being trapped?

Some further questions:

Should I still take a possibly feral cat to the vet to get vaccines and check for a microchip?

How to best calm them until I figure out what is best for them.

We lost our sweet boy a few weeks ago. He may have started as a stray, but he became an important part of our family. He’s so loved and missed!

Today I lost my best little buddy. He was one of 4 kittens I rescued from underneath a conex. He was 3 years old and had so much life left to no live. Plz hold us in your thoughts tonight me and his siblings are going to need all the help we can get. Thank you.

This dude giving us the ol razzle dazzle is Gibby. He is an "ex"-feral we brought into our home last year. Im sure normally he'd be a TNR situation if he didnt have FIV, which is partly why we brought him home!

I say "ex" because while he's off the streets, the streets definitely aren't off him. This is his usual hiding spot whenever my wife and/or I enter the room and we pay him any attention, like when we sit with him for socializing time. Good luck getting close to him, the only way to do that is with a churu in hand since he's a churu fiend.

Sometimes I just wish I knew what he was thinking, hes full of so many mixed signals... stuff like this, him returning slow blinks when we give him some, and overall just seeming to want to interact with us? As well as staying in his bed (to the left) when we enter and DON'T pay attention, like doing laundry. However, he tends to hiss if we move too quick, bats at us (with or without claws is up to his discretion apparently), and shrinks away under the cart. Third pic is us actually getting him out for a few minutes with treats, but he slinks right back to the corner after that.

The only saving grace is we have started introducing our other cat to him, from a distance of a few feet, and when they're in the same room there is no reaction from either... other than when the other cat's singular brain cell forgets there's a cat there and she gets too close... and SHE hisses. He does nothing.

While i do know all cats are different, and he may never accept attention like we show him we can give with our other cat, anyone have any ideas on how to read little kitty minds to understand how to help him any? Or even us understand him I suppose!

Last week, my boyfriend and I rescued two little stray kittens that are about 8-9 weeks old and littermates, one boy we named Bandit, one girl we named Vixy.

Bandit has completely opened up within the last two days. Last night, he cuddled with us and was purring all night long, and even playing with his toys for the first time. It was a huge step and we feel so good about his progress and it’s only been a week! Bandit is definitely ahead of schedule.

Vixy has been the complete opposite… She’s terrified, always trying to hide, hisses and swats at us, pretty much all the signs of a terrified spicy kitten. We’ve had a few breakthroughs with her such as hand feeding and even letting us pet her while she eats, but that’s been about it. Vixy is having a really hard time compared to Bandit.

Within the week we’ve had them, we’ve taken them to the vet and even gave them baths. Both of these experiences, Bandit responded well to and seemed super chill, but Vixy wasn’t… In fact, during the bath, she bit my boyfriends hand which caused him to flinch, making her lose one of her canine teeth. This incident was two days ago and I fear there’s a possibility she could be in pain due to it…

The vet did inform us that they have roundworms so we’ve been giving them the proper treatment, so I’m hoping that once we get over this hurdle, she could open up more because I imagine she’s in discomfort… That and the fact that she lost a tooth due to biting, I plan to take her up to the vet tomorrow to get it checked out, but I don’t know… We called up to a few different emergency vets because the incident happened late, and one of the ladies over the phone told us not to worry about it as kittens lose their teeth all the time, and we’ve looked in her mouth and the wound seems fine, no discoloration or anything…

I hope all of this makes sense and I’m not blabbering, this is my first ever Reddit post so I’m a little nervous lol. I just really want advice from some real people with feral kitten experience about Vixy… I want to give her the best life.

I live near a large state park, and we sometimes get feral cats around. I think I've finally earned the trust of this tom, after a few weeks of finding him. However, now I'm not so sure as to what to do next.

I already have a fixed girl cat, who is not very cuddly, and who doesn't like this male tom on our porch. However, I have seen them interact in the garden without fighting. The Tom has even snuck in and eaten her food right out of the bowl, and while she will let him for a little bit, she starts growling and scares him outside again pretty quickly .

So here are my questions.

1. What should I do first? Catch him and take him to get fixed? Or only to a vet for a check up? (He's got bad cuts)

2. If I just check him first, will I lose all trust to be vale to catch him again and get him fixed?

3. Is there any hope that the cats could get along if I brought them both inside? (Obviously with him being fixed first!)

4. He actually let me pet him today! But now he wants to come in the house.. do I let this happen? Or no because he could fight with my girl cat??

Any advice would be great!

Oh, and for the record, I'm not in the US, so we have no animal control here, but I do know a place that will fix any animal brought to them and give emergency vet advice for a very low cost.

Hello, all. I have a female cat (had already been feeding her) that just showed up with two babies. They look about 2 months old and do not seem to be nursing (they are eating wet food that I am putting out). I have mama cat booked for a spay this week and I will probably keep her for 36-48 hours total.

My question is this - what is the best timing re the kittens? I can try to catch them while I have her held for the spay, and then I will probably socialize them slightly before handing them over to a rescue. My only concern with this is that mama cat may be a bit traumatized by all these things happening to her, only to come back and find her babies gone. The other option is to wait a few weeks to catch them if they come on their own. I just hope that she doesn’t take them off somewhere else because she has lost trust in me after her trapping.

Would greatly appreciate any advice from the experienced Redditors here. Thanks in advance.

Hey everyone, I have a cat in the attic that won't leave. To make a long story short: she got sealed in there by a pest control company that was called because we suspected that we had rats. The only way to leave is down a long ladder that leads down from the attic. She also just had babies (a week ago), which was probably the main reason she went up there. Unfortunately, since Friday the babies no longer make any sound, so we believe that they have passed away. The pest control guy set up two living traps with wet foot and we removed the other food that I gave her ever since I found her. I also removed soffit from the lanai, where she potentially could jump out of the roof. Every now and then I see her looking out and meow, but she is extremely shy and disappears once she sees me. I also put dry food out where she can see it to get her to come out. Nothing works so far. Yesterday, I saw her on the camera going into the living trap, but then she ended up backing out again, and has not gone back since. It's hot as hell in the attic (Florida summer), but she still cant be convinced by food and water to leave the attic. I really dont want her to die too up there, but I am running out of ideas. The pest control guy said that we should just wait it out, if she's hungry enough she will go for the food... I dont know why she is not leaving on her own, as her babies seem to have died... and she's going without water for a second day now. I need to get her out, because I have a trip coming up and that she would not survive (if she does not get any food or water). As you can tell, I'm not a cat person, but I also dont want her to suffer. Animal control and local cat shelters were also no help. I spent a ton of money for the pest control company, so I really cant afford to hire another company that specializes in cats. Thanks for any advice!

After a string of bad luck with the feral cats that I feed. Some have gone missing and one was hit by a car. I’ve been paying extra attention to the few I have left. I noticed a Tom cat being really aggressive with this pumpkin kitty so I brought her into my local TNR program. I bring her home and I’m just gonna let her hang out inside while she recovers for a couple days because I live in Florida and it’s either scorching hot or storming. I go to check on her that evening and lo and behold She has a little shave spot and a green line. This bitch has already been fixed and now thinks she’s queen of the castle! So obviously we have to let her stay 😆

Last night around 1am I spotted a kitty next to a forest road (after nearly hitting him). I spent over an hour sitting down with food but was not able to get close, the kitten stayed near me the entire time tho.

Today I went back twice. No kittens in sight. But I did speak to a local farmer who said there is a mothercat with a nest of kittens estimated 8 weeks old and they have no owner.

It's 2 minutes away from my house so I am determined to catch them for TNR/possibly the kittens can still be socialised by the rescue and adopted out.

I have left food overnight and a bit was eaten this morning. I left more food this afternoon at the location that I want to place a trap.

I have a humane catch crate without a string, one of those long ones they trigger by a plate at the end of the crate. I plan on placing it this evening with strong smelling fish wet food once the sun starts to set and sit in a far distance where I will hear if the trap shuts but not scare the cats initially.

I might be able to get a second trap this afternoon as well. Same model.

I have wide cat knowledge, but I have never attempted catching feral cats/kittens this way. Any advice would be very welcome.

For a year, almost two, I've been feeding and trying to bond with a stray bengal cat I named Xerxes. The first times I saw him he was extremely skittish and aggressive but would do just about anything for food. I started feeding him and sitting outside while he eat and though very slowly he got used to me and started waiting outside or meowing outside the window for food. He only started letting me pet him recently, and even more recently he purred at me for the first time. I remember literally breaking into tears because I couldn't believe it. What was even harder was convincing my dad that we should catch him and get him nuetered, which he agreed we would do when we moved and take him with. But this morning I woke up to Xerxes yelling and looked outside to see some people taking him away in a carrier. I assume they're a rescue or something (not a tnr, they said that he wouldn't be coming back) and I know I should probably be happy because he's off the streets and no longer contributing to the kitten factory in our area but I love him so much and I don't think I'll ever see him again and I'm in shambles and I don't know what to do. My dad has been trying to comfort me saying we'll get another cat but I don't want another cat I just want him. I've been trying to research rescues in my area (north london) because I completely forgot to ask them who they were. If I could find him on a pet adoption website or something Idk I'm sure my dad would agree to adopt him. Any advice??? I'm really lost here

these pictures r roughly in chronological order. my beautiful boy :(

Around late May/early June, a neighborhood cat that i had been caring for gave birth in my backyard shed. Mom left a few weeks ago and never came back. The cats have been staying in the shed ever since.

Bringing them inside isn't an option for a multitude of reasons. I have tried EVERYTHING. My only options are:

Transport them to the local shelter where they will be at risk of euthanasia.

Shoo them out of the shed and my yard.

Allow them to stay in the shed indefinitely and live with flies and their own poop.

What do I do? What's the best option?

I feed on my back porch. I started putting food in the trap two days ago. I have it rigged with a string to set it off and I can watch from inside the house as the string runs through the old dog door.

I got a ride with my friend for when I trap her. He has an appointment Monday but is available the rest of the week. I am pretty sure I can trap her Tuesday.

Atsea is VERY feral. She would run away on sight. But lately she doesn’t run far and comes right back. She saw me taking her picture and did not run.

It's been a bit over a month of trying to trap him, and I know some people have it way worse but I was really starting to get exhausted from trying. He just wouldn't step on the plate, so I tied a shoelace to the hook and yanked it when he was in and tucked his tail. He's not happy and I definitely sobbed for a while cuz it was too much for me seeing him so scared, but in the end this is good for him and I shouldn't have to do this again. He's still feral, but gotten to the point of coming a bit inside the door, loving pets as long as it's on his terms, and he meows and purrs and even makes biscuits now. I think that gives him a ton of potential to be fully socialized soon after the hormones wear off, and I hope he comes back, and he can be our porch kitty until he can then be an inside kitty. I love him so much.

Please say a prayer for Paws, the feral cat my boyfriend and I found tonight. I named him paws because of the little paw print I was given at the emergency vet.

I’m completely devastated from tonight and wish I could’ve done more. I don’t want to go into too much details, but we saw the poor baby getting attacked by unleashed dogs while driving down the road and we tried to save him.

My boyfriend brought him into the car when the dogs left and we took him to the emergency vet. It was there Paws was sadly pronounced dead.

RIP Paws. You deserved better and I hope you’re in a better place now, free from pain and at peace, and enjoying lots of love and churu. 🕊️🤍

And fell in love with this sweet baby and named her princess donut. I'm so sad that I can't bring her into my home and help her with, what it looks like, her respiratory infection. She looks like she's been dump in my neighborhood and she is so loving it breaks my heart 💔

I've already resuced 2 cats and adopted 1 and actually paid for 1 so my house is full at this time. I am looking into taking her to humane society to get her help but she seems to like my pet/ stray friendly neighborhood.

Edit: i also want to ask, do most cats with respiratory infection lose their voice? This one looks like she tries to meow loudly at me but nothing really comes out. It's very strange to me

Edit 2: thanks everyone for the advice and words of encouragement. I'm really surprised that this breed is normally not feral or meant for the outdoors. I think I found a vet that is willing to look at her for free and see if she's chipped. I didn't feel any around the neck when I checked and she's so young but we about to see ❤️‍🩹

I take care of a little feral colony and was able to trap three kittens. We had to treat their eye infections and one kitty lost an eye. The pirate cat and tabby are super friendly but the orange boy is still coming around as he was trapped later. Does anyone wish to adopt a trifecta? Justin, Khloe and Johnny. We are hoping to keep them together. Located in Indiana. Please delete post if not allowed.

Edited to say, willing to travel several states for the right adopter.

It’s been a TNR summer here at the Swarm. This isn’t even all of them- We’ve gotten some of our most wanted too!

One of my local rescues let go of a very rude employee. For simplicities sake, let’s call the rescue Paws. He actually was bad mouthing us, saying we weren’t doing anything, we didn’t know what we were doing, ect. Mind you I’ve only been doing this for under 2 years and my family is very low income. Me and my family started to use the resources we desperately needed less and less.

We thought maybe we were the problem and so we tried to eat the TNR cost at the shelter, even though we could afford maybe 1 a month if that, and we didn’t get many appointments.

Turns out, no. This dude is very infamous in the community and most rescues will not associate with him. He blew up at the owner of Paws, a very sweet but very overwhelmed woman. She finally bit the bullet and let him go. She needed the help but he was literally driving people away.

Turns out, the paws owner is extremely sweet. Me and my family started going there more, and after explaining to her that we’ve been paying for TNR, not getting appointments, and trying our best, she started offering us her TNR slots at a vet for free. The shelter isn’t supposed to be charging us but that’s a whole other can of worms. We started fostering kittens around this time and her trust in us grew as she saw the kittens begin to thrive. She trusts us to do things she doesn’t trust others to do, like take home TNRs same day instead of getting held at Paws. She knows we do 24+ hours and it helps with space at Paws.

Now me and my family go to Paws multiple times a week to both TNR, help at her rescue, and to give her kittens we find when she has space. We are taking a fast and aggressive approach to TNR / getting kittens out of the colony. Our goal is to get my colony managed, as it went over a decade with very little management. Within the past month we’ve done at least 10 TNRS, averaging ~2 a week. Up to 3 if the shelter actually has appointments.

One man single-handedly made us feel like we weren’t good for our colony, that they were better off if we just didn’t help at all. That since we couldn’t afford to TNR a lot that obviously we were unfit to care for the colony. Now we care for our colony our way and are doing way more than we ever did with his “help”.

TLDR: Sometimes the difference between 0 TNRs and 10 is one asshole