Your Cat Good Causes has provided vital equipment to independent rescues to help bring feral populations under control.
Image above: Rachael Clare, Lincs Ark, with the donated cat trap and carrier.
Your Cat Good Causes has donated MDC EeziCatch Cat Traps and carriers to independent cat rescues throughout the UK to help assist them with their essential Trap Neuter Return (TNR) programmes. We spoke to two of those rescues to find out more about their amazing work and how our donation is valuable to them.
Female cats over the age of four months can get pregnant. This is one of the reasons why feral cat populations can explode in numbers in such a short time. With an estimated 250,000 stray cats living in cities across the UK, independent cat rescues are reaching breaking point with all of the time, hard work, and effort their volunteers are putting into their Trap Neuter Return (TNR) programmes to bring feral populations under control.
We spoke to Katie Gates at Cat-Ching, an independent cat rescue based in Sheffield, about the stray cat problem they are facing: “The overpopulation of cats in Sheffield and the surrounding areas is out of control. They pop up in the strangest of places; industrial sites, behind fish and chip shops, or even on people’s rooves.
“Currently, we cover Sheffield; we used to cover all of South Yorkshire but had to restrict this as we wanted to focus on the cats closer to home and make the most of our limited resources, including volunteer time, to ensure we are having maximum impact.”
When asked about a memorable trapping experience, Katie looked back on a particular story from 2021. “Last year, we were trapping in Doncaster on a site where they created renewable energy from animal waste, such as bones, and, as you can imagine, the smell still haunts us. They contacted us asking for help when their feral cat problem got out of hand. Trapping and euthanasia was being considered as due to them being in the food industry they needed to remove the cats for health and safety purposes.
“We travelled an hour and a half round trip for a period of six months, six days a week at first. All while working our own full-time jobs. Needless to say, this was exhausting. Ultimately, this was the final straw in our decision to regretfully no longer cover Doncaster.
“From this site, we relocated over 30 cats and found them wonderful rural homes. Trapping requires specialised equipment, financial support, and a huge effort. Cat-Ching and its incredible donors funded this operation with the implicated company contributing nothing. But we persevered to protect these cats from being euthanised.”
Image above: Feral Steve. Cat-Ching trapped him after noticing he had particularly bad cat flu. Unfortunately he did not survive that winter.
Katie continued: “The donation Your Cat Good Causes has given us is incredibly generous. Equipment is quite regularly damaged or not returned when borrowed and it’s very expensive to replace. We had to do a mass order last year due to this which sent us into negative funds. Thankfully, our supporters stepped up to get us back into the clear. Having more traps means we are equipped to save more cats!”
We also dropped off MDC EeziCatch Cat Traps and carriers to Lincs Ark, a small charity operating in the South Lincolnshire area, who are entirely self-funded. Rachael Clare was kind enough to show us round the functional catteries in her garden which are in constant use, homing just some of the cats and kittens they have rescued.
One of the traps Your Cat Good Causes donated was put to use right away, as it went out to a lady who had previously adopted three feral cats from Lincs Ark and had a stray turn up eating their food. She wanted to trap the cat to check for a microchip.
Rachael said: “We received a telephone call from a couple who previously adopted a couple of feral cats from us, with a report that they were being bullied by a stray, unneutered tom cat who they named Elvis. Tom cats have a very hard life trying to get regular food and shelter, often seen as bullies, as in this case, but really, they are fighting for survival.
“Lincs Ark gave information on how a cat’s character changes once he’s been neutered and asked the couple to actively feed him, so he wasn’t stealing their own cat’s food and set up a routine. Their own cats seemed to accept this and allowed Elvis to bed in with them, all being a bit wary still.”
Rachael explained that the couple had spoken to their neighbours to see if anyone knew who he belonged to, but no owner came forward. They then decided that they would like to adopt him after neutering.
“We organised a trap to go to them and insisted that it was checked regularly. As Elvis was nervous, we suggested for it to not be set for a start to let him realise the food was inside. Then when he was comfortable eating in the trap, slowly moving his bowl towards the pressure plate at the back each night. Then to set the trap the night before the vet appointment, which was made by us, for neutering and chipping.”
Image above: Elvis checking out the trap.
The next morning, Elvis had set off the pressure plate and was successfully caught. He was taken into the house in a quiet room, covered over, and left to settle.
Rachael continued: “Unfortunately, the vets rang with upsetting news that Elvis was poorly and had advanced liver failure. This was devastating news and not what we had expected to hear. To save him further suffering the decision was made to let him go and not be in any pain anymore. We tried our best but in this case it’s out of our hands, but at least he got help and didn’t suffer on his own at the end.”
All too often strays and ferals don’t get the care that they need. Rachael said: “Had he survived, he would have had a lovely home. Traps and crush cages are an essential tool for capturing strays, ferals, and kittens, and then transporting them to the vets. These can be costly but are so important in this line of work. Thank you so much to Your Cat Good Causes for this donation to help us with our trapping.”
To find out more about these two hard working independent cat rescues, make a generous donation, or find out how to become a fosterer, simply visit their websites and social media pages.
Cat-Ching: www.cat-ching.com; www.facebook.com/catchingsheffield/
Lincs Ark: www.lincsark.co.uk; www.facebook.com/lincs.ark
Is this cat a stray?
Katie Gates at Cat-Ching, Sheffield, gives her advice on what to do if you think you’ve seen a stray cat.
FRIENDLY
- Take a photo of the cat and post it on local lost and found groups. You need to ask the community if they own the cat or know of the owners. The post needs to be live for at least a week.
- Take the cat to a vet to have a free microchip check. If chipped, the vet will be able to contact the owners from the information registered on there. This is why it’s so important to keep that up to date.
- Apply a paper collar with a mobile number and a message asking for the owner to contact you as you believe the cat to be homeless.
- Door knock the area the cat was found in and post flyers as a last attempt to find an owner before contacting rescues.
FERAL
- Take a photo of the cat and post it on local lost and found groups. You need to ask the community if they own the cat or know of the owners. The post needs to be live for at least a week.
- Contact rescues to see if they can trap the cat to be relocated or rehomed.
How does a cat trap work?
The MDC EeziCatch Cat Trap is a high-quality, self-activating trap, which closes automatically when a cat enters and stands on the treadle plate. The treadle plate is linked to a release pin allowing the trap-door and locking bar to drop into place to secure the cat for temporary confinement. To set the trap, simply raise the outward opening front door above the trip bar.
As the cat steps on the mesh treadle plate, the door is locked using a simple sliding ring mechanism to make catching the cat a gentle stress-free operation. The back door slips up perfectly to transfer the cat into a carrier.
Trapping tips
Practice using the trap (and transfer technique) until you are familiar with it. Traps should be located where the cats are normally fed. Work with local cat feeders and recruit them as helpers. Bait the unset trap and allow the cat(s) to eat from the trap for several days.
Set traps should be monitored and checked every two hours. Such checks avoid having the cat being held captive too long and also provides an opportunity to ensure that the trap has not been accidentally sprung or interfered with.
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