if it's a feral cat, it won't be easy by a long shot but it can be done. you should think about trapping her. your local animal shelter may loan you a live trap so that you wouldn't have to purchase one. they are very easy to set and if she's hungry, she should be fairly easy to trap. the best food i have found is good ole canned tuna.

once you have her trapped, then you can take her home and work on gentling her down. she is a very pretty kitty!

Stinky oily fishy food will tempt her more, but nina's right;
getting her to safety is the primary thing.

Tricking her into a humane trap is better than having her disappear from work.

She may calm down once she's in a safe place with lots of stinky fishy food.

Best luck.

Isn't anyone worried about rabies in feral cats? I would never try to handle a stray cat. I remember about 15 years ago a mall near my home that was in a busy neighborhood had a small wooded area nearby that was home to a bunch of cats. They would come to the mall parking lot to look for handouts and trash. Someone was eventually bitten and the cats were trapped. The biter was discovered to be rabid and the cats were euthanized.

Also, two years ago my niece was bitten by a stray kitten and had to undergo the shots because the kitten wasn't found.

I would be less concerned about rabies in a dog that I found on the side of the road, but if there were dogs living as wild animals I wouldn't handle them either.

There was a kitten hanging around my yard about five yeares ago.. I decided I would take him in. But he was afraid everytime I came near. So I started putting out food. I got closer and closer as he ate, put my hand out and he bit my hand. Had to get a tetanus shot. I gave up. At the time there had been no rabies in my state in years. But that has changed. My vet has put up a notice of several raccoons with rabies in my county. I would leave a sray alone or just feed it outdoors.

Rabies doesn't even enter my mind when dealing with feral cats. I worry more about the other cat diseases.

You put food out for them, if you're so inclined. Get them used to being fed in one spot. Then, put the trap out there with the above mentioned stinky fish food, such as tuna, and wallah, if the cat has never been trapped before, it should happen pretty quickly. It works best if you withhold food for around 24 hours, then put the trap out. Then, once you've trapped her, get her to the humane society, or whatever organization in your area that deals with ferals, and get her spayed and vaccinated. That's the procedure we've used at the place I work at, which seems to be a magnet for feral cats.

Sally

I would suggest tuna and a have a heart trap. The cat won't live long if its left to wander. Once trapped she can be tested for disease, spayed and vaccinated. If you are willing to pay for all of that and take her home then go for it.

If you are not willing to pay for all that and give her a permanent indoor home then I would trap her and take her to a shelter.

My concerns with cat bites, in order: Pastuerella, tetanus, rabies, what the heck I did to deserve it (I've only been bitten twice)

Fancy Feast Seafood Feast in Aspice is kitty crack. If she won't come up to you with that, she ain't coming. It will still probably take some patience because she isn't very trusting of people apparently. It will take a while for her to learn to trust you, even with kitty crack. The longer you can sit there, the better chance you'll have. If you can sit there with the crack for say 15 minutes a day, at the same time every day, she will learn to expect your presence and not be so freaked out by your being there. Then you can slowly work up to her coming to you. I wouldn't try to pick her up as soon as she gets within reach. Give her a several days of getting within reach without doing anything so if you miss, you won't be back to square one.

Good luck!

How can you be certain she doesn't live nearby and just likes to visit?

A vet once told me that dogs are much likelier to get rabies than cats are, because of their behavior:

Dogs pounce on strange animals, & cats avoid strange animals.

Interesting. Meghane's order of concern is related to the probably of contracting the disease. Her order is probably more practical, but I would put them in the opposite order because of ability to treat the disease. Rabies is incurable (I believe there is ONE known case of a human surviving rabies EVER). Tetanus is also nasty, with a mortality rate of 10->50% depending on the stage at which it is diagnosed. Pasteurella can be treated with antibiotics, usually successfully. Therefore, I worry more about rabies and I will NOT handle an unknown cat (or dog) without gloves. And I certainly will not handle a wild animal without protection.

There was a case in North Dakota a year or so ago (time flies, it may have been longer) of a dog with puppies. The pups were taken to soccer games and grocery stores and given away to homes. I can't remember exactly how it played out, but eventually it was found that the pups had been exposed to rabies and the mother was unvaccinated (therefore no maternal protection). One pup was hit by a car and autopsied and found to be rabies positive. Another pup was euthanized and also was positive. The state had to track down literally hundreds of people to vaccinate them for rabies.

Be careful with stray animals.

I run a cat rescue so I have handled hundreds of feral cats and yes I have been bitten and I have contracted pasturella, you get a shot and no problem. The cat in the picture does not look to be sick, get as close as you can and look at the eyes, is there have any discharge? Do you notice her sneezing or coughing? This is how I usually capture ferals and it takes alot of time and commitment on your part.
Set aside a time (the same time) everyday for the feeding and be there at that time so she starts to depend on you and she will look for you. Set the food down in the same spot everytime and just walk away to the point that she will go to the food and eat, but she can also see you, sit down and just watch.. make no effort to touch her. do this over the course of several weeks. the second week you can talk to her in a calm soothing voice, but still make no effort to touch, around the fourth week you can move slightly closer to the cat. keep doing this and eventually you will be able to touch her.
I will caution you tho that this is not something that you can stop doing once you start, she WILL depend on you for food, once you see her everyday at the feeding spot you will know that you are on the road to earning her trust.
Good luck.

Prairie love, I agree completely with your order of concern and the reason why. I too, have heard of cases where many people had to be contacted and given rabies shots after exposure of the type you mentioned.

Shiollie, from what I've read it can take as long as six weeks for rabies to develop in a cat and other diseases would have their incubation period as well, so I wouldn't assume an animal was healthy based on whether they look sick, personally.

Sylvia, sometimes animals such as foxes attack and eat cats. If the cat escaped and survived it could contract rabies. Sometimes rabid animals behave abnormally and may attack other creatures they would usually leave alone. Several years ago in MD, a groundhog ran out of the bushes and attacked and bit a lady and was later found to be rabid. Another way a cat could contract it is that raccoons will hiss and spit at an animal that they encounter and if the saliva entered their mouth, eyes, or a scratch in the skin they could be infected.

All that said, I realize rabies isn't that common in dogs and cats and they even have a good bit of resistance to it when exposed. But it's a brutal disease with no cure and it makes sense to me to use extreme caution around strays.

I can help regarding getting closer to the cat, but I have no advice about catching it or trying to bring it home. I would be afraid it would be scared and fight with your other cat.

Start eating your lunch outside. Bring a small dish, and place a sardine or two inside it. Place it about ten feet from you. Just sit and eat your lunch. If she approaches the dish, completely ignore her and let her taste/eat it. Do this every day until she will come up and eat the sardine or whatever, and even seems to be waiting for you to come out.

Slowly move the dish closer to you. So let's say after a week, set the dish 9 feet away. Then 8. And so on.

Remember, try not to look directly at her. Don't talk to her, don't advance, and don't put any appendages out towards her.

When she will comfortably eat about a foot away from you while you eat, try saying one word. Not loud, just one word (maybe a name or term of endearment). If she doesn't seem too concerned, the next day say two words. Continue that until you can talk to her while looking at her (in a non-threatening way. Don't loom) while she is a foot away eating.

Next, talk to her and slowly place one hand on your knee (the closest hand and knee to the cat). The next day, do it again, and maybe exagerate the movement a bit more, and go a little lower down your leg/closer to the cat. You want to be able to touch the ground around the cat (not grab at her or try to touch her) without her running away.

The next steps are placing one finger on the dish as she is eating (go back to no talking), then your whole hand. Then you can move on to touch the dish, then slowly raise your hand (palm down, fingers curled in) and hold it about nose height over the dish (not blocking it). You might want to try dabbing some sardine juice on it LOL.

Not all cats like being petted or touched, but you might get lucky. Yes, it is a long process. But I have tried it, with great success. In general, cats can't abide being ignored ROFL.

Sardines, tuna, salmon. Stinky fishy things. Just a bit though, enough to keep her there for a minute or two. If you overfeed her she will disappear for days at a time. Teasing amounts is what you are looking for, you want her to come and look for YOU.

Upon pulling into the parking lot at work today I saw an animal services truck leaving the parking lot. I ran inside and asked around. I found out that someone called animal services on the cat. Apparently, she HAD A LITTER OF KITTENS under dumpster by the loading docks in the hotel. Someone called animal control on her. I wonder what's going to happen to her and her babies. I'm so upset... I am really going to miss seeing her around here. We had a routine... every night I worked I'd go around and look for her. I'd always see her because when I got near to where she was, she'd run out of hiding. Upon seeing me she would stop and stare for a bit. Then run away. She'd take food if I left it for her. Now she's gone! I may make a trip to the shelter and see if she's there tomorrow. I sure hope they don't put her down. I'll feel terrible. I'm just beside myself right now! If something happens to her it will be my fault for not getting a trap and acting sooner. You always think you have forever... I'll do it next week, next week, next week. Next week didn't come! :o( I had no idea she was a mother though. No wonder why she was so shy and ran from me... she didn't want to leave her babies. I can't blame her, but I sure wish this hadn't happened! :***(

Does that particular shelter do adoptions? Maybe you'll luck out and they'll deem her 'adoptable.' May even be better this way - if she's adoptable, she'd be tested and vaccinated before they released her, likely microchipped, and they did the trapping! :) Good Luck!

In a similar situation, I called the shelter & told them I wanted the animal, a dog with a hurt foot.

I was told that "he might not make adoption" because of the foot, & that the only way he would be released *for sure* would be if someone "owner-claimed" him & paid the $30 fine for allowing him to run loose.

so I did.

Many times mommas with baby kittens are euthanized as soon as their minimum time is up.

Call them *now*.

Best luck.

Good luck with calling sometimes they keep the cat and kittens until the kittens can be weaned, hope that is the case.
It is kitten season here at the feed store a woman came in with three little black kittens who are about two weeks old. She had a burn pile and when they lit it a cat ran out then these kittens who hadn't even opened their eyes crawled away from the flames. I sold her a nursing kit and kitten milk. Then a woman came in with a cardboard box she found in a dumpster there were six little kittens in it we have them here and are trying to find homes for them. So sad that cats are not valued for the wonderful beings they are.

I agree acorn! With most of the things you say actually, but that's neither here nor there! I called the animal services number. The operator connected me with adoptions. After waiting on hold for 20 minutes I got connected with the adoptioin coordinator's voicemail. She's a hick who used improper grammar in her voicemail message. She said "Thank ya for callin (whatever her name was) with the Orange County Animal Services. My hours of operation *IS* (not are... hourS=plural) Mondeee through Frideee nine to five. For a list of the animals you can visit our website at dubya dubya dubya (not double-you double-you double-you) blah blah blah." If those are the kinds of hands poor kitty is in, I feel terrible. Hardly professional. It's been 4 hours and I've still not gotten a call back. Maybe the lady doesn't know how to use the telephone. I guess I will have to pay a visit tomorrow. GRRR!

It's usually better to go in person, anyway. Seems like face time makes a better impression, plus I'm sure their phone lines are always tied up. Charm the hick as well as you can, and good luck again! ;)

Vacuumfreak,
Just checking in for an update. Any news???
Ivy

And just a suggestion: try not to ridicule her accent or correct her grammer while you talk to her. As exquisitly correct as you may be, that rarely compels people to see things your way.

Ivy, thanks for checking. I've called every day since it happened with no response yet. They always transfer me to the same voice mail and I never get a returned call. I work during their business hours, so I really don't know what to do. I am going to make a trip there on the next week day I have off (Thursday), but I just hope it's not too late. I have no clue why my calls aren't being returned. I thought about leaving a rude message with very slow detailed instructions on how to use a telephone, but decided against it. Alison, thanks for your advice. Despite whatever image I may project, I do have a microscopic amount of common sense. :o)

HAHA! After living most of my life in the south, I've come to realize that speaking like that has nothing to do with someone's education. I've known people that have Masters Degrees that just won't change the way they speak. My EX husband, who is a brilliant author, speaks so ridiculously that you can barely understand him...HA! ;)

I do understand that people have accents. There are certain things that should be known by anyone who has been passed third grade and has spoken English as their first language. It's been my experience that people that talk like idiots usually are.

Poor grammar usually does indicate a lack of desire to sound educated, but it can also indicate a lack of opportunity to BE educated, or a lack of capacity to benefit from education (a disability), so assumptions can end up only making the one who assumes seem cruel or insensitive.

BTW, what is wrong with having an uneducated person working at the animal control office, even if she does record the outgoing message? I can't see any reason she would be less qualified to provide care to a homeless animal. I am not so sure the cats and dogs even notice grammar. ;-)

How did it go on Thursday???

OH JEEZ...you guys aren't from The South...I mean the real south are you?! I'm telling you...poor grammar in the south is just part of being a Southerner! We don't all talk like that but most do...college educated or highschool drop-outs...it makes no difference! Saying "I ain't got no" is just par for the course! Although I do realize that people that aren't from the South see that as being uneducated!

First thing Monday, call city hall & find out what department is in charge of animal control & what person is in charge of that department.

Ask for that person's direct phone #.

If they won't give it to you, ask to be put through to the closest *human being* (if the big cheese doesn't answer the phone, there should be an assistant big cheese).

Thursday will be too late for sure.

I hope Monday will not be too late.

I wish you the best.

You should print up that picture and bring it with you and say "I'm sorry but that's the best picture I have of my cat" and just act like she's your cat that ran away and you are trying to find her. That's what I would do anyway if I wanted her that bad.

I had thought of that too, telling them it was my cat, but it would seem kind of odd if when you picked her up she would decide to make you look as if Wolverine had attacked you. of course then you could say casually yes her name is shredder:)

I have a accent, a terrible one, it isn't even like a southern accent, actually I don't even think it is a Missouri accent, and I have awful grammer, My 11 year old and 5 year old thank goodness have beautiful grammer:)
but I know where you are coming from, you are trying to accomplish something important and you keep hearing this same voice denying you your goal, I would be ready to throw the phone if I heard the voice one more time. Honestly I get into more arguments with voicemail and automated services then with a live operator.

Nancy_in_mich:

"BTW, what is wrong with having an uneducated person working at the animal control office, even if she does record the outgoing message? I can't see any reason she would be less qualified to provide care to a homeless animal. I am not so sure the cats and dogs even notice grammar. ;-)"

My school of thought on that was that stupid people make stupid decisions. I don't want to sound like I am judging her, especially since I have never met her. However, everyone DOES form an impression of the other people they come in contact with. Maybe someone who is an idiot would euthanize an animal unjustly or something like that. I can't say she's stupid... maybe she just is uneducated. That just seemed like a mistake that 10 year olds wouldn't make. If she just doesn't care how she sounds then I could call that stupid. How do people like that get respect?

I am going to try to break away from work tomorrow (Monday) for a bit and see if the cat is still there. I didn't expect my phone calls to be ignored for this long, and I would call their behavior extremely unprofessional. If I called once and was asking nonsense I could understand. I called EVERY DAY since the incident, so I obviously care. I'd think they would be glad to have someone take a cat off of their hands. They have way too many and are always begging on Craig's List to save the innocent animals from death row. I am prepared to give lessons on how to use the telephone after I find out what has happened or will happen to the cat. I will bring a velcro story board and a pointer stick. I may even go into the history of Alexander Graham Bell. Then we will finish the lesson with number dialing finger calisthenics. I will not even go into grammar. Just how to use the phone so calls can be returned.

Unless you can go there first thing, before you go to work, *call* for the person in charge.
Call early; they may get to work at 6:30 in the morning.

You can give phone lessons afterward...
but I wouldn't bet on the lessons "taking".

Your immediate goal, literally life or death, is to get this feline family home.

I'm crossing my fingers & holding all of you in my thoughts & in my heart.

Well, I made the trip this morning. I didn't meet the person from the infamous voice mail though. I told the clerk when the cat was taken in and what she looked like and the story about the kittens. She said that she didn't know of anything like that but that I was free to look at all the cats they had. There were some beautiful animals there, but I didn't see my hotel kitty. I can only assume the worst. I showed the lady the picture and she said she didn't remember seeing a cat that looked like that. I guess they get so many it's hard to keep up with each one. They had several kittens as well, but I don't know which if any were hers because I didn't get a look at them before animal control came. Maybe it worked out for the best. If I do get a second kitty as a companion for Jasper and myself it should really be a boy (according to everyone who seems to know), and one that is tame. I don't know why I wanted this kitty so badly... we didn't connect... I spent hours chasing it and watching it run full speed away from me. I asked myself why I really wanted this kitty. I think I just wanted to feel good about "rescuing" a "homeless" kitty. I want to expand my family, but I think when the kitty is right the situation will work out. There was a beautiful silver and grey kitty at a gas station 2 days ago that I tried to approach. It ran so fast, I thought it was going to dart into traffic. I think I would like to get a kitty of the street instead of going to a shelter (especially this one after my dealings with them!). I will just have to find one that isn't quite so scared if that is even possible. I would of course take it to the SPCA to have it speutered and vaccinated before I took it into my home. Anyway... that's the update... thanks to everyone who responded.