how to trap young mom cat

I am trying to trap a young mom cat who gave birth about one week ago
to 7 kittens in a boiler room here in Harlem.

I was feeding her and her brother - who has been trapped successfully
last saturday - outside, within the courtyard, late
afternoon/evenings.

I left the trap outside but she din't go there for two days. That is
when I figured out she must have given birth. I went n discoved 7
kittens. Today I counted only 5 of them ...

I put then the trap in the boiler room where I feed her once a day in
the evening/late afternoon. The trap is not set.

She is going into the trap and eat the food and leaves. But I don't
know at what time ... I was supposing she would eat just after I left
the food in the trap, she was also coming the the food rigth after I
left it outside, but only after I left and was out of sight ...

Tonight I tried to set the trap, and waited for almost three hours,
without success.
I reduced the portion yesterday, hoping she would be hungry enough to
go right to the food...

Tonight I reduced the portion again, hoping that she will come rigth
away tomorrow night. Am I risking the life of her kittens? ...

Since I don't see the trap I attached a little bell on the door and a
string with a paper at the end, so that if the door closes I will see
the little paper moving.

Does anyone has an another good idea how to get her into the trap,
without having to spend the night ouside?

I thought of putting one of her kittens in the trap, but I'm afraid it
would be cought under the part that is moving up when the trap is set,
and then would be crusched by it when it comes down ...
I am alos afraid that she would move them then and that I won't be
able to find them anymore ... It is a dark room with a lot of garbage
in it where you could hide tonnes of kittens ...

Any input will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Patricia

Patricia wrote:

> Any input will be greatly appreciated.

I've had great luck trapping new mothers by using the babies for 'bait'.
Scoop up the babies and put them in a small carrier or transfer cage.
Make sure you put a hot water bottle or microwavable heat disc in with
them to keep them warm. Butt the back of the humane trap, (be sure the
back panel is secured if it's a two door trap), against the opening to
the carrier or transfer cage and cover the trap and carrier/cage with a
towel. Bait the trap with food as usual.

When the babies cry, the mother will be irresistably drawn to them.
Once she's trapped, move the kittens into a large carrier and _very
carefully_ transfer the mother from the trap to the carrier containing
her kittens.

If you haven't caught the mother within four hours, you'll have to
either give her back her babies and risk her moving them or bottlefeed
them and try the trap/carrier again.

Once you've got both mother and kittens, it's best if you set her up in
a large dog cage and let her take care of her kittens for five weeks.
Once they are old enough to be weaned, the mother can be spayed and
released and her babies can be fostered without her.

Good luck and thanks for caring about this little family.