Scratch This: Community cat trapping for newbies

Scratch This! has used a lot of real estate to tell readers about TNR, or trap/neuter (or spay and vaccinate and microchip and tip the left ear) and release homeless outdoor cats. These cats are commonly called feral, but they’re not all antisocial, and some are dumped house pets left to fend for themselves on the streets.

TNR volunteers and people concerned about pet welfare in general call them community cats. This makes sense because they live in your community, and for many reasons, it’s up to the community to get as many fixed as possible and adopt out the friendlies and the kittens. It’s the most effective, humane way to help bring down shelter euthanasia numbers and overcrowding. It’s also good for the cats.

Earlier this year, a resident organized a group of TNR volunteers and officers from Long Beach Animal Care Services to combine forces and form a coalition of TNR volunteers: the Long Beach TNR and Community Cat Coalition. The group meets monthly in the education center linking the shelter and spcaLA.

Recently, one of the volunteers wanted to create an information sheet to hand out to people at events that gives the steps for conducting successful TNR. That sounded like a good idea, so, with the help of LBACS’ cat coordinator Lindsie Merrick and trapper track star Ewa Enrique, I put one together.

If you have community cats in your yard and want to be part of the solution, here’s what it entails. Even for Manx cats:

•  First, whether you’re new to trapping or are a seasoned trapper and want to share resources, join the Long Beach TNR and Community Cat Coalition by emailing kmchughlopes@gmail.com for an invite to their Slack channel. You’ll find myriad resources, assistance and counsel there.
• Now, check out the cat situation and make a plan. How many cats are there? Moms? Toms? Are kittens around? Nursing mother? (You may trap a cat that you didn’t even know was hanging around or one that’s been fixed.) How many traps will you need? How many shelter vouchers will you need for fixing?

•  Now, the practical stuff: How many cats can you handle? To which veterinary clinic will you transport them, and how will you do it? Will you be able to pay any copayment on the voucher or forward the payment in case the vouchers don’t come in time? Where will the cats recover — do you have a quiet, safe place to keep the trapped cats overnight and for a couple of days while they recover from surgery? Can you foster the kittens until you find them homes or a rescue, or will you release them, too (last resort, of course)?
•  Order shelter vouchers immediately at this link. Each individual household member may order up to five at a time, while organizations can order up to 20. There may be a wait for the vouchers because of backup.
•  Make appointments for spay/neuter for all the cats. You may have to wait for those as well — low-cost veterinarians are in short supply and may be booked weeks or months in advance, so sign up as soon as possible. If you don’t know what gender your trapped cat is—which happens often—make the appointment for a female cat, as procedures for females take longer than males and the vet will be able to allot more time for the operation. Clinics include Fix Long Beach, Amazing Small Animal Practice, Golden State Humane for their Feral Fridays (we won’t correct them) and CAMP LA.
• Do you have a small-animal humane drop trap? If not, buy one, borrow one from a friend, or rent one from Long Beach Animal Care Services by emailing AnimalCare@longbeach.gov. You will likely need more than one. Many TNR volunteers recommend Tru-Catch small or average live animal traps.
• When you’re ready to trap, hopefully right before the vet appointment, prep your traps and set them in the trapping area. Tape down the newspaper lining at the bottom of the traps because rustling paper will scare off shy cats. Do not feed the cats 24 to 30 hours before trapping, as you want them to be hungry enough to run into the traps. Use strong-smelling (and stinky!) food such as sardines, mackerel or KFC chicken. Dribble a path from a couple of feet outside the trap to the inside.
• In the case of a nursing mother, keep an eye out to make sure that Mom hasn’t moved them to another location. When the litter has been weaned, you can begin socializing the kittens. They may be curious enough to come to you! Start feeding them all in a good location for placing a trap. When they get comfortable eating in that place, set up your trap, wait until all are in it, and drop it when the whole family’s inside. This takes some engineering and manipulating the tripping mechanism, so in the interest of space, check out this link from Alley Cat Allies.
• Wait. It might be a couple of hours or a day.
• When the cats trip the trap, throw a towel over the trap to calm the cat as much as possible. Do not stick your fingers inside to comfort the cat if you value your health. A bite or a scratch could become badly infected. Put the covered traps into your safe, warm space. Do not feed them or give them water — it could cause them to aspirate and possibly die under anesthesia.
•  Line your vehicle where you put the trapped cats with heavy-duty plastic, cardboard and towels (getting that pee smell out is next to impossible). Bring the cats in their covered traps to the appointments. Go home and do something relaxing — you’ve earned it. When the vet calls, pick the cats up and take them back to their private space. Follow the vet’s instructions for food and water.
• Finally, release the adults to whence they came, and see if you can find homes for the kittens. Lick paws, purr and repeat. Yes, trapping is work, but it becomes an addictive purr-suit! Thank you!

Long Beach Animal Care Services’ Community Cats page has helpful information about caring for community cats. Two meetings will be held in the near future to help trappers: The Cool Cat Collective and TippedEars TNR/rescue team will present a free Trappers 101 workshop on Friday, Oct. 11, 5:30 p.m.–7p.m., 2741 E. 4th St., Long Beach, #C; and the next Long Beach TNR and Community Cat Coalition takes place Saturday, Nov. 9, 1 p.m.–3 p.m. at the Long Beach Animal Care Services Education Center, 7500 E. Spring St., Long Beach, followed by trap training. Address questions to Lindsie.Merrick@LongBeach.gov.

Yours drooly

Speaking of successful community projects, Wrigley Kittens is as grassroots as a plowed catnip field. Wrigley Kittens was started by Energizer kitty Kelly Lopes, who has one paw and a tail in multiple felinious efforts, including organizing presentations and meetings for the Long Beach TNR and Community Cat Coalition. Kelly began the Wrigley Kittens Facebook page when she started doing TNR to marshal people in the neighborhood at large to help trap, share resources, find inexpensive spay/neuter vet clinics, and of course, find adoptive homes for kittens and friendly adult felines. The first few years saw great enthusiasm, but with all the cats born outdoors and comparatively few homes for them emerged, it got overwhelming for everyone and still is.

“The cats and kittens keep coming in, but I get very few adoptions because the networking has all but disappeared,” Kelly said. “I have cats that I took in last spring and last fall still in foster care who are garnering zero interest, even though they are beautiful, healthy, young cats. And now we have mom cats getting ready to have more, while another just had her four,” Kelly wrote on the Wrigley Kittens page.

In gratitude and admiration, Scratch This! wants to help spread the word, which is about all I can do with (mumble mumble) cats in my house and no room for more. But if you have room in your heart and home, consider these furries!

If you’d like your home to look like Wednesday Addams’ dorm room or if you just have a thing for black cats, here’s a triple whammy! These three brothers, Goat, Gallo and Goose, were rescued from Westside almost a year ago. They are still in foster care because of their shy nature. They need an understanding, patient human or humans. If you will consider one, two or all of them, please contact Ewa or Ellie at Ewae@hotmail.com. (Ewa is another trapping legend and deserves great thanks!)

They call him King because he acts like a little king. He’s about 3 months old. He’s in foster care for another couple of weeks until he gets neutered and vaccinated.

King’s two sisters (left and center, feeding at trough) can also go home with you, and you can name them! Email kmchughlopes@gmail.com to inquire about meeting them.

Oh—those poor, scraggly kitties in the trap at the beginning of the article? Look at them now! To adopt on, email Jerlenetatum@outlook.com.

Tail-waggin’ and nose-boopin’ events

This month, Friends of Long Beach Animals will celebrate its 35^th year as the city’s most venerable animal-advocacy organization. FOLBA has been helping people with their pets and the pets themselves since a lot of you were puppies and kittens or maybe weren’t even part of a litter yet. Celebrate an anniversary with this wonderful bunch of people — dance to live music, dine and drink, and meet special guest actor Tom Kiesche (“Breaking Bad,” “Third Rock from the Sun”) and a bunch of four-legged attendees.

Friends of Long Beach Animals 35^th Anniversary Fundraiser takes place Friday, Oct. 11, 7 p.m.–11 p.m. at El Dorado Park Golf Course, 2400 N. Studebaker Rd., Long Beach. Buy your tickets here.

Pit bulls have to dress up or get into costume for Pit Bull Appreciation Day, hosted by the nonprofit Blockhead Brigade. They can attend this event in all their glorious goofiness, and so can any breed or mix! Pit Bull Appreciation Day will feature adoptions, skills like urban herding and scent work, community resources, and all kinds of fun, games and prizes. The event is free, but ticket purchases will help support community members who are struggling with housing, medical or behavior issues with their dogs. For the safety of everyone’s dog, 10 feet of space minimum is required between dogs, and leashes must be six feet or shorter (no retractables).

Pit Bull Appreciation Day takes place Saturday, Oct. 12 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Marina Vista Park, 5355 E. Eliot St., Long Beach. This link has all information and ticket sales.

Bunny Bunch’s 40-year celebration

It’s officially fall, and you can fall down the best rabbit hole ever at a party that would be the envy of the Mad Hatter and, of course, the March Hare! Celebrate four decades of rescuing and helping rabbits, chinchillas and guinea pigs get healthy and find their forever homes with the wonderful Bunny Bunch Rabbit Rescue! Listen to Dr. Sari Kanfer and Dr. Jennifer Dietz Kumar discuss health topics specific to the exotic breeds and will be joined by Dr. Gayle Roberts for health checks and vaccinations (appointments and costs at this link); grab a photo shoot with your bunny, guinea pig or chinchilla (appointments and costs here); bid on fantastic auction items; enjoy a plant-based lunch from the Veggie Grill; go shopping for your little fellas and girls at the boutique; and grab a copy of the 2025 Calendar of Rescued Rabbits so that you can write down vet appointments and other events. All funds will benefit the buns and the other pets at the rescue. Donate here if you can’t make it.

The Bunny Bunch's 40th Anniversary Celebration and 2025 Calendar Debut takes place Sunday, Oct. 13, 10:30 a.m.–4 p.m. at the Bunny Bunch Fountain Valley location, 10534 Bechler River Ave., Fountain Valley. Limited seating and appointments; reserve your spaces here.

Need a low-cost veterinarian, information about trapping community cats, places to volunteer — anything pet related? Follow this link for resources. Please add your own ideas in the Comments section.