When to Use Pre-Baiting the Trap
Pre-baiting the trap involves locking or tying the trap door open so that it will not close when an animal goes inside. Bait is then placed outside the trap entrance and/or in a trail leading inside the trap. The trap is not set until there is evidence (usually from a surveillance camera) of your cat entering the trap and eating the food.
Once your cat has entered a trap and eaten food once, they are very likely to do so again. Using this method can increase the safety and efficiency of trapping, especially if you are not able to remote monitor the trap.
This method is recommended in the following circumstances:
- Your cat has been missing from home more than two weeks, especially if you don’t have a way to remote monitor the trap in real-time. In this situation, you might instead choose to use just a surveillance camera and feeding station.
- Your cat is missing away from home and you are not able to check the trap every few hours or use a remote monitor such as a cellular camera. In this situation, you might instead choose to use just a surveillance camera and feeding station to verify your cat is there before trying to trap.
- Your cat has been seen in person or on camera near the trap but appears hesitant to enter.
Using Pre-Baiting to Catch a "Trap Shy" Cat
Some cats are less comfortable entering a humane cat trap and are considered "trap shy" or "hard-to-trap" cats. If your cat is reluctant to enter the trap, you can try a method of desensitization and counter conditioning. To use this method you need to capture photos or videos of your cat's behavior around the trap.
- First padlock or tie open the trap door so that it won't close when an animal enters the trap. if the trap has a sliding rear door, you may remove this as well.
- Start with the food outside of the trap, maybe even a foot or two away.
- Each night that your cat eats the food, slowly move the food closer to the trap.
- Then slowly move the food farther inside the trap each night that it is eaten. Be sure to leave a small trail of food leading inside.
- If at any time, your cat refuses to eat the food, then move it a little back out for a night or two and then try again. Don't let your cat go more than a night without getting any food.
- If you removed the sliding rear door, then replace it at this time. Don't be surprised if you cat is initially reluctant to enter the trap. You may need to temporarily move the food closer to the entrance.
- Don’t set the trap until you are confident that your cat is fully entering the trap to eat the food.
This method takes a lot a patience and there is some risk that something could cause your cat to leave the area before they are caught. For alternative methods to trapping a “trap shy” cat see Catching a Hard-to-Trap Cat.
IMPORTANT! If you use this method, it is still important for someone to check the trap every day to make sure that it has not been disturbed or set by a person. This is less important if you padlock the trap open and/or remove the back door so that there is no possible way for an animal to become trapped inside.