Luring a stray cat...

[Nothing To Do With Doodles]

I don't think I'll get much sleep tonight! I was driving home from my soccer game and it was dark. I got to my street and there, sitting in the middle of the street, was a tiny kitten. I immediately stopped, slowly got out of my car and tried to approach it and talk to it. It instantly ran away. When it ran, I realized it was literally hopping away from me. I just assumed that it's such a tiny kitten that it just hasn't quite figured out how to walk/run yet!

I got home, got my husband, cat treats, cat food and we set off down the street to find this sweet kitten and rescue it. We saw it...sitting in the middle of the street again! So we tried again, and she ran off again. This time, we noticed that she could not walk on one of her legs. I am fairly certain her leg is either broken or severely injured. We felt so helpless! So we left a trail of treats/food from where she's been hiding to our door with a bowl of cat food and water sitting outside our front door.

Does anyone have advice on how I can help this sweet kitten? I'm hoping that in daylight it might be easier...

[Lynn D.]

So sad Joni! I hope you are able to catch the kitten.

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

It's very likely that her Momma is looking for her and will collect her though if she is injured then I don't know what you can do.  It very much depends on the age of the kitten.  A stray feral kitten wandered into our garden the other day and the mother cat  ran in, grabbed the scruff of it's neck and ran!  The kitten came back again twice and almost walked into the house, meanwhile Riley was just going mad to 'play' so he had to be crated while all the drama was going on.  

If you really want to catch it you need one of the 'humane traps' that the rescue organizations use to collect feral cats, neuter them and return them to the wild.  Check out your local Cat Protection League or whatever the local group is and ask for their advice.  Good luck

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

As Nicky suggested, the humane trap is the way to go. Here is a link with a visual idea and costs
http://www.professionalequipment.com/animal-trap/?cid=PEYBPST&9...

Poor baby kitty sounds like it needs help

[Marnie, Stanlee's Mom]

I don't know about where you live but here in our small town you can call the ASPCA or the animal shelter, let them know there is an injured animal that needs help and they will come trap it and take it for medical attention.  Our shelter is "no kill" so I don't have an issue calling them.  Of course I keep a humane trap handy at all times as wildlife tends to hang out at our house, guess we're just "party central."

 

I most likely would have stayed home today and tried to trap the poor thing because I would have gotten nothing accomplished at work.  Good luck, I hope you get the little guy the help he needs.  And if the catfood doesn't work open up a can of tuna.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The problem is that if there is one kitten loose in the area, there are more, and adult cats as well. If you leave food out, it's likely that one of the adults will get it, not the kitten. I agree that if there is a rescue group in your area who you are absolutely sure is no kill, calling them for help might be the best way to go. Otherwise, you can try the humane trap, but you may end up trapping a different animal than this one injured kitten.

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

get down to the  kitties level and slowly blink at it. sounds crazy but it work. sometimes it takes a while. it means affection and comfort with surroundings and put the kitty at ease. my cats will blink back at me if I do it to them