How do you lure a stray cat to your yard/house?
There's a cat that has been loose on my street since May apparently, but only came into my yard Thursday night. I tried to catch it, but it bit me and ran away. Someone has also shaved it for some reason, and I want to catch since it's getting colder in the evenings. I saw the cat last night too was and was friendly to me, but it had a bit of a cough, so I'm worried. Didn't see it tonight, and it's really cold and windy.
A couple of my neighbours have been feeding it, but no real effort in trying to trap it or check to see if it's microchipped. I want to take it to the vet and see if it has an owner/check for diseases. Apparently the cat likes dry food over wet, so I don't think leaving cans of wet food will work.
Any advice given from experienced pet owners/ trappers would be helpful.
I had a similar situation last February, and succeeded.
I started by putting cat food out in a bowl every other night. I put it on the side of the street, at the edge of my property at first. Then every time I filled it, I moved the bowl closer to my front door.
Some raccoons, and even a groundhog would also come eat the cat food every now and then, watch out for other animals.
If I ever saw the cat eating, I would open my door and watch him without doing anything. After a few months, the cat was eating at my front door steps and was pretty friendly. My girlfriend let the cat inside one day, and we let him settle before finding who the real owner was.
Edge of the property is a good idea, I was thinking about how to get it to my protected porch area since it's a ways away from the sidewalk where the kitty usually roams. Did you just put it on your grass?
I started with it at the end of my driveway and parked elsewhere, then moved the bowl up my driveway, then through the grass towards my front door.
It took a few days, maybe a week before the cat started eating from my bowl, I would try and put it out in as visually obvious of a spot as possible to start.
Also if it happens to rain, dump / replace the food