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11 March 2012

There's a cat under my house. What else can I do? [More:]

Some genius in the last number of months decided to prop open the door to my external water heater room without me knowing it. There's a hole just big enough for kittehs to go through. Well, there was a cat fight outside this a.m. and one of them ran in there.


Things I have tried:

Waiting--Can't see the exit unless I sit outside.

Calling--it doesn't work.

Tuna--a different cat came over to eat it within 3 minutes.

I also closed the water heater door and barely propped ajar another door into the crawlspace, hoping that any trapped cat could get out by pushing just a little bit. If a cat leaves that way, I might be able to see that the door has changed. I will be monitoring the crawlspace door.

Any other ideas?
Oh wow, Stewie, I'm sure this must be stressful for you. I was going to suggest tuna, but if other cats can get it, I'm not sure what else to suggest except to give it time and hope the cat works out where the exit is.
posted by Senyar 11 March | 13:19
Damn - I was going to suggest the tuna maneuver, but I see you've tried that. Mrs chewie thinks it will come out, but obviously leaving the door open makes it easy for others to get in.

I dunno. Trap 'em maybe?
posted by chewatadistance 11 March | 13:22
If it's scared, it probably won't come out when you're around. And I don't imagine it wants to be under your house. I can't think of any useful suggestions other than waiting...
posted by altolinguistic 11 March | 14:21
If it's not wet where you are you can sift flour over the ground outside the exit. That way you will be able to tell if he comes out and you miss it.
posted by arse_hat 11 March | 14:36
ooooh, arse hat, great idea!
posted by Stewriffic 11 March | 14:37
Confuse It :p
posted by rollick 11 March | 20:56
Got it out! The door I had left barely ajar had swung wide open sometime during the night. Glad we had that little crawl space door!
posted by Stewriffic 12 March | 06:10
Yaaaay!
posted by Senyar 12 March | 12:12
I hate to recommend KFC for ANYTHING, but kitties can't resist it, for future reference.

This is probably more than you want to know/get involved, but: Have you thought about helping kitty out if s/he's an alley cat (feral, born and will always live outdoors) ?

Do you know anyone who does TNR? Trap/Neuter/Return? If the cat is too old and feral to be adopted, you humane trap it (if all else fails, KFC originial recipe WILL get the cat in the trap no matter how cagey and wise s/he is; it's kitty crack), take it somewhere that does cheap spay/neuter (in my area the Cleveland APL charges $5 - $10 in Cuyahoga Cty, $10 more outside of it), keep it overnight then release it. VOILA, less baby kitties popping up in the neighborhood.

I take care of a small colony of ferals (just two right now) and the APL actually amputated a mutilated tail on one, administered antibiotics, did all vaccinations/deworming/shots, all for $35. Very cool.
posted by shane 12 March | 12:52
My cat loved KFC.
posted by ethylene 12 March | 13:34
What works well as a (Mefi) reading club book? || Been there, done that.

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