TRAPPING FERAL CATS/KITTENS

Question
I AM A HUGE ANIMAL LOVER AND BELIEVE STONGLY ON SPAYING AND NEUTERING YOUR ANIMALS.  HOWEVER AT TIMES IT IS EASIER SAID THAN DONE.  I HAVE BEEN WORKING ON TRAPPING 3 ADULT FERAL CATS FOR 4 WEEKS NOW WITH LITTLE SUCCESS. I FINALLY AFTER 4 DAYS CAUGHT ONE MALE AND HAD HIM NEUTERED. I THOUGHT I WAS ON A ROLL AND WAS HOPING TO HAVE THEM ALL CAUGHT BY NOW. ONE OF THE FEMALES HAS SINCE HAD KITTENS WHICH, I CAN NOT FIND. THEREFORE NOT SURE WHEN I CAN HAVE HER SPAYED OR HOW TO GO ABOUT CATCHING THE KITTENS.
THE OTHER MALE IS STUBBORN AS THEY COME.  HE WILL NOT ENTER THE TRAP NO MATTER WHAT FOOD IS PUT IN IT.  I STARTED PUTTING FOOD 4 TO 5 FEET AWAY FROM THE TRAP AND MOVING IT CLOSER AND CLOSER HOPING HE WOULD ENTER THE TRAP, I AM UP TO 1 FOOT AWAY OR SO BUT STILL HE WONT ENTER.  I HAVE WITHHELD FOOD FOR UP TO 3 DAYS, AND CAN PHYSICALLY SEE HE IS THINNER, BUT STILL HE WILL NOT ENTER THE TRAP. I HAVE BAITED THE TRAP WITH SARDINES, MACKREL, TUNA, CHICKEN, EVEN MILK.  HELP!!! I AM GOING CRAZY.
THANKS HILARY

Answer
Hi Hilary,

Thanks for stepping in to help! This is a very tough line of work. People who don't have any experience with it think working with animals is piece of cake, but the truth is that a lot of it is frustrating and heart-breaking. So many times I have wished there was a way I could just convince a cat of what was good for him (and even MORE times I have wished I could convince a PERSON of what was good for their cat). You are doing all you can, and I encourage you to be at peace with that.

Try to be patient and inch the food closer to the trap day by day. Literally, inch by inch, day by day if necessary. Be sure the trap remains unchanged. It should be in the same place and same position every day. If it's very familiar to him, it will seem less of a threat. The bait that works best for me is Fancy Feast in any of their fishy flavors. This works even over tuna. If you haven't tried this, you might want to give that a shot. I would avoid holding food for longer than 24 hours, because this might cause him to go in search of food elsewhere. If he no longer considers this his established feeding station, it will be difficult to draw him back to trap him.

As for the mama whose kittens have disappeared, hopefully she will bring the kittens around when they are to the age when they are starting on solid foods, around 5 weeks old. If you catch them just then, you can tame them up and adopt them out. However, if they aren't caught immediately thereafter, they will begin to get hard to socialize, so I would encourage you to try to catch them the moment you see them.

Good luck!

Jessica