Havahart 1099 Feral Stray Cat Rescue Kit

We bought this to start a trap/neuter/release process with our feral cat colony. We became the lucky caretakers of some very dear cats and kittens that roam our neighborhood. When they started multiplying, we knew we had to take care of the overpopulation issue. Thankfully, a foundation in town helped us with the vet fees - but we still had to find a way to get them to the vet! Enter the Havahart Feral Stray Cat Rescue Kit.This "kit" includes the trap itself folded down very compactly, a cover, and a divider/separator. All were REALLY handy in our endeavor to take care of our cats.Set up is easy, just be careful not to put undue force on anything, align the cage and get things connected, and you're ready to go. The directions were pretty easy to follow...except use of the divider/separator wasn't really well described. I describe its use below.Be sure that when you assemble this thing, and whenever you open and then close the back door, that you thread the U shaped metal rod through the little metal hoops attached to the back door. This provides reinforcement, so you don't have anything break out of your trap.We left our traps outside for the cats to get accustomed to them, using twine to hold the doors up so they don't snap shut. First they were just curious, then the cats eventually would crawl into the traps to eat food, and that made catching them much easier. Instead of letting the doors snap shut, I let them get into the trap, then cut the twine and gently lowered the door. Panic of course ensued temporarily, and the poor cat would run in circles and freak out. This is when you MUST place a cover on the cage so the feral cat will calm down. With the cage covered, they will lay down and relax. And possibly meow a lot.The included cover is a burlap piece, plenty strong and covers very well, but allows good airflow. It does distinctly smell like burlap, not my most favorite odor but not a chemical smell or really that horrendous in my opinion. Some people are, however, very sensitive to this based on other reviews. I best describe the odor as an over ripe melon. If it bothers you, leave it out in the rain and sun for a couple of days to a week and it will dissipate. Don't bother trying to wash it out with a washing machine, your best bet is just plain old sunshine.So, finally, the divider/separator - it turns out to be a really useful part of this kit. I had a rough time understanding its use initially from the instructions. We also used this with my parents old trap that didn't have a back door, just the trap side opening. That made it even better since i could get the cat to the rear of the trap and keep it there while tending to food and water. The separator is fed through the cage horizontally (not vertically) to make a wall of sorts between you and the cat. Keep it low - practice and test its use before a cat is in there. Find out where in the wire mesh it works best. It may bind in some places. Keeping it low avoids paws and cat heads trying to creep under the thing :) You can gently slide it in with a cat in there, and they'll probably back away. Then, you can remove it and reinsert it a little further back until you have room to open and get the food/water out and back in. We used the separator both with this cage, and my parents, and it was a tremendous help. Without it, we had a couple of incidents where a "fresh from the vet" cat tried to make their way out of the cage as we opened it to put food/water in. Not good having a cat who just got sewn up running off into the wild. While using the divider, the cat generally would lay there while we changed out the food and water and cleaned the cage. When we were done, we'd latch the trap shut again and remove the separator, and the cat would have their food/water.Overall this is a great kit, and if you're going to own one trap like this, make it this one. The price was also very nice from Amazon.

Other reviewers have said that the trap is difficult to assemble, and I think I know what happened. I had to order 2 traps. When I took the first one out of the cage, an L-shaped rod with a hook at one end came out of the cage. If I had not had a second trap to use as an example, I would have had difficulty, too. When you take the trap out of the cage, you will be directed to hold it by the handle and let it fall into shape. DO NOT remove the L-shaped rod (called the trigger rod.) If it is not hooked to the trigger when you take it out of the box, do so when you get to step 8 of "Setting Up the Stray Cat Rescue Cage." Be careful not to bend it when you thread the short end of the trigger rod through the underside of the trigger pan. As long as the trigger rod is in place, this trap is very easy to put together. Only minor assembly is required.Now that the instructions are out of the way, here's my actual review: this trap works very well. It is sturdy, and it is sensitive enough to trap a small cat. When I caught the cat, I took it to the vet to be neutered. I asked the technician if he knew how to work the cage door and he said yes, because it was the same type of cage they kept on-hand for emergencies. It's nice to know that this trap is used by professionals.The rescue kit includes a burlap cover. DO NOT USE IT! Seriously, get the cover out of your home as soon as you take it out of the box. It has the most hideous chemical smell I've ever encountered. I took a chance and washed both of the covers, but even after 4 long, hot-water washings, the smell did not diminish. And (I swear this is true) my washing machine now smells like the God-awful things. The stench from the covers filled my entire first floor and gave everyone a sore throat and burning eyes. I am going to write a letter to the Havahart company telling them about this issue.In short, if you have a critter problem, this trap will work perfectly, but DON'T USE THE COVER!

Last December I heard a meowing outside in my back yard. Turned out to be a frightened hungry cat, so we fed it. It started coming around often. Very skittish. She would let me touch her but not pick her up. I posted pictures online and asked neighbors, no one claimed her. I figured if she was going to be coming around that I would feel better knowing she had a rabies vaccination. I learned that local groups did Trap/Neuter/Release programs and that it was good for feral cats. I called, but no one would come. So I ordered this trap and figured I would do it myself. I set it up the evening it came and put food inside for her. It caught her that same night. She was very angry about it.I set the trap (with her in it) in the safety of my garage and withdrew the food and water (as my vet said she couldn't have food or water after midnight if she was going to have surgery). The next morning I took her to my vet while still in the trap and simply handed the trap to them. She was still very angry. My vet spayed her, vaccinated her for rabies, de-wormed her, and ear tipped her so that other people would know that she had been spayed and vaccinated without having to trap her again. I picked her up after surgery and brought her home to release her.But we were having one of the worst storms that we ever had, and I felt bad about putting her out in that while recovering from major abdominal surgery. I also thought about the many coyotes we have in our neighborhood, and I worried that she might not be able to get up a tree or over a block wall to get away from them in her condition. I had a 3 level ferret cage, and I poured her from the trap into that. I told her she could still be mad but I would feed her and let her go when she was feeling better.Well, now I have a cat.