<p style="text-align: center;"><em>By Chicken Wrangler Sara</em></p>
We caught another cat last week.

<a href="http://judythewriter.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/cat3.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-6173" src="http://judythewriter.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/cat3-300x275.jpg" alt="cat3" /></a>We set both live traps expecting another possum. We got a cat.

It chose the smaller of the two live traps and so was quite crowded. Not only that but it rained that night so the cat looked like a drowned rat. Rachel discovered it and moved it into the garage.

When I finished my Friday morning routine (early meeting, homeroom class, food pantry and piano lesson) I went outside to check on the cat. It looked very pitiful. I felt sorry for it.

I set up the extra dog kennel and proceeded to extract the cat from the very small live trap and put it in a dry, large kennel. It was not happy with the move. In fact it scratched me repeatedly. Then it jumped down and ran out into the back yard.

I wasn’t about to let it get back under the shed so I went after it and caught it trying to get through the chain link fence. More scratching and hissing ensued. I tossed it into the kennel and quickly shut the door.

Rachel took it to the animal shelter and told the whole story. Then she called me. It turns out that a person who is scratched by a stray cat, i.e. me, is at risk of contracting rabies.

The cat is put into quarantine for 10 days and I wait to hear from the animal control officer as to whether the cat lives or dies. If it dies, I must get a rabies vaccine. I will hear something early next week. It has been quite a learning experience.

Here is the lesson:
• If you catch a stray cat in a small live trap, do not move it to a larger kennel no matter how pitiful it looks.
• If you move it, it may scratch you.
• If it scratches you and draws blood, you will have to report to an animal control person. The animal control person will fill out paperwork and put the cat into quarantine for 10 days.
• If the cat dies, you will have to get a rabies vaccine.
• If the cat lives all is well

Unless the cat returns to your house then you may be tempted to strangle the cat which would probably result in more paperwork.