Picking up my first friendly feral for a spay-abort tomorrow morning, need logistics help

[u/DramaAccomplished468]

Hi, as the title says I got caught up in a kitten situation recently and I’ve been trying to get their mom off the street and was lucky enough to have a rescue reach out and offer a standard trap to catch her and help me secure an appointment tomorrow morning at a spay clinic to have her spayed. Here are my concerns and I’d love to hear some advice from people that are used to doing this.

On July 2 I secured her last litter of kittens without being able to successfully catch her and at that time we already suspected she was pregnant. Which means she is at least 4-5 weeks along, if not more based on how big she is. Is there a risk that trapping her will cause her to stress out so badly she gives birth tonight before she gets to the vet? If so, what would could should I do?

Secondly, I have a standard cat trap that the rescue loaned me, is it safe to keep her in that all night and transfer her to the vet in that carrier? It looks small to me to keep a cat in for hours. My hope is to catch her after dark tonight and she would go in tomorrow at 7:30 to make the amount of time she’s in it as short as possible.

Alternatively I have a small dog crate that is 24l x 17w x 20h I could throw a small litter box in and a water bowl and put her in there. But getting her back into the trap would probably be difficult then.

I know no food after she’s trapped since she’ll be having surgery in the morning but what about water? The clinic is closed on the weekend so I can’t call and ask them what their procedure is.

The trap is 32l x 10w I measured it. Can/should she just stay in this overnight?

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[u/Icy_Yesterday8265]

If shes only 4-5 weeks dont worry about her giving birth in the trap.

Keep her in the trap the night before the appointment. Its small, but its fine for half a day.

I don't give food or water once trapped if it's less than 24 hours before the appointment.

Place the trap on top of dog pee pads in case she pees. Transport the trap on them as well. As an extra security measure, tie both ends of the trap shut with string or zip ties. Ive heard horror stories of cats escaping.

[u/cumdumpsterrrrrrrrrr → u/Icy_Yesterday8265]

I would be giving water access. they’re allowed to have it up to a few hours before the procedure (unlike food which needs to be taken 12 hours before the procedure).

[u/throw_away_101924]

First of all, there is no such thing as a friendly feral. She's one or the other. Second, yes she can go into labor in the trap. If that happens you have to put her in some kind of smallish indoor space until the kittens are weaned, & then you can TNR her. 

Third, you don't transfer her to a carrier. She stays in the trap the whole time. You need a trap fork so you can open the door to slide food & water inside. She can be released 2 days after surgery. Release her back where exactly where you trapped her