Cat under the house won’t come out: how to get it out safely
Do not crawl in or seal the opening. Identify the animal, clear the area, lure it with food at dusk, and use a humane trap if that fails.
The safe way to get it out
Do not crawl in after it. Leave its way out open, clear people and pets from the area, put strong-smelling food just outside the opening, and wait until dusk when things go quiet. If it does not come out after a day or two of that, use a humane trap set at the opening. Get help right away if the cat seems stuck, hurt, or is crying from one spot. This is not a rare place to find a missing cat. In a study of 1,210 missing cats, 5 percent of those found outside were under a house, and 10 percent under a patio, deck or porch. A frightened cat under a house has picked a dark, tight, protected space, so patience tends to work better than force.
Find out what is really under there
Before you do anything, confirm what you are dealing with. Shine a flashlight in from the opening without going inside, or leave a motion camera or a phone recording at the entrance overnight. Your own cat should be easy to identify from its markings. A strange cat may be someone’s lost pet, a community cat or a stray. If you hear several small voices, it may be a mother with kittens. Alley Cat Allies says not to remove kittens younger than about 8 weeks from their mother, and to contact a vet right away if one is sick or injured. If the animal is a raccoon, skunk or opossum, leave it alone and call animal control or a wildlife service for advice.
Why you should stay out
A scared cat in a tight corner may bite or claw, and it can simply move deeper where you cannot follow. You also do not know what else is in there. The CDC warns about rodent urine, droppings and nesting material, and says not to sweep or vacuum them, because that can put virus-carrying droplets in the air. It also warns that raccoon droppings can contain roundworm eggs that can infect people. Crawl spaces may have wiring, pipes, sharp debris and poor air too. If you do get bitten or scratched, the CDC says to wash the wound right away with soap and water, and to get medical care urgently if rabies could be involved, which matters most with a cat you do not know.
Keep one exit open
Walk around the whole foundation and find every way in. Look at vents, access hatches, gaps in skirting, and holes by pipes. Then think about what changed. If someone recently closed a vent, repaired a screen or shut a hatch, the cat may be unable to get back out, and that is the first thing to fix. Never seal any opening while an animal may still be under the house. The Wisconsin Humane Society gives the same rule for wildlife under decks: do not close the gap until you are absolutely sure nothing is left inside. If there are several openings, leave open the one the cat used, and the quietest. In a rental, tell your landlord before you touch anything.
Luring it out
Bring dogs, children and visitors inside and turn off anything loud. Put a small amount of tuna, sardines or warm wet food right at the opening at dusk, along with a clean bowl of water. If it is your cat, add a blanket or worn shirt with a familiar smell. Sit a few feet to the side, not in front of the hole, and speak quietly or just read aloud. Each time the food goes, move the next portion a little further from the opening, and leave a carrier nearby with its door open. Take uneaten food in overnight, or you will invite raccoons. Do not use smoke, water, noise or chemicals to drive the cat out, because a panicked animal can go deeper or get stuck.
When to use a humane trap
If food disappears and a camera confirms it is the cat, but it will not come to you, a trap is the next step. Ask your animal control office or a local rescue if you can borrow one. Humane World for Animals says most animal control agencies and many rescue groups have one. Set it just outside the opening, on flat ground, with a watchful person nearby. Never leave it unattended, and keep it out of hot sun and freezing weather. If you catch wildlife, stand back and follow your animal control officer’s instructions. Do not set a trap for a cat that might have young under the house until you know what is going on. Our post on how to use a humane trap to catch a lost cat has the full steps.
When to call for help now
Call animal control, using the non-emergency line if your area has no direct number, if the cat is injured, is wedged, or has been crying from the same place without moving. These can be real entrapments. In Canon City, Colorado in 2019, police and animal control responded to a cat with its head stuck in a hole in a crawl space, and a public works crew broke away the concrete. In Rochester, Washington in 2017, firefighters freed a kitten with its head stuck in bricks under a home. Fire department help varies by town, so ask, and do not assume. A contractor may also be able to open a floor or wall from the safest side. Tell them where you last heard the cat.
After the cat is out
Close the carrier or the room door and take a moment. If it is your cat, call your vet, say how long it was under there, and ask whether it should be seen today. If it is not yours, ask a vet or shelter to scan it for a microchip. Before you repair any gap, make sure nothing else is inside. A light dusting of flour at the opening will show fresh tracks, which is a common wildlife check. Once it stays clean for a few nights, close the opening with sturdy material so this does not happen again.
Sources
Huang et al., Animals, 2018: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5789300. Alley Cat Allies, finding kittens outdoors: alleycat.org/community-cat-care/finding-kittens-outdoors. CDC, how to clean up after rodents: cdc.gov/healthy-pets/rodent-control/clean-up.html. CDC, about raccoon roundworm: cdc.gov/baylisascaris/about/index.html. CDC, rabies: cdc.gov/rabies/about/index.html. Wisconsin Humane Society, wildlife under a porch or deck: wihumane.org/resource/wildlife-under-my-porch-or-deck. Humane World for Animals, how to find a lost cat: humaneworld.org/resources/how-find-lost-cat. KOAA, 2019: koaa.com/news/covering-colorado/2019/02/22/police-animal-control-help-rescue-cat-stuck-under-home-canon-city. FOX 13 Seattle, 2017: fox13seattle.com/news/cat-astrophe-averted-firefighters-save-kitten-trapped-under-home.