The chicken baby food trick

This afternoon after work, I purchased three jars of chicken baby food, on the advice of several veteran cat-trappers.

"Chicken baby food is a treat that almost no kitten can resist."

It's an odd feeling to walk into HEB, walk directly to the baby food aisle, select three tiny jars of baby food, pay for said baby food, and walk out. Most everyone else in the baby aisle was selecting the fancy pureéd assortments of vegetables for their youngsters: whipped asparagus with greens, delicate mixtures of beets and carrots, a smattering of toasted prunes. But for me, it's just the regular chicken. It's actually hard to find regular chicken baby food these days. Most of the selections feature some sort of addition: chicken with yams, broiled chicken with pureéd broccoli, chicken floating in a sea of odd alphabet-shaped pastry. After some searching, I found it: regular, plain Gerber chicken.

Regular, plain Gerber does the trick. For anyone wanting to socialize a feral kitten, this is unbelievable. You've got to have the appropriate vehicle, though, for introducing the baby food to your new kitten friends. You probably don't want to use your fingertip, as the little felines have teeth and get extremely excited once they smell the chicken -- which, to my nose, is abhorrent. However, we hit on the best delivery vehicle: take-out Chinese chopsticks. Simply dip the chopstick inside the nebulous container of whipped baby food, insert the chopstick between the bars of the cage, and watch your previously-feral friends suddenly take a shine to you. Works every time.