Leave it, cats are horrible.

Hire duct cleaners. Their equipment will scare the cat out one of the open vents.

Cat nip?

FD...not really impressed with animal haters. It speaks of character. I'm just saying..

Seriously though. My cats RUN when you open cat nip.

It is just cats, that's all I have a problem. Dogs, worms, anything else I like. cats suck

Design - I.e. been blowing my trumpet in all the floor cents....no success....

Maybe catnip will be better than food.

If they are kittens, they might not have a favorite food sound, but our cats would come when we shook the dry food container even when not hungry.

How big a ductwork area, and how easy to access, are we talking? Perhaps you can block them into a particular line and then force them out.

Wow. +1 to krellin. "I foster kittens for an animal shelter" is probably the last thing I expected to hear from you.

Anyway, get any other kittens you have away from the opening, of course, and into a secure room. Then I'd probably leave some food that smells appealing near the entrance and wait. Cats aren't dogs, but they still have acute senses, and especially if it's not eaten for a few hours, food will be appealing.

FD cats are superior in some ways. They don't need to go out, but they will dump outside. You can leave them alone for a long weekend...and when you kick them they land on their feet. Lol I gotcha...sorry for jumping on you.

We own dogs, too, btw.

its fine, I figured you were actually joking :P.

PE ...real life, I'm a quiet, polite very generous human being. You would be shocked.

ck - blocked off rest of house by closing bypasses....and then realized I have no idea where the cat is....lots of ductwork in this house. Ugh...

I thought maybe another kitten on a leash inside to physically lure lost kitty out...

Dogs > cats. I grew up with cats. Impersonal little bastards that only want to deal with you on their schedule. Dogs love you always. If you want to spend time with them they say "Cool! Daddy wants to play!"

Like in that episode of Always Sunny? Didn't work then.

Assuming it can't get to the furnace/central unit, and you leave an opening, it will probably come out on its own.

Are these ducts on the ground, I guess? I would only suggest, shine flashlights into, or turn on lamps directly over, the opening where you want him/her to come out. Make sure that it's easy to see where to get out. You could even set a little lamp or something down into the duct (depending on size) and check every few minutes.

Design, I have one pynchon dog that literally will not come near be during the day, but at might insists on snuggling next to me under the covers. Dogs can geometrical and scheduled, too.

We have two kittens we adopted and another old cat that Come when you call them and are very personal. Depends on how old they are when you get them to bond/raise them.

Also, maybe hang a towel down into the duct? Assuming it's the under-the-floor-kind. The cat will settle down and come out of its own accord if it knows how and is able to (assuming no injuries or anything like that).

Yet another thought: I wouldn't want the air to come on and freak it out.

Ck.....not moths....they don't go to the light! Lol Anyway, in all the horror movies, going to the light is Baaaaad!

Basement ceiling vents...catfish on top of basement freezer by open vent with light on...so doing your use idea xl

Ckroberts - furnace is off....going to be a cold night!

Good luck!

The idea about the lights is that, if the cat trusts you (and rescued animals probably don't, but anyway), it might want to come home but not know how.

@Krellin Leave out food in one place. Eventually they will come out for it. Though the idea of shaking the food container is brilliant. If they were older I would say try shaking a toy. That always gets our kitten running to us.

We are fostering these cats - strays, probably 10 weeks old - is because they totally need "socialization"....they hiss when humans approach...so that totally makes the getting the cat out of the safe, dark hiding spot that much worse... :(

Worse part...furnace is off now...and when I turn it back on, I will most assuredly smell cat poop coming up through the vents....OR...VENT....thus identifying where the little bastard is hiding...AND shitting....<sigh....> <fuck!>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hXT3rPC0SI

Just leave 'em in there. Turn the Furnace on low... They'll come out when they get hungry or hot :P

So long as it's electric heat, YJ is right. Turn the heat on. He won't like the heat or the blowing air and will come out the vent that is open.

Are any of the ducts vertical? That is, could they have fallen down one and not be able to get back up?

UPDATE....Just finished disassembling part of the furnace, where we found and rescued the cat sitting on top of the evaporator coils. THANK GOD we remembered to turn the furnace off, becuase the little guy had dropped down into the furnace and was about2 feet over the burners.

Wow, very fortunate ending.

Awesome! Great ending.

oh goodness. Congrats Krellin, and webdip first for me, I liked 2 of Krellin's comments in the same thread.