feral cat shelter

fuzzie · 06-22-2008, 08:32 PM

There is a family of feral cats in my neighborhood and I was bored so I started building a little house thing for them. It's basically just the wooden stairs to my deck, but I built a wall over the south side to keep it cooler. Anybody have suggestions to make it more appealing to the cats (or other furry domesticated animals that happen to come across it

)? I was thinking of putting some sort of bedding down or something?

4dogs3cats · 06-22-2008, 08:34 PM

No pictures?

A little OT, have you tried capturing and neutering them?

fuzzie · 06-22-2008, 08:53 PM

Sorry, they're pretty elusive, but I saw the mom and her kittens a while ago, my neighbor is feeding them and working on trapping them to get them neutered and I occasionally see them hanging out in their yard. I think three kittens (now full grown) from the litter and the mom stayed in the immediate area. Now that it's getting hot I think they would appreciate the extra shelter, and if they had a nice shelter in the immediate area (right next door to the food) they wouldn't need to leave for shelter and would probably be easier to trap.

4dogs3cats · 06-22-2008, 09:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fuzzie

Sorry, they're pretty elusive, but I saw the mom and her kittens a while ago, my neighbor is feeding them and working on trapping them to get them neutered and I occasionally see them hanging out in their yard. I think three kittens (now full grown) from the litter and the mom stayed in the immediate area. Now that it's getting hot I think they would appreciate the extra shelter, and if they had a nice shelter in the immediate area (right next door to the food) they wouldn't need to leave for shelter and would probably be easier to trap.

Oh yeah def. I once caught a kitten that was born on my moms street, but it was the moms only kitten and he was a MEAN little sucker. He cut me up bad, and I stupidly gave him back to momma. He was too little to be neuetered anyway. Then I rescued a litter (5) of her kittens the following year, but I think they all had distemper because they all got real real skinny and died. It took the first one a few days, then 3 died oveer the next 2 weeks, then the last one died at 4 weeks. It was HEARTBREAKING. But its good what youre doing. Just cuz theyre feral doesnt mean they dont need to be cared for.

fuzzie · 06-22-2008, 10:25 PM

Feral cats have a rough time for sure, and who knows what happened to the rest of the litter. They need all the help they can get. Do you have any ideas for making the shelter more comfortable for them?

4dogs3cats · 06-22-2008, 11:07 PM

I made a 2 story cat condo for a stray that adopted me years ago. It was two cardboard boxes, I put a blanket in there, and put holes in the side for ventillation (Arizona.) The only thing I can think of is my cats really really like their mouse house.

theyre machine washable, they fold down, theyre very very light. Theyre made of what I can only describe as the outside layer of a sleeping bag. Like that thin nylon or vinyl.. not sure what material it is..

Oh JK here it is:
Fabric/ Bottom/ Mesh: 100 % polyester
Ribbon: 100 % nylon
Filling: Polyethylene foam, Polyester fibers

But yeah, as long as theres like a blanket in there, and plenty of water, they should enjoy it.

jesirose · 06-23-2008, 04:03 PM

If they haven't been fixed yet you need to call animal services to capture them! Otherwise over time you're going to end up with a lot of feral cats and they'll get hurt, killed, etc.

fuzzie · 06-24-2008, 01:34 PM

My neighbors are working on it, but I honestly don't think animal services can help much. All you can do is set a live trap, and they already have one.

Twinney · 07-02-2008, 10:42 PM

Food, bedding, and ventilation is about all you can offer. Usually feral cats will stick around if you feed them. We used to have around 100 roaming here, and there were ALWAYS kittens. About 3 ladies stopped feeding (1 died, 1 moved, 1 couldn't afford it) which left 2. One caught all of her 20 some cats and spayed and neutered. Now there is 1 stray that is actually very tame... You can walk up to him and pet him. The other 15 or so are tame...kinda.. Alot of the cats out here were poisoned though...

Criosphynx · 07-02-2008, 11:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jesirose

If they haven't been fixed yet you need to call animal services to capture them! Otherwise over time you're going to end up with a lot of feral cats and they'll get hurt, killed, etc.

The way feral colonies work is if you capture and rehome/destroy the cats, more move in to take their place. If AC takes the cats away it doesn't solve anything. The need to be altered and then released. Vets will notch the ear to signify an altered feral.

http://www.sniksnak.com/cathealth/ferals.html