Delicate feral feet.

We finally got snow today and for my 5 feral kittens, it's their first snow. Sassy is up here with us still recovering from his accident but his sibilings are still down the other place. (We caught and brought up Yang, put him in the fencing and he escaped!! We now know what to fix. LOL)

Anyway, I went to feed earlier the usual because of the snow. Punk (who is an older brother) came charging around in the snow like it was nothing while Yang yelled at me from the porch. Ying yelled at me from under the plywood covering their feeding station and Trouble acted like she was too dainty to get that "stuff" onto her feet. LOL

I took Sassy outside (we visit the outdoors once a day) and he just watched the snow and snuggled further into my jacket. He didn't mind so much. I'm sure if I tried to put him down, I'd have a fight on my hands.

So, needless to say, as their first snow goes, they hated it.


ETA: Just noticed I put this in the wrong forum. Can someone move it to Caring for Strays and Ferals, please?

I always dig out a path from their shelter to their feeding station when it snows. Even if you can't get it to the ground, getting they do appreciate getting the fluffy stuff out of their way.

Do you have a heated water bowl for them?

They live in an abandoned (locked) house with a broken window so they go from the window, across the closed porch (locked) onto an open porch (through, maybe 2 foot length opening) to the feeding station. Their dainty paws touch, maybe, 2 to 3 feet of open area. LOL Except for Punk, Small Fry, and Sweetheart who love to charge through the snow.

They don't have heated bowls as there's no electric at this place. Now that it's cold I have metal bowls up here I take down and fill with warm water, there's a bowl in the window I fill best I can with warm water, I mix dry food with warm water and every other day I blend a batch of wet food with hot water and let it soak until it cools some and feed that to them. I rotate bowls so nothing is dirty or frozen for long before it gets clean and defrosted.

Awww, bless you for caring for those poor kitties!! I do worry about all the cats who don't have a warm place to live, esp. in snow country. Being from a cold area myself, and having used nothing but wood to heat the home, I can't imagine being without cats inside - they do heat up the foot of the bed (saves on electricity for electric blankets) and they don't smell as much as dogs do ---

Thank you! The only difference between them (ferals and the strays) and my indoor kitties are:

1 - Indoor kitties have a source of heat.
2 - Indoor kitties have constant human slaves around.

LOL

Just laughing because I got yelled at today because there had formed a layer of ice over the snow & fafeena's getting arthritic now, ya know?

I scoop the snow. I feed a few of the semi-ferals out in the middle of the yard.....so I take out cardboard (so long as it isn't snowing) & lay it around the dishes. That way, they aren't standing in the snow to eat/drink. I also lay down straw there on top of the cardboard....I keep the straw in the heated shop, so if they come out right away their toes get warmed!

Don't you just love how vocal they are? I get yelled at when I take too long to walk to the bowls. Yang will run up to me, bat my leg and run off screaming because I take too long. LOL

When they eat, they are out of the weather. I have a 4' x 8' piece of plywood covering the bowls. They eat, sorta, in a line so they stay dry under there. Unless Punk gets in a mood like today and uses 3 of the kittens as bowling pins and knock them right into the snow. LOL He earns his name once in awhile.

The warm hay and cardboard idea sounds wonderful! I bet they do appreciate warm toes in the winter time.