It's getting cold and I'm worried

Hi

We look after a female feral cat and have for many many years.  We trapped her a few years ago and had her tested (she is negative for FIV and F.Leuk) and had her spayed, then we let her back out.  We live in the middle of nowhere and she never moves far away from the house and garage.  We feed her at least twice a day and provide her with a warm place to sleep year round in our garage.  Every winter she has made use of our garage to sleep (it gets very cold here).  We have noticed this Fall that she is sleeping in a corner of the flower bed and we don't think she is going into the garage.  I'm starting to get very worried - tonight it will be below freezing.  I'm happy to make her a shelter, but can anyone tell me why after all these years she would suddenly stop using our garage?

thanks for any help - we are fond of her.  We placed all her litters (before we caught her and spayed her) and we kept two of her kids who live inside in the lap of luxury, and we want to do the best we can for her.

Rodica

How old is she, and where in the garage is her spot?  Does she have to jump to get to it?  I don't know what "many many" years means, but if she's older, she may have arthritis.

You may want to consider something like this for her:  http://cozywinters.com/shop/kh-1070.html

Do you feed her in the garage? Do you leave food out for her to free feed on? Is it possible there's another cat coming around, or raccoons or something?

Hi

She is at least nine years old, I put out one can of cat food 2-3 times a day.  I feed her on our front porch, we've found raccoons head into the garage when we put the food out there (it is a detached garage, about 50 ft from the house).  There is a long time male that comes around (we haven't been able to trap him) but he gets along fine with her, we've seen a very shy grey cat who my neighbor tells me is not good with her cats and we thought maybe that cat may be frightening her off

the only other thing we thought might be happening, since she is hugging the house, is that there is a red fox in the area and I've seen her at the house (she was attracted by the cat food I think, so that is when I started feeding only on the porch)

we are going to build her a shelter this weekend and put it in her favorite corner, but I hate for her not to use her garage - we keep a heater on low in there for her and she has a nest that we set up and which she has used in the past.

thanks for the interest - any help is greatly appreciated, it kills me to think of her out in the cold

R

That's interesting about the fox, but strange, because I'd imagine she'd feel safer in the garage than in the garden if that were the case.

With our indoor cats, any change in behavior merits a trip to the vet.... Given she's about nine, maybe it'd be a good idea to take her in to get a Sr. Panel done? 

I wish we could - she is completely feral.  In nine years she has never let me put a finger on her.  We used a humane trap to catch her to spay her, I could do that again.

She is eating very well, actually she is a bit fat , and smart - very smart cat.  She uses her color to melt out of sight (she is a creamy orange).  I know she is old for a feral cat (at least I think 9 is old for a feral).

it is going to be in the upper 20's tonight with a stiff wind and she is still in her corner.  By the way I ordered the heating pad that you sent the link for.  We will build her a little house this weekend and put it in her corner and add the heating pad as soon as it arrives. I'm going to keep the garage set up for her though - maybe she will change her mind.

Do you think she is staying close to the house because this is where we feed her?  I could switch to feeding at the garage but I wouldn't be sure that she was the one getting the food.

R

Since she's sticking close to the house, I like the idea of building an enclosure for her there. :nod: Whatever the reason, she feels safe... and if whatever happened in the garage was enough to make her prefer sleeping exposed in 20-something degree weather, then I'd at least try to provide shelter where she's chosen to be. :nod: :heart3:

We've provided all kinds of shelters for our ferals. They've NEVER used them. This is the first year! One is using the Feral Villa we bought, and one is using one of the rubbermaid container tubs we made. So I know that sense of worry - but I also know that sense of relief. :lol3:

you'll find a solution she's happy with!

Rodica said:

I put out one can of cat food 2-3 times a day.

Click to expand...

You mentioned that your cat is getting rather fat. A can of cat food 2-3 times a day for one cat seems like an awful lot of food.

Well, it depends upon whether it's a 3 ounce can of cat food or a 5.5 ounce can, first of all.

But right now I'm putting out about 2 cups of dry food daily and the equivalent of about four 5.5 ounce cans of wet food twice daily, and it's being eaten by probably just four cats. It's gotten quite cold at night, and when feral cats start burning energy to stay warm, they can eat a LOT of food. :nod:

Last winter we needed a 20 pound bag of cat food every... 4-5 days? Not completely sure how many cats we were feeding every day, but the end of Winter we TNR'd... 7? 11? (I'd have to look it up), and had ... six? that were already TNRd going into winter.

I'll have to look at the size of the can - I don't think she is the only one eating all the food- she eats a bit then she comes back a couple of hours and eats some more.  The crows take some if I don't run them off but I'm not around all the time.

And she may not be as fat as I think - she is carrying a very heavy coat of fur (looks like a bad winter).

we are off today to get the supplies for her house - hopefully she will use it!!

will report back.  

we heard the fox again last night, she is not moving from around the house at all.

R

Yes, I expect you're right she doesn't like the fox. :nod:

Hope you have nice weather for building her shelter!

And for an outside kitty, I really wouldn't worry about how much you're feeding her. She'll eat what she needs. It takes a lot of energy to stay warm. Our ferals eat as much as a 1/4 less daily during the summer than they do in winter. I haven't actually measured it - but the amount they eat when it gets cold at night starts to really ramp up. And yes, those winter coats can really make them look chubby! :lol3:

Wonderful story about your feral kitty and how you have cared for her all of these year. I think that two - three can 5oz. is what will be needed for the winter weather. All feral's will eat much more food from their caretaker's than in the summer months. I usually have to double the amount of food for the winter months. Since she is getting older, I am not surprised to hear she is staying close. I have known a few senior feral's that get to the point of just wanting the safety and security of "home" or what they consider home and will stay even closer than usual, giving you signs that they want the indoor life. Nine is very old for a feral cat. You have taken good care of her . It is odd that she stopped using the garage. Must have had a scare ( that fox.....) in there and was trapped :dk: trying to escape and now feels insecure in the garage. Do you have two exits/entrances into and out of the garage. This might help. I would still build her a nice warm shelter in her favorite corner spot. :nod:

Thank you - we can't stand seeing anything in need, we are a real soft touch - word must be out in the cat neighborhood.  We were adopted by a grey male this summer who was obviously an indoor cat.  He was neutered, kept trying to walk into the house with us etc.  He was very thin and obviously not use to finding his own food - how people can do that I don't know.  We looked to see if he was lost from somewhere in the area but we live way out and had no luck.  He never seemed to leave our porch to go home!

So he started in our basement while we had him tested and vaccinated and now lives upstairs with the gang.

and now for possible good news: we think our old outside feral cat is using her new house - we put it together yesterday, my husband put her food by the entrance and she went right up.  Later we were spying around looking and couldn't find her - so we are hoping she went inside.  Same thing this morning - she was sitting beside it waiting for breakfast, we are going to watch her today and see if we can confirm by seeing her go in - I don't want to freak her out by lifting the lid!.

It is a foggy rainy day so she has extra incentive to use it!

will report back - I can't really believe we would be so lucky first time out!

R

You are lucky that she is already interested in her new house and she must feel special to have it all her own :nod:!! You can add some straw in there as well, when it starts getting super cold .

UPDATE!!

well we weren't as lucky as we hoped.  She will go into the box to eat, but not to sleep. So she isn't afraid of it at least

Last night was miserable - wet, cold, rainy.  She was hanging out near the basement door so I opened it up and put the food a few feet indoors.  I've been working on getting her to come inside to eat.

When she came in for dinner, I went around the outside and quietly closed the door - she didn't see me so I hope won't associate me with her being inside.

Today we opened the door to let her out - not sure she has though.  I thought we could try getting her use to eating her dinner inside and spending the night inside.

has anyone tried this? is it more likely that she will stay the hec away from the basement now?

R

I haven't, and I don't know what you should expect!

But I do know it took three winters before anyone ever used the feral villa we put out. :lol3: However, I think the difference is that this year we sprayed catnip spray up on the second level. We always stuff it with straw. But I think the combination was what did the trick.

If you didn't use straw as an insulator, I'd recommend it. It's got those familiar "outside" smells to them. :nod: And as most cats are attracted to catnip, I'd recommend using that too.

:cross:

Of course - if you can get the basement thing going, that would be much safer for her!

I also think it just depends on the cat, they are all so individual in their personalities and what works for one cat will not work for another cat. I think the basement would be a much safer place for her for the winter nights. I hope you can get her to learn the routine :cross:. I also have a Villa outside for my feral's. No one has used the second level but someone has been in the lower level . I did put fresh catnip in the second level - but no taker's so far. Might try the spray that Laurie suggests :happy3:

Yeah, we used a couple of shots - which is a LOT. :lol3:

My cat Bella loves her heated igloo. She goes in it everyday when it is cold. I don't use straw. I don't think that would work for her. I use blankets that I heat up in the dryer and I use a self heating pad and a microwave disk in there and she is so happy. It is a lot of work but I worry so much about her. I am going away for 5 days andi have friends that will feed her but she only takes to me. So I am worried. She loves my hugs and kisses and waits for that. We have been away before and when we get back I always wonder will she still be there waiting for me. I can't ask them to warm up blankets and warm up the microwave disk. I think some people think I am crazy. But she still has heat in the igloo so I am not to worried. It is hard caring for ferals.

My cat Bella loves her heated igloo. She goes in it everyday when it is cold. I don't use straw. I don't think that would work for her. I use blankets that I heat up in the dryer and I use a self heating pad and a microwave disk in there and she is so happy. It is a lot of work but I worry so much about her. I am going away for 5 days andi have friends that will feed her but she only takes to me. So I am worried. She loves my hugs and kisses and waits for that. We have been away before and when we get back I always wonder will she still be there waiting for me. I can't ask them to warm up blankets and warm up the microwave disk. I think some people think I am crazy. But she still has heat in the igloo so I am not to worried. It is hard caring for ferals.

I was out early this morning walking the Dachshund and who do I see leisurely coming out of her house - Mamma Cat herself.  She wouldn't come into the basement last night and I was concerned because we had a hard frost overnight - guess it was enough to get her to use the house.  The heating pad should be here this week and that may give her more incentive.  I think we will end up going back and forth between basement and little house.

oh, and I think I know why the garage is off limits - there is a very aggressive grey cat using it and I think he/she is driving her away.

R