Semi Feral Adopted us in July--Barely eating now in the bitter cold. Need advice and reassurance.

We live in NYC but have a small row house with a backyard and a deck.  Meatball, my daughter named her, is a female and had been trapped and spayed as she has the telltale ear clip.  I estimate her age to be from 10 months to one year old.  She looks fine.  Eyes are clear. No fleas.

Until recently, with the onset of very cold weather, she would appear twice a day for food.

Now she barely comes once a day and often doesn't eat the canned food I give her preferring dry food.

I do not leave the food out to freeze.

We managed a shelter of sorts for her that she does use.  It is a shelter bought online that is insulated and filled with wheat straw.  The shelter is lodged under a small picnic table.  The table is covered with a mat and a tarp.  She has stayed dry in the shelter and, when she does want a morning feed, she exits the shelter with a big stretch.

My concern is that she may not be getting enough to eat.  I stand watch in the am and the early evening awaiting her arrival.

Today (very cold), she came by, refused the canned food but did eat the dry.  That was this morning.

Dinner time now and she is nowhere to be seen.

My hope is to eventually bring this cat in.  We have arranged a place of isolation for her in a warm room in the basement and my vet is standing by to examine her.

Problem is, Meatball is semi feral and while she will sniff me, she can not abide being touched.  Also, our indoor cat of eleven years sits on the window seat and growls at poor Meatball.

Please reassure me that we are doing everything possible to keep this cat alive during an NYC winter.

I have had cats my whole life but have never experienced having one who lives outside.

Many thanks.

You are doing everything you can (and more than most people, so THANK YOU!)

She may have another feeder, so unless she shows signs of illness or distress, keep doing what you're doing.  Feral cats are resourceful and a lot tougher than we think.

Even so, it isn't hard to worry about them.  Keep in mind if you bring her in, she may not adapt.  What you're doing now may be all she really needs, even if it leaves you worried sick!

Dear Ondine,

   Thank you for your post.  Meatball did show up about 30 minutes ago.  She ate almost a whole can, 5 oz., of wet food and a few treats.

It is cold outside but not as dire as last night  as  there is no wind and no rain.  I think she may be in the picnic table shelter now.

Many thanks again  for the reassurance.

Mads

Yes, I agree totally with Ondine.  If she looks fine, she has surely found another, extra source of food.  A friendly feeder or learned how to hunt.  Perhaps found a place where it is easy to find mice.

IF you go on on trying to take her in, do it preferably now in winter, when it is cold.

Use a human trap.  Take her in the trap to the vet.   After the vet visit you release her in her room.

This way, she connects you with releasing her, and her new room - as the place where she could be when she no longer needed to be in the trap.

If the vet cant  take her immediately after trapping, she can wait in there even 24 hours.  Semiferales are used to hide many hours in a small place.  As long it is reasonably comfortable, no cold or excessive heat.

Lay a blanket over the bigger part of the trap, so it si like a nice hide.

Good luck!

This is very good advice.  Thank you.

I have a great vet who is on call and she has said that whenever I get Meatball into a carrier to call her straight away and she will meet me at her office,

This vet is the vet for my senior cat who has thyroid issues and is on daily medication.

I do understand that some cats prefer to live in the wild but we live in a dangerous place for pets, i.e. NYC.  Much traffic and so forth.

I want this cat to be in....or at least comfortable with being in during the cold days etc.

Many thanks again for your sound advice.

She uses the shelter you made her and the straw is exactly the right thing to do. A while back before I took in my stray (another story) I was thinking about winter and the appearance of rain. I looked around the Internet for feral cat housing and all the sites recommended straw for its great insulating properties. The tarp offers some protection from wind and that's good too.

I've fed truly feral cats who never would do more than agree to eat the food I put out and put up with me standing a few feet away. You do what you can.