Gearing up for the bitter cold

Today we received about 4 inches of snow and tonight the temps are to drop to single digits with the wind chill of about -15 F.  It will rebound to normal temps in a day or two, but then a large Arctic blast is headed our way by Monday.  Night time temps are to be -10 with wind chills -25 or more.  I am so worried about my ferals.  It has not been cold like this the past 2 winters.  One of my ferals will come inside but getting him to stay is another thing.  Next Tuesday the temps will be a high of 2!  I am trying to think if there is anything I can add for more protection and warmth.  They have heat pads and a shelter over their heads, but the wind still gets inside.  I just hate winter as it brings even more worry. 

Anyone else gearing up for the cold?

I am - but I, too, worry it isn't enough.  My two have a big chicken coop with straw filled nooks for sleeping.  I put their microwave discs in there but have no idea if they use them.  They also each have a Rubbermaid house, completely insulated, that they prefer to use.  If it snows, we'll see about that, though!

I guess you can only do as much as you can.  Hopefully, this weather will break soon and we won't have to worry about it.  (Of course, come summer, I'll worry about the heat and the mosquitoes and fleas!!!)

I was up last night numerous times checking on the cats.  It is 0 right now, but fortunately the winds are calm.  The winds were about 15-20mph until 2 am.  I moved one of the rubbermaid containers into the 6x6 tent structure and lowered the front flap even more.  At first Shadow wouldn't go into any of the shelters, but at that time it was still light outside and still above 20.  He finally wised up and went into one of the shelters soon followed by Stellar.  Stellar went right to the rubbermaid and of course Shadow then wanted inside it too.  I know last night was just a practice for what is to come starting Sunday night. 

After all of my worry yesterday, DH is going to make a large wooden shelter with a plexiglass front, hinged top and room for 2 heat pads inside.  He is also going to make a light warmer out of a paint can.  He hopes to have it done by Sunday morning.  This will greatly help.  Then next week, he will work on making a wooden bench with a back to rest this structure on as well as the small tent units I have.  This way I can remove the outdoor loveseat that is there right now.  It is only 4 feet long and I have 6 feet to use.  I will still keep the small tent houses there too.  My hope is that Patches will come in and use one of those while Shadow and Stellar will use the new structure. 

I always laugh at myself when it is 90 degrees outside and I am worried about the cats getting too hot.  I also then worry about fleas, ticks, worms, etc...  Yet, nothing compares to this awful cold and wind. 

I hope everyone is staying warm.

Vibes for staying warm and safe for all the ferals out there tonight and in the coming week!  

Bastfriend said:

 
Vibes for staying warm and safe for all the ferals out there tonight and in the coming week!  

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Thank you for thinking of us.  Today will be on the warm side (above 30) and tonight only 24!!  Yet tomorrow the fun begins.  We are to get 4-8 inches of snow, winds over 30mph and temps plummeting to -15 with wind chills as low as -40.  I don't know how the cats will survive. 

Shadow will most likely come inside.  Stellar will want to come inside, but will be too afraid once I close the door.  Patches will not show up.  I will worry alot about him.  He is thin and not getting enough to eat.  Hopefully he shows up today and gets enough food to help him stay warm and survive. 

It will be a juggling act too in my house as I will have to keep Jake and Marvin upstairs and Misty our dog put away too.  I wish Shadow would go down the basement, but that would never happen. 

Hopefully the time will pass quickly and Wednesday will arrive with 20 degrees and sun!!!

Apparently, it was minus 6 here last night.  In spite of that, my boys were waiting impatiently for me this morning.  A few pieces of chicken from last night were frozen to their plates.  I think they eat a little and go back but last night, when they went back, it was too late.

There were clumps of pee frozen to the bottom of the litter box, too.  But I could tell the boys had used the discs and neither seemed uncomfortable.  In fact, they started chasing one another through the snow (that didn't last long but I'm glad they were feeling OK).

As StefanZ says, these cats are made of tough wood!

NYC here.  Freezing temps and a lot of snow fall...didn't really think the two actually went together but these days they seem to.

We care for just one feral cat who arrived on our deck this past July.

Believe she came from a feral colony from across the street where my good neighbors care for about 30 cats (four households do this).

I could not get this cat in no matter what I tried but I did buy a cat pod shelter from a wonderful company in California.  On its own, it might not withstand the wind, etc.  But my husband lodged it under a square redwood picnic table on our deck and then covered the picnic table with a mat and a tarp.  So far so good.

We can't do any heated items as we don't have electricity connected to the yard.

But the cat survived the latest storm.  Disappeared for a day but is back now and eating from her bowl at the back and outside of the pod but still protected by  the picnic table and tarp.

Good luck.  It is so very heartbreaking too have these animals out of doors.

I haven't seen my two outdoor boys since Thursday evening when the snowfall started. so so worried. No footprints, no signs of any animals except the birds. I leave dry food out there but only the blue jays come to eat it.  Last year we had 26 inches of snow in February, these guys survived through it (although I didn't see anyone for over 5 days!) thought everyone had perished.  This year we had less snow about 6-9 inches but sooo cold here in NY. I acutally have a little dog house with a heating pad running all day long (made especially for outside dog houses) they use this normally- the two boys who are best of friends, but with major storms I think they go elsewhere. I am so worried.  Tomorrow should be 40 degrees so hopefully I will see them. fingers crossed.... Anyone still waiting for their cats to show up?

the boys.

I hope your boys are okay TigerCat.    More safety vibes from them and all the feral kitties out there!  

Tiger Cat said:

 
I haven't seen my two outdoor boys since Thursday evening when the snowfall started. so so worried. No footprints, no signs of any animals except the birds. I leave dry food out there but only the blue jays come to eat it.  Last year we had 26 inches of snow in February, these guys survived through it (although I didn't see anyone for over 5 days!) thought everyone had perished.  This year we had less snow about 6-9 inches but sooo cold here in NY. I acutally have a little dog house with a heating pad running all day long (made especially for outside dog houses) they use this normally- the two boys who are best of friends, but with major storms I think they go elsewhere. I am so worried.  Tomorrow should be 40 degrees so hopefully I will see them. fingers crossed.... Anyone still waiting for their cats to show up?

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I would bet they will venture out today with the warmer weather.  Three years ago my one feral disappeared for a few days when it was very cold and snowy.  I was beside myself with worry.  But I had read that when they find a cozy warm spot they will stay even for days.  It takes too much energy to leave the warm shelter and go to get food.  Please let us know if they return today.  The worry is not fun at all. 

DH and Ds worked all day yesterday on the new wooden shelter.  Of course I am completely freaking out that the boys will go inside.  The light bulb makes it very very bright inside so I am heading to Lowes this morning to look for a black light.  Also right now it is almost 40 out and it will rain before the snow.  We tested a 75w bulb last night and the temp rose 25 degrees inside.  This is without the heat pads.  Now the trick it to make sure they go inside. 

My hope is to get them inside during the day/evening and possibly over night on Monday as that is when it will be most dangerous.  Stellar is my true worry as he freaks out and yowls when he has come inside and I have closed the door.  I know from past events that I need many back up plans as how the cats will react is always unknown.

I am trying hard to think warm thoughts.  All of the kitties are in my thoughts.

Thank you Bastfriend  & ShadowsRescue.  I have bought all different types of outdoor shelters, even made a couple which they use on normal cold days, but I'm hoping they had someplace better to go since they ran off in the snow. There are a couple of barns on my road- maybe they could've snuck in there.  And Garfleld, my orange tabby has been neutered and ear was clipped when I first moved here a year ago, so he must've had a caretaker nearby.  JC, the tuxie was a young weird boy that since I fixed is Garfleld's little Shadow, he follows Garfield everywhere.  If they do cuddle together somewhere they should be keeping each other warm.  More scared of the bitter cold hypothermia levels than the snow. I haven't even seen squirrels yet-nothing but birds.  40 degrees for 2 days but then it's supposed to go down to negative temperatures on Tuesday! At least with no snow maybe they'll stay in the heated dog house.  Good vibes to everyones cats!  Hoping to see them soon! 

Garfield the orange tabby showed up, ate just a little bit and then went behind my neighbor's shed. I suppose there's a hole in it, I can't really tell but he disappeared after running behind the shed. Still waiting for his tuxedo buddy JC to come eat, but happy I saw my Garf!

Glad you saw him.  Funny how they find ways to keep warm, even though they don't bother telling us where!

I'm still waiting on ... five feral cats. It's possible one to three of them came to eat yesterday when it warmed up a bit, as there were three sets of double tracks. But until then, it had been ... I've lost count. A few days since I'd seen any of them. We have six I see regularly, and one of them was gone for three days. I know roughly where she holed up, and went to leave food over there, but there were no tracks from there to the feeding station she normally uses. Thankfully, she showed up today. *sigh of relief*

I'm SO glad you saw at least Garfield!

And ShadowsRescue, that shelter sounds AWESOME!!!!!

I will say - after that short cold snap, I'm not AS freaking about about this one. The extreme temperature changes from day to night are scary - but I think I prefer that at least during the day it won't be AS cold makes me feel better.....

for everyone's ferals to find warmth!

I'm worried sick about Muffin. I was going to put a pet heating pad under his straw in his house, but discovered it doesn't work (it doesn't feel warm when I press down on it for a minute). Pet stores all out of heated disks and outdoor heating pads. I added more straw into Muffin's cedar house and have covered the entire thing, including both doors, with a few blankets and my sleeping bag over it. There's enough room for him to get in underneath the blankets on the side facing my door. I also hung blankets over the railing on my porch. Not much more I can do for him except worry excessively! Wind chill will be -20 tomorrow nite, and temps will b -8. Tuesday will be high of zero degrees.

Let's all pray for our feral the next few days, and for our peace of mind.

My semi feral showed up after the storm.  NYC here.  Didn't see her on Friday, the day of the snow storm but she showed up yesterday evening.  God knows where she was but she is alert and well and is at least eating here again now. I think she may have another safe haven somewhere in the neighborhood.

I am lighting a candle and saying prayers for all of the ferals out there in the cold the next few days.  It is raining her now and reached 40 today, but will be 5 at 6 am with a wind chill of -15.  All day Monday it is to be awful with wind chills -30 or more.  We put the new heated shelter out in the covered tent structure.  Shadow was completely freaked and wouldn't go in.  Stellar went 1/2 way in and the freaked.  We had to pull it out and cut the hole bigger.  Right now with an outside temp of 39 and wind chill of 32, the new shelter is registering 71!!!  Of course with the larger hole, it will lose more heat.  Neither cat is inside it, but it would be too warm.  They are both in the tent under covering as it is still raining. 

Here is a picture of them in the tent.  The new structure is lighted up on the left.  Stellar is the black cat on the love seat on a heat pad and Shadow is in the small house on the bottom of the tent.  You can see the shiny insulation reflecting in the large window of the heated shelter.

What cool digs you made for them!   I hope they go once it's cold enough  - here's the heat face for them too