A little out of practice...

Okay, if you don't want the back story please jump to the bottom for my questions.

I grew up in a house with an open door policy for cats. Strays or ferals came, we had a few shelters outside. We did TNR before it was a thing. (It certainly was a lot more of a hassle, getting licenses and shots for ferals every year. -_-)  Most became pets. We'd have between 4-6 cats at any time. Occassionally we'd have one that had previously been abused, got FIV, or was otherwise unable to be with others in a large basement. I grew up knowing how to speak to cats better then humans for a while (maybe that's still true. lol). I moved in with my husband and his grandmother 10 years ago, and there was a strict no pet policy due to her asthma (which we worked around with bearded dragons within 3 years, cause we were going crazy without any pets. Nothing is worse then that for us, it was unbearable. And beardies have a lot of cat-like behaviors).

Right before hurricane Sandy (Yes, we're in Jersey, and it made us hate this place even more), a little gray fluffball came by and ate what scraps we tossed him. He, his mother, and his one sister managed to survive that horror (one poor baby got hit with a tree branch, we were all heartbroken about it). Our neighborhood worked together and got several ferals TNRed over the next few months. Ashe, the gray fluff-ball is very friendly with us, and has started living with our next door neighbors. Three of us neighbors feed a total of 5 ferals at different times. However, I noticed Ashe's sister, who was definitely a runt, kept getting bullied a lot. Bad enough I worried she'd lose an eye.

She wasn't staying in the shelter with the others, so we set up a box for her outside. We're building her a more permanent shelter, but we live on a very fixed income (all of us are disabled, and have limited mobility). She's come to trust us quite a bit in the year and a half she'd been eating here. We've become her protectors of a sort. She's even come inside for a little at a time during bad weather to eat before going back out.

The issue:

So, now, Blizzard Hercules has hit, and we ran out in the start of it to get a litter box and litter. My husband's grandmother gave her blessing on us bringing her in for this doom. (Mostly cause the downstairs where were had 3 feet of water is still empty, though clean and repaired, and she can't move back down there yet.) So, she's not going crazy, she still lets me get within 2 feet of her (sometimes a foot), she won't eat though. I even cooked up a plain chicken breast and chopped it up. She normally goes nuts for that (that's the only time I ever pet her, and it didn't freak her out too much, but I haven't pushed the issue). She did drink a bunch of water though.

So what should I do to get her to eat? It's long passed time she'd be hungry.

She hasn't shown any interest in going outside. She gives me the slow blink when I'm downstairs with her, and only moves a little away behind the desk if I get too close (changing water or setting up a box for her). Her behavior is confusing. I'm not sure if she's afraid to eat because I used to encourage her to go outside after eating, or if she's really stressed and I'm reading her wrong. She came in eagerly (well, sniffing and curious body language, tail and ears up, head up), and just simply sniffed at the door a little after it was closed before going to "her spot" and not really leaving it. She's shown no interest in the sound of the door when I opened it to look outside (there's two, I only opened the one).

Should I just stay away for the rest of the time, or go down and talk to her some?

This is only for a few days, till things get better around here. Granted, this will happen again should further winter doom approach. I don't want to scare her. She's been ostracized from the others, because she's so small. We've been her haven for a year now, and I've worked very hard, and very patiently to win her trust. I really don't wanna risk breaking that, but it's 14 degrees faranheit outside. And the sheltered box is already buried in snow. It's just too dangerous for her out there right now. 

I'm 10 years out of practice sheltering a feral through bad weather, so any advice is greatly welcome. Am I forgetting anything super important? Thanks in advance for looking this over.

Welcome to the forums and thank you for taking care of this sweet kitty.  She knows she can trust you.

First off, she is probably very scared.  She may have never been inside a house before and it is a scary place.  Make sure she has a safe place to hide.  An old box turned on its side with a blanket or towel will work.  Give her access to some wet and dry cat food as well as fresh water.  She can easily not eat for a day or two and may prefer to eat when you are not present.  As for the litter box, she may not know what to do with it either.  You might want to mix a bit of dirt in with as she is used to going outside. 

You might try playing soft calming music for her too.  When you visit her, talk softly and make sure you are sitting down and not looming over her. 

Thank you for keeping her warm and safe.

Thank you so much for helping her.  You're right - as the runt, she may not have survived Hercules.

Do you have any wet, stinky food you might tempt her with?  She is probably terrified of being inside but just as scared of being outside.  Like ShadowRescue said, get down on her level and move slowly.

Your training and experience will kick in as you work with her.  Trust that and even if she doesn't stay inside, she'll learn to trust you more and more.

Well, there was two small incidents so far. One was her getting stuck in a tiny window up real high. She was meowing desperately at me. I was sure she wanted out, but when I noticed she didn't jump and hide when I got close, I grabbed a folding chair for her to use and she didn't go back up or keep meowing. (I've seen them climb backwards down a sturdy old tree in our backyard. Can't do that on a cement wall. Lol)

The other was her running into a room that was not kitty safe. We noticed she wouldn't go near the box, or sleep despite clearly being exhausted, and so we did some arranging. We quickly finished setting everything to look exactly like her sheltered box outside. Once we got her back into the safe room she was very happy to use her more familiar looking bed. The only other change was pinning up an old drop cloth to give her more privacy and protection when she still wouldn't sleep.

She was sound asleep a few minutes ago, not even lifting her head or anything, despite how loud those steps are. Probably helps that this house is old and creaky (like us!), she can hear us coming a while before we get there, so no surprising her.

Gonna try stinky cat food again soon. I'll let you know if it works this time.

Still not eating, been nearly 24 hours since she last ate. (She ate a large meal before we brought her in, at least.) She's just stayed in the box with the heating pad. It's designed for animal use, and I feel it's necessary since it's still very drafty down there, even with the heat up a bit. She doesn't leave the box, hasn't used the litter box. I can't get to any dirt with the snow so high, wish I'd have thought of that sooner. There are newspapers around, and tile floor which is easy to clean. She's not really meowing anymore, just watching when I do things. Might try some more chicken again in a bit. Tonight's gonna be the coldest, but tomorrow should be safe enough to let her back out if she's still so upset.

Oh, I left a toy and a string tied up down there. Is catnip a good idea or bad? She liked it well enough outside (her mother is a junky! She goes nuts for the stuff, and usually ends up covered in it). I figure just a little might help her feel more comfortable, since I'm trying to maintain the status quo as best I can. I feed her the same way I do outside, made her bed the same way, I figured if she played a little it might make this far less traumatizing. There's nothing she can destroy down there (at least, nothing that would be missed. lol) No loose wires or dangerous stuff. There is a big refrigerator, but it's very sturdy, a cat her size couldn't do anything to it, and it's got a very thick cord.

She is awfully adorable, and I'd rather her a bit unhappy with me then frozen. I'll have to take a picture when she's less stressed. She's all black with a little white patch on her chest, and very fluffy with her winter coat. She's definitely not fat, despite her fluff. Not skinny, either though. I've taken to calling her Kira (short for Kirara, for any fans of the anime).

Astrael said:

She is awfully adorable, and I'd rather her a bit unhappy with me then frozen.

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And while she may not seem to appreciate it now, she does.  I feel sure that she does.  Thanks for the update.

Last update here.

Kira became extremely insistent on going out early Saturday morning, and still hadn't eaten a bite, so we let her out. She disappeared for 5 minutes, and returned with the hungry horde. She and all the others ate happily. She even ate chicken out of my hand again. We set up a new shelter for her today, and she seems very pleased with it. On a side note, a good friend has offered to help us invest in a permanent wooden shelter for her, so we'll be planning for that very soon.

This morning, I went to feed her and she was acting even friendlier then usual, and coming much closer to me and acting far more comfortable near me. She even came back inside for a peek, and drank some milk inside, even when I was stretching and moving a little. She even nibbled a finger a little taking chicken out of my hand. :-)

So, she made it through the blizzard safe and sound, returned to her family, and seems to be more comfortable with us for it. Hopefully, she'll trust us again for the next bad storm. Again, the only reason I worry so much is cause the not yet trapped or fixed tom cat can be really aggressive towards her, and I think he pushed her from the shelter with her mother and sister. That, and Kira seems more interested then the others in human interaction. So, no harm in there being a second shelter for them in such a nasty winter, right?

So I'm incredibly relieved. I was worried she'd get hurt trying to stay away in fear. I'm so grateful she understood our intentions.  

That's wonderful. Thank you for updating on the situation. And how cute that she ran off and brought everyone else back for food! Haha. Please do post more stories if there's another big storm that brings her back to your basement!

Glad to hear she's OK - they do make you worry, don't they?  The second shelter will definitely help.  Once they understand you're doing what you do for them, it makes things a lot easier.

Sounds like you have a busy spring coming up, too - that Tom would my next project!