Do cats share shelters?

Hello, I had a question about tabby cats in my area. I live in NYC, and there is an area along the bronx river that has several tabby's live there. there is a shelter someone built that i know at least 5 cats will use it and are part of the same family. but there are at least another 5 cats that also live nearby that probably do not have a shelter, and usually dont get along to well with the outside group when people leave food near the fence. I was wondering on really frigid nights, will cats share their shelters with other cats, in order to huddle together for heat. it would seem to make sense that they would, but maybe not. thanks

PeterHayes:  Thank you for caring about these kitties!  If you are aware of who is feeding, perhaps you can work with them to ensure there are enough shelters.  Cats may huddle together but I doubt ten or more could fit in any shelter.  The shelter needn't be elaborate - a large Rubbermaid tote filled with straw can suffice.

Also, work with them to make sure the cats are spayed and neutered.  That way, the size of the colony won't increase.

From what I understand, cats will share if they are family or they are already friends but will not share otherwise.  Informative video from Jackson Galaxy!

Ruaryx said:

 
From what I understand, cats will share if they are family or they are already friends but will not share otherwise. 

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I too think its so.  Thus, they may share, but its not at all sure.

Exaclty like you TS took as exampel, cats lying in a heap for coziness and warmth: they do so if they are friends / eqivalent, but they dont do so if theý arent.

Thank you all so much for replying to my question. I believe there are a few steady people who come by to drop food off. and then I bring food intermittently. I always try to bring good quality food to them, where as i will see what looks like cheap poor quality cat food or table food left there which i cant stand to see, but i know the people who leave whatever food they can are doing it with good intentions. But I really appreciate the answers, and i have wondered about this for some time. I thought maybe when its really cold, that sometimes animal behavior changes and that any cat would be welcome to huddle with the group, as conserving heat and energy would be top priority, rather then fighting. I would imagine that it may sometimes happen, but not always, and its better to put seperate shelters. And I did today, luckily, i went there to bring some food and happened upon at garbage can filled with tarps, along with some old pieces of lumber i found, i was able to make something that should work quite well. But that brings me to another question. There a few friendly raccoons in the area also, that always drop in for some cat food. I saw on a youtube video today , that when building a cat shelter, cats like to have an escape door, or back door, to escape if need be. I was unable to make an escape door today for todays shelter i made. So far i have not observed any aggression towards the cats from the raccoons, except that they will eat the cats food, which the cats will allow with minimal protest. But I wouldn't want a raccoon to trap a cat in its shelter, and something bad happen. Thank you to everyone also, who help ferrel stray cats. 

I have a feral cat family. (I have worked with these cats for 3 yrs so to us they are semi-feral)  They live in a heated shelter we have on our back patio.  There is also a true feral cat that lives in the woods.  They do tolerate him eating at the feeding station, but they will not let him in the shelter.  We occasionally have a stray show up at the feeding station, but our little group will not let it in.  We received a lot of snow last night and we seen a stray show up to go in the feeding station.  Must be they caught scent of it because they took turns out of the cat house by the corner of the garage on look out for the intruder.

We also have raccoons.  I have not had problems with the raccoons and the adult cats.  The cats just ignore it.  I have heard a raccoon will kill kittens. My dad swears that a raccoon can kill a full grown dog. I have not seen a raccoon in our feeding station since we started taking our food up at night.  Our cats know breakfast and dinner time, they know to show up because at nightfall there will not be food available.

Thank you for helping and caring for the feral cats! They all, of course, need to be neutered. It is never something I encourage - feeding feral cats that are not going to be TNRd. There must be a TNR organization in your area - NYC - that would be very willing to help begin the process. Might you bring this up to the other people who are feeding the cats? Make it a group effort. It will be SOOOO very rewarding since you all seem to love the cats and want to do what is best for them.

Most cats that are in the same family, friendly will surely huddle together and share a shelter. Even cats that are even tempered that don't know each other well will and do share space in frigid temperatures. Once neutered, they will tend to get along even more so. Most shelters should have two exits though to make it comfortable for the cats to be willing to even use the shelter in the first place. The feral villa http://www.feralvilla.com/ are the types I have used with great success. As the other's have said - multiple shelters - stuffed with straw - are best for a larger colony of cats. THANK YOU for caring and my best wishes for all of them to be trapped and neutered so no Spring kittens. :cross:

Thank you. i decided that im going to build a front entrance to the makeshift shelter i put together yesterday that is fitted only for cats . Also i will look into making  shelters using the suggested design with a container, lining, and straw. I think you would want to use some weight to keep the container shelter from falling over on its side. I mentioned that the cats were ferrel, which im not entirely sure. There are a few I saw that look like true ferrel cats.   i just know they are all without homes and living outside. Most of them are comfortable around the people who come by to leave food. There is a big fence with a small hole at the bottom that allows people to put food to the other side, but they will also come out through the fence right to you if they know you have food. Actually, at least four of them was from an outside litter, and are very cute and are medium size now. The parents have lived near the fence for several years now. And then there is a sprinkling of other cats not related to the fence group, that will come to the fence for food. So my goal is to make sure none of the cats are without a shelter for the winter. I understand that getting the cats neutered is very important. I dont know what to do yet about that. 

Peter Hayes said:

I understand that getting the cats neutered is very important. I dont know what to do yet about that. 

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The easiest if you do find a rescue / TNR group nearby, and cooperate with them.  The second option if you find a cheap spaying clinic.  Or even a regular vet, who agrees on cooperating with you with price reduction.

Where do you live?

But perhaps best you start a new thread about your plans for TNR.

Yes - concur completely with Stefan! You mentioned above that you live in NYC and there must be many of these organizations. I found this resource in NYC online: http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/environmental/animals-tnr.shtml It has a link to quite a few TNR orgs. in your area. You can also google TNR organization in your specific county. I am sure the people of one of those organizations will appreciate you calling them as this IS their goal - to spay/neuter all feral/stray cats. SOME will even do it for free !!!

You can also contact your nearby Humane Society for more TNR groups. This is MOST important - IMO - even more so than spending money on making shelters and food. Please know that they will keep breeding and bringing in more homeless, sick, unwanted and feral kittens. I cannot stress the importance enough of getting started on TNR plans. Your work and effort will be going to keep the cats healthy for more breeding as that is what they want most to do. Since some of them are SO friendly, then half the battle is done for you making it easy to capture them. You have a good heart and thank you for caring and trying to do the best in this difficult situation with so many cats.

I hope the others who feed the cats can see how important it is to get them all fixed. PLUS once you get them altered, and keep feeding them and caring for them, they will keep other cats away! Thus leaving a nice feral cat colony of all neutered kitties.

How to say this without sounding like a dictator on a soap box because I am far from that .... ........ the thing people don't understand...... wanting to feed the stray/feral cats is wonderful and very, very kind BUT BUT I try to think about the kittens that have yet to be born by them. The innocent ones that have to be born out in the elements, no home, no human love, danger/illness/disease, being bred beginning at only four to five months of age, etc. etc. To me, it is best not to feed/shelter to support their breeding and keeping them healthy IF one does not plan to TNR. I really have great, great respect for YOU so please don't get me wrong here. It may seem hopeless with so many but that is where the TNR organizations come in. They are filled with SUPER HUMANS who love feral cats and know that the only way - the GOAL is to first and foremost get them all fixed.

This thread is filled with links to help you understand AND then maybe you can share with the others who are also feeding the cats! :bigthumb:
http://www.thecatsite.com/t/249434/important-ferals-rescue-threads-articles-updated-october-2012

And this one for low cost TNR http://www.thecatsite.com/t/16045/h...ng-and-low-cost-or-free-spay-neuter-resources

If it's cold enough they will share and hopefully won't exclude anyone.  I have a feral colony here that I've cared for for several years.  I set shelters out for them and if it gets cold enough it can be like watching a video of teenagers coming out of a VW bug if they hear me coming.  So many cats can get into one shelter to provide each other warmth.  Even the ones who can't stand one another.  Then when things warm up its back to finding one's own space.

This year they seem to be a little confused.  The shelters are out  and the cats are using them but the cold came on kind of suddenly I guess or the colony is older and not adjusting well to it.  I'm concerned they are not staying warm enough.

From my personal experience, no. Although I don't doubt that some are definitely friendly enough with each other to do so.

I have 4 feral female cats that I take care of. They are from two separate kitty families. Two of them are mom and baby. The other two are sisters. So far we have two shelters and while they do take turns, they will not share the shelters and heating pads at the same time. I wish they would because one of the shelters is definitely big enough for two.

Mine do share, but as soon as I make another insulated home for the one stuck outside,

one of the tougher ones moves into it , now little guy is out again. Will make more til....