Juno Blizzard- it's so cold and waiting for my 2 outdoor cats to show up

We got over 20 inches of snow here in suffolk county LI.  I saw both yesterday fed them a lot of extra food.  Garfield, my older orange cat stayed in his doghouse with heating pads until late in the evening when the snow really started to get bad, I think JC his best buddy (they are always together) left sometime earlier that day.  It is so cold and the thought of them being separate scares me. I hope wherever they are, they are together keeping each other warm.  I put a bowl of food and water out tonight, they eat twice a day in the morning and at night 730 each time.  I haven't seen either today and don't suspect I will but then the weather is supposed to be so cold I'm afraid if they're trapped in a shed they won't be able to get out for days and days until this snow melts.  I feed them both very well and they're a good solid size, not skinny at all but Garfield drinks a lot maybe due to his age he might have diabetes, I'm not sure he seems fine for now (i haven't attempted to take either to the vet-- very traumatic for a feral cat) garfield was eartipped when I moved here and he's no tomcat.. JC is a young cat looked like a kitten when I moved here a couple years ago, I had him fixed and ever since he and Garfield were best friends they are virtually attached at the hip.  How many days before I should start panicking-- I am already panicking now anyways. Was out for a few minutes without gloves salting and my fingers felt like they were going to fall off.. it's just so cold. I am so worried about my boys!!

Fingers crossed that they've found a warm, safe place. This is one thing I hate about taking care of ferals - no control, especially in situations like this.

Hope you are safe, too. We dodged the bullet down here in south Jersey.

thank you ondine, this is torture. i contemplated capturing them and bringing them in my garage for the storm but its so difficult with ferals. i pray they are ok and for no more of these crazy storms this winter! ill update the thread when i see the babies.

Feral cats have amazing abilities to survive the cold. If your cats are well-fed and a good size, they can survive several days away from home. My feral tom used to take off and roam for a week during the coldest, snowiest winter months and he'd always return and be okay. They can eat snow so they don't dehydrate, and there are always birds around to hunt as well as rodents that burrow underneath the snow. Also, in very cold and snowy weather, they can burrow somewhere and go into a deep sleep and stay there for a few days. I think if you don't see them for a week, then there may be cause for concern. Have you asked around your neighborhood to see if anyone has seen them? There may be other people providing them with food and shelter. On different occasions, there have been four households on my block alone that have fed and allowed my feral to shelter on their properties. I wouldn't worry yet. Just be sure and leave bowls of dry food out for them for when they return.   

I was thinking this morning of all the ferals weathering Juno.  I said a prayer for them all.  I hope your two make it back safely.  Just keep leaving food and water out.  Also did you shovel a path for them?  I have done this many times. 

MsAimee said:

Feral cats have amazing abilities to survive the cold. If your cats are well-fed and a good size, they can survive several days away from home. My feral tom used to take off and roam for a week during the coldest, snowiest winter months and he'd always return and be okay. They can eat snow so they don't dehydrate, and there are always birds around to hunt as well as rodents that burrow underneath the snow. Also, in very cold and snowy weather, they can burrow somewhere and go into a deep sleep and stay there for a few days. I think if you don't see them for a week, then there may be cause for concern. Have you asked around your neighborhood to see if anyone has seen them? There may be other people providing them with food and shelter. On different occasions, there have been four households on my block alone that have fed and allowed my feral to shelter on their properties. I wouldn't worry yet. Just be sure and leave bowls of dry food out for them for when they return.   

Click to expand...

thank you msaimee i worry so much sometimes i don't think I'm cut out for caring for strays bc i love them too much and constantly worry. im glad to know they'll eat snow i read they won't dig out and something about not eating snow bc of sand and salt in it but fresh snow I'm guessing they can tell the difference. with nemo we got 27 inches this time i got 25 but it rained within a fee days with nemo and after the 3r3rd day i sww everyone we are supposed to get more snow fri but it could be a rain mix. im praying for rain to wash some of the snow away. all i see is squirrels and birds left dry food out but the blue jays are eating it. water keeps freezing but ill keep refilling. my husband shoveled a path we have an acre of land mostly trees there are a lot of barns in the neighborhood, sheds etc. lots of dog owners in our neighborhood our next door neighbor where they usually walk ibto his backyard has 2 dogs but their old and docile wouldnt hurt the cats. i just cant imagine how their little bodies can weather this cold. they do have an extra layerof chubb but i will be worried until i see them again. can't help myself

ShadowsRescue said:

I was thinking this morning of all the ferals weathering Juno.  I said a prayer for them all.  I hope your two make it back safely.  Just keep leaving food and water out.  Also did you shovel a path for them?  I have done this many times. 

Click to expand...

thank you shadowsrescue prayers are appreciated! we shoveled one long path where we think they went.. to my neighbors backyard. we are leaving dry food out in my regular feeding spot. we have a heated dog house but its a small rectangular box right on my patio they usually stay in there on normal nights but if its a crazy rainstorm or in this case snow. they disappear it drives me crazy.i think bc thr shelter is low to the ground they dont feel safe but i made a whole fort around it to keep it dry and out of the elements garfield my orange tabby stayed there the longest but disappeared in thr nighttime when i went in to bed and when the storm was the worst. praying my boys found each other and theyre at least together wherever they are. i will certainly update tthisfeed if i have any good news!

I understand your worry.  I too worry constantly about my boys.  Last year was the worst when it was so bitter cold.  I have one feral who has been with me 4.5 years.  He will come inside the house for short visits.  Last winter I got him inside the night the temps were -15 and windchill near -40.  He was upset, but I didn't care.  My other boy would not come in.  I tried so hard.  He mostly stayed in his shelter, but the wind freaked him out a lot.  After the first cold snap last winter, my DH and DS built an insulated heated cat house.  It is heated with a hound heater.  It is wonderful.  I keep a thermometer in there (the sensor kind so I can read it inside the house) so I can tell how cold it is.  We had temps of -6 and windchill of -23 earlier this month.  The heated house never dropped below 32.  Last night it was 5 with windchills of -5 and the heated house never dropped below 42 and that was only set to med/high.  It gives me great peace of mind. 

Unfortunately I worry about them in the summer too.  Here in the midwest we are always having wind, rain, lightening and thunder.  I love my guys so much too and so wish they would come inside and join my animal family.  Yet this is not their nature.  I do my best and hope it is good enough. 

If you have an electric source outside, they have heated water bowls.  I found one at Walmart for $10.  Some stores don't carry them, but you can order online or ship to store. 

http://www.walmart.com/ip/14660238

shadowsrescue you sound like a wonderful catmom! i have an electric source i use both outlets for 2 heated pads but i was thinking of upgrading to an actual heater. if you have a moment can you share a picutre of the shelter you made and are using with the heater the stuff they sell online are plastic homes and the doghouse i have is too small to put a space heater in. thats a pic of my boys laying ontop of their doghouse in the summer. i think its called a hotdoghouse and i bought the insulation padding that goes with it and a little patio step in front of it. of all the stuff i bought its the only thing they like. in the winter i move it up to the patio and plug in 2 heating pads and put it inside. theres only enough room for the 2 of them inside so if i were to buy a space heater i definitely need something bigger

I don't think you would want to use a space heater outside.  Also it could knock over and catch on fire.  The shelter my DH and DS built is 27" tall by 25" wide by 23" deep.  It is insulated with reflextix insulation.  I then have a hound heater mounted inside.  It has a hinged top so I can get inside.  I also have two heated head pads on the bottom.  Here is a link to the hound heater
I started off using a reptile build with an old paint can over it.  I painted the paint can black and poked holes all around it so the heat could get out.  It did heat up nicely.  Yet I was worried about the life of the bulb.  I didn't want it to burn out while during the night.  I was also worried about the safety.  The hound heater is designed for outside use. 

Here are some pictures of my setup.  I have a 6'x6' tent like shelter (it's a Shelter Logic Shed in a Box).  This shelter has been awesome.  It's on its 4th winter.  I take it down in early May and put it up in late October or early Nov.  I can't close the flap all the way or the cats freak out.  Yet it does a decent job of blocking the wind.  I have the heated house on the left.  You can see the hound heater on the left hand side.  Next to the heated house I have 2 Sterlite containers that are insulated and also have a heat pad.  The cats use these when it's not very cold or when they need their own space.  There is also room in the shelter if it gets really warm and they just want to sit out.  The bottom is weather proofed plywood with astroturf over the top.  This was an addition last year and is so wonderful as I don't have wind blowing up from below. 

wow shadowsrescue that is awesome and off the floor and away from the elements i have to do something like that. i definitely meant the houndheater not a space heater just wasn't sure what it was called. ill hve to show this to my husband so we can do something like this. maybe the cats would actually stay around durinf the storms if i had a shelter like this in my backyard. thank you so much for sharing!

If you place a plastic owl in front of the cat food bowl, most of the birds won't go near it. A few will eventually catch on. The other trick is to put aluminum foil around three quarters of the bowl and secure it with a rubber band--have the height be around 2 inches higher than the bowl. That also deters birds. Squirrels are too smart for all this, but if you leave some shelled peanuts out for them, they'll be more inclined to leave the cat food alone. I dislike the birds in my yard because they poop all over and are greedy pigs who get into my cat food, but I put bird seed out for them every day so they won't consume all the cat food. The problem is that this gets expensive, lol.  

Feral cats carefully smell everything before they eat it, which is why it's difficult to get them to eat food with antibiotics or de-wormers in it. I've heard, to my horror,  that some people poison feral cats, but I'm assuming these cats are starving and not in their right minds when they eat poisoned food, because most cats would smell there's something not right in the food. I'm sure cats will not eat snow that is dirty or has road salt in it. There's so much we can (and I do) worry about. We just need to remind ourselves that these cats are survivors, and also that if they are in trouble they will usually find their ways back to us. Also, many of these cats have caregivers in addition to ourselves that we may not even know about. Even though the four households on my block no longer feed my feral since they know I'm his caregiver, I'm sure that he has someone else on another block feeding him because when he's gone for a day, when he returns, he's not starving. You'd be surprised how many people feed these cats.    

yes the bluejays are relentless. theyre pretty but annoying. i can't believe they swallow the kitty kibbles whole but they do. im going to put my faith in these kitties and just hope thry find their way back to me. garfield was already eartipped and chill when i moved to the neighborhood 3 yrs ago. jc was a young tomcat and i had him fixed so i have to figure garfield was someone's before he was mine.. just the eartip alone means someone took responsibility for him.. I'll keep the faith for now.

thank you for all your wonderful insight i really needed the reassurance.

spotted! in front if my neighbors shed. garfield walked around the house to get to the food but only ate a tiny bit. my husband shoveled a path but in the wrong direction. i can't shovel as I'm pregnant but he promised me hed shovel a path to the right side tomorrow. he's at worn now. so happy they are ok even though kinda weird they barely ate and didnt drink any water. was so worried about my boys! cant wait for winter to be over. in the summer they make a permanent relaxing station on my outside dining table. and its hard to imagine them out in the cold when my inside cats are curled up in front of a heat source.

Such good news!   I am glad they all survived.  I remember last winter in the bitter cold and snow, my two didn't eat much either.  One trick I found was pouring some warmed chicken broth over the wet food.  This allowed them to lap it up easier. 

ShadowsRescue said:

Such good news!   I am glad they all survived.  I remember last winter in the bitter cold and snow, my two didn't eat much either.  One trick I found was pouring some warmed chicken broth over the wet food.  This allowed them to lap it up easier. 

Click to expand...

thanks shadowsrescue i will try that!hard to spot jc the b&w cat in that pic with all the snow. but hes there hanging with garf. so happy they rode it out together. [emoji]128522[/emoji]

hi I'm new to this site but live in RI and my cats dad john cat {feral} hasn't come to eat since monday am before juno started i am worried sick keep asking neighbors if they've seen him but no luck my husband has cleared the snow to the feeding station (a rubbermaid bin) but none have come we have a total of 3 others that come time to time but john is daily twice a day i know its been solo cold and he def weathered last winter but we got 3 feet approx of snow we looked where we thought he was sleeping dug out all neighbors sheds but nothing He won't stay in house we made him and mice eventually moved in ,,,this story has made me feel a lil better anyways so thank you !!! i just wonder how long they can go without food assuming they have tons of snow for drinking he's a big boy and hasn't ever disappeared in years any thoughts or comments will be appreciated and I'm very happy ur cats came home Angela

Hi @angela2015 and welcome to TCS.

We would normally move your post to its own thread as you have your own question, but since you have related to TigerCat's situation, let's leave it here and see if the others can offer you advice as well..   @Ondine @ShadowsRescue  

I built small feral shelters out of plastic storage bins, a smaller one inside a bigger one. A small circular hole cut in the end. Styrafome between inner and outer boxes on all sides, top and bottom. Gorilla tape holds top on the box. Straw inside, with hole facing house so no wind. Box elevated one inch off ground on a wooden pallet. The whole thing behind hedge and covered by a tarp anchored down by bricks.

oh sorry i didn't know how to start a thread I'm a lil tech challenged lol i just would appreciate any feral advice when it comes to there winter survival