What Should I Do? Bad Snow Storm Coming And Frigid Temperatures

pi-pi · Jan 31, 2015

If an advisor is online please help me with this. It is now 11 degrees outside with a wind chill factor making it feel like -9 degrees. There is a 22 mph wind blowing as well and that will be the story for the entire day. Tomorrow we are under a winter storm watch that will bring snow from Sunday night into Monday. Pi is now inside. Should I keep him inside through this period? He was inside all day yesterday and did well but that was because I had to be away from home for 5 hours. I am very frightened to let him out in this extreme cold but at the same time I wonder if I keep him in for a string of days when I do let him out will he come back. Can someone help me make this decision please?!!!! I am a nervous wreck never having had cats before and it being such a brutal January here.

mwallace056 · Jan 31, 2015

it probably best to keep him inside

ritz · Jan 31, 2015

I agree--keep him inside. I don't know the back story, but if he starts to get nervous, anxious, you could move him into a small room. And some place to hide, feel secure, like a cat carrier or even a large box.

ondine · Jan 31, 2015

Sorry this is late but I'd keep him inside too. I second Ritz's excellent advice, too - give him a hiding place if he gets nervous.

detmut · Jan 31, 2015

Pi-Pi said:
If an advisor is online please help me with this. It is now 11 degrees outside with a wind chill factor making it feel like -9 degrees. There is a 22 mph wind blowing as well and that will be the story for the entire day. Tomorrow we are under a winter storm watch that will bring snow from Sunday night into Monday. Pi is now inside. Should I keep him inside through this period? He was inside all day yesterday and did well but that was because I had to be away from home for 5 hours. I am very frightened to let him out in this extreme cold but at the same time I wonder if I keep him in for a string of days when I do let him out will he come back. Can someone help me make this decision please?!!!! I am a nervous wreck never having had cats before and it being such a brutal January here.

yes. he will come back. i have rescued adult outdoor strays that were impossible to keep exclusively inside. but even though i kept them inside as long as a week while on vacation (with a cat sitter checking but keeping them inside), they always returned when i got home and let them out.

pi-pi · Jan 31, 2015

detmut said:
yes. he will come back. i have rescued adult outdoor strays that were impossible to keep exclusively inside. but even though i kept them inside as long as a week while on vacation (with a cat sitter checking but keeping them inside), they always returned when i got home and let them out.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. My biggest fear was that he would run away. He seems to be adjusting quite well, even to my dog actually. But still, I think he will want to go out again soon and that won't be possible for at least 3 days more.

Norachan · Jan 31, 2015

Hi,

I kept all of my feral cats indoors for a week last year. We had a three day snow storm that left over two meters of snow. The whole town shut down, no way I was letting them out in that.

I had 24 cats in four rooms. They were all fine, no fights, no accidents and they all went back to their routine of staying out all day and coming home when they were hungry after that. Actually that was the turning point for my avatar cat who had always refused to stay indoors before. He's now an indoor cat with outdoor enclosure access.

Pi will soon get used to all those home comforts, I think you'll have more trouble persuading him to go back outside than you did keeping him in.

ondine · Feb 1, 2015

Norachan said:
Hi,

I kept all of my feral cats indoors for a week last year. We had a three day snow storm that left over two meters of snow. The whole town shut down, no way I was letting them out in that.

I had 24 cats in four rooms. They were all fine, no fights, no accidents and they all went back to their routine of staying out all day and coming home when they were hungry after that. Actually that was the turning point for my avatar cat who had always refused to stay indoors before. He's now an indoor cat with outdoor enclosure access.

Pi will soon get used to all those home comforts, I think you'll have more trouble persuading him to go back outside than you did keeping him in.

:nod:

Oh my goodness, Norachan, wall to wall cats! I am so glad to hear there were no contests of will. You are a real blessing to these kitties!

astrael · Feb 1, 2015

Last year we kept Kira inside for a blizzard. She started going nuts to go outside. Once we let her out, she was back five minutes later with her sister. I still couldn't touch her at that point. She came back inside after a few days too. Honestly, once a cat trusts enough to come in, you usually have to do more than keep them inside to scare them away.

The girls essentially have their own "house" in the garage now, but they come in now and then. Judy stays in occasionally. Keeping them inside in the warmth definitely keeps them healthier. Lot less sneezing and coughing this year, far more playing.

pi-pi · Feb 2, 2015

Thank you all for your wonderful advice and stories! You have given me the courage to keep Pi inside through this stretch of really bad weather. Today we are having sleet and freezing rain on top of quite a lot of snow that fell during the night. Its LOVELY here. Not! But Pi is doing wonderfully well and he and my little dog Happy are actually getting along! Here are a few photos.

10351766_10206092684662561_592453760998498809_n.jp

pi-pi
Feb 2, 2015

FullSizeRender.jpg

pi-pi
Feb 2, 2015

mwallace056 · Feb 2, 2015

here it really cold, but i am force to keep my cats outside.

msaimee · Feb 2, 2015

If your feral/stray is doing fine inside, why not keep him as an indoors only cat? If he were a true feral, the sort who cannot adjust to life indoors, he would be yowling and literally scaling the walls and windows of your home, desperate to get out. Is he already neutered? If not, now is the time to get him to the vet to get that done.

There are plenty of ferals who survive weather much worse than what you are describing. My outdoor feral will not come inside, no matter what. He has a cedar pet house on my porch with a thermal cushion and straw, and a sleeping bag pulled over the house when it's frigid. Unlike others on this forum, I don't use a heating pad. He stays in his house iin sub zero weather, especially when it's windy. He'll come out to eat and to run around and relieve himself, but will return to his house when the weather is unsafe. When it's sunny, he'll sit outside in the sun even if it's only 15 degrees. He grows a thick coat in the winter time and puts on body fat and is fine. Whenever it's especially cold and I open up my front door and invite him inside, he looks at me like I'm crazy and actually turns his head aside, lol. As long as ferals are outside all Fall and into the winter, they are able to survive the cold because their fur thickens and they gain body fat.

If you decide to have your cat be an indoor/outdoor cat, you'll need to provide him with some sort of pet shelter on your property to protect him from the cold. There are several threads on this forum with pictures of the different shelters we've all built or bought. As long as he has access to food and water he will be fine!

Regarding whether or not he'll return if you let him out after having confined him inside--yes, I'm sure he will. I had a feral confined inside my house for 3 days a few years ago and released him back outside because he was yowling, scaling the walls and windows, etc. He was not a happy camper. I released him in the AM and that evening he returned to my porch to get fed. He was skittish around me for a week and then everything returned to normal. You are this cat's food source, so he will return to you if you release him.

pi-pi · Feb 2, 2015

MsAimee said:
If your feral/stray is doing fine inside, why not keep him as an indoors only cat? If he were a true feral, the sort who cannot adjust to life indoors, he would be yowling and literally scaling the walls and windows of your home, desperate to get out. Is he already neutered? If not, now is the time to get him to the vet to get that done.

There are plenty of ferals who survive weather much worse than what you are describing. My outdoor feral will not come inside, no matter what. He has a cedar pet house on my porch with a thermal cushion and straw, and a sleeping bag pulled over the house when it's frigid. Unlike others on this forum, I don't use a heating pad. He stays in his house iin sub zero weather, especially when it's windy. He'll come out to eat and to run around and relieve himself, but will return to his house when the weather is unsafe. When it's sunny, he'll sit outside in the sun even if it's only 15 degrees. He grows a thick coat in the winter time and puts on body fat and is fine. Whenever it's especially cold and I open up my front door and invite him inside, he looks at me like I'm crazy and actually turns his head aside, lol. As long as ferals are outside all Fall and into the winter, they are able to survive the cold because their fur thickens and they gain body fat.

If you decide to have your cat be an indoor/outdoor cat, you'll need to provide him with some sort of pet shelter on your property to protect him from the cold. There are several threads on this forum with pictures of the different shelters we've all built or bought. As long as he has access to food and water he will be fine!

Regarding whether or not he'll return if you let him out after having confined him inside--yes, I'm sure he will. I had a feral confined inside my house for 3 days a few years ago and released him back outside because he was yowling, scaling the walls and windows, etc. He was not a happy camper. I released him in the AM and that evening he returned to my porch to get fed. He was skittish around me for a week and then everything returned to normal. You are this cat's food source, so he will return to you if you release him.

Thank you so much for this a very comprehensive report. I do have a Feral Villa shelter filled with straw and a thermal pad but he hasn't used it much. I'm sure Pi isn't feral because he has a very sweet personality and does very well in the house. If he wants to stay inside after all this bad weather he is most welcome. He and my dog are getting along well too. But, if he really wants to go out occasionally I will let him provided the weather is OK. My biggest fear was that he would not return. He started coming on to my property in July of 2014 and I started feeding him in early August. We slowly worked to the point where he was using my garage and from there into the house. He has been sleeping in the house now for about 2 1/2 weeks but prior to these recent storms would always ask to go out in the early morning and I let him. He would return in the afternoon about 4. I live on a half acre of land as do my close neighbors and we have a small patch of woods behind us. But, out front is a major road and that frightens me although Pi doesn't seem to go in that direction. Yes he has been neutered. I had our local Pet Rescue do TNR on him in late September. I regret that I didn't know they would take the tip off his left ear during the process to identify him as a cat that had gone through TNR. He is really quite beautiful. They determined he was about 10 months old when they neutered him. So that makes him slightly older than a year right now. I did have a feral cat get into my garage one morning when he smelled Pi's food and he did exactly what you said when I opened the door and discovered him--ran all around and tried to jump out a closed window which is at least 4 feet off the floor. I went back in the house to let him exit on his own--he did, like lightening!

di and bob · Feb 2, 2015

I honestly don't know how ANYTHING lives through our brutal winters, but somehow they manage. My husband says I am trying to feed the world, between the cats, the birds and the squirrels, but it is hard to stand by and watch them go hungry. I have three heated huts in the garage for my long time ferals but there are several that come from next door to eat and I don't know where they stay during this below 0 weather. They show up every day and I know food helps them to stay warm, so food they get. I worry about them all, especially when they are hurt or sick, but somehow they manage to go on. Cats are truly hardy creatures, but I wish I could keep them all indoors, you are lucky yours comes in!

msaimee · Feb 2, 2015

It seems your cat is a stray who became semi-feral, not a true feral. If he's comfortable inside your house and not complaining, then keep him inside. Most indoor/outdoor cats can adjust to being only indoors, but they may cry and complain for quite a while. The last cat I took in 5 months ago was an indoor/outdoor cat and he still sometimes cries and complains. I live on a dead-end street with some woods around, but I won't let him out because I'm afraid he would fight with my outdoor feral, and because of the dangers posed by my next door neighbors' dogs, one of which is allowed to run around loose sometimes, and the raccoons and opossum on my block in the summer. I have enough on my plate worrying about my one outdoor feral, who is very street smart, without worrying about another cat outside! But if you have land for him to roam around, and your cat knows not to cross the road, then I can see why you would allow him back outside in the good weather. You'll just worry about him more, but he may be happier. Only you can tell.

Yeah, I had a similar issue with a vet ear-tipping a feral I planned to keep inside, without my consent. The vet tech butchered the ear--I mean, it is really bad--she was very upset when she told me about it and I'm still upset because the cat was already in pain from surgery and had to deal with the pain of a butchered ear. It has also marred her striking good looks. I've learned from that day on to specify to the vet to not ear-tip. Ear-tipping is especially unnecessary for male cats--it doesn't take a rocket scientist to recognize that a male cat has been neutered, and even the least talented vet tech should be able to determine that when a cat is brought in. Some vets will use tattoos now instead of ear-tipping, which I think is more humane.

Norachan · Feb 2, 2015

I agree with @MsAimee, he does seem like a stray rather than a feral. He looks very comfortable in those pictures, true feral cats would be either climbing the walls or hidden away where no one could see them, waiting for their chance to escape.

How about making him a cat enclosure so he can go out but you don't have to worry about the road?

What Should I Do? Bad Snow Storm Coming And Frigid Temperatures

TCS Member

Thread starter

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

Thread starter

Moderator

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

Thread starter

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

Thread starter

TCS Member

TCS Member

Moderator