Very friendly stray, very cold temperatures

Hi, where I live in Ohio the temperature in the winter can dip to below freezing very easily. Even right now, we have a cover of snow. Since September I have been interacting with a stray black cat. It has a locket of white on its chest and the left back paw has a tiny bit of white. I honestly don't know if it's a boy or a girl, but my parents think it may be a girl, so we'll go with that. This cat is either a not neutered male or a pregnant/nursing female, we think. It is very friendly, so much so that we can't really tell if it's an outdoor cat or a neighborhood fed stray. We plan to tackle this issue by attaching a breakaway collar that reads "MY OWNER, PLEASE CALL (my phone number)" However, if it is a stray who needs to catch food for her kittens, will this not alert the prey, starving her kittens from lack of food? If she indeed is pregnant, the kittens will likely not be able to survive in the cold. We have a resident cat who will stare through the door at this cat, which startles her, so we can't bring her inside. Our garage is rather crowded too, since we have a station wagon and 6 bikes inside along with other miscellaneous items. Since it's coming up on winter and I won't be using my bike, I fashioned a makeshift shelter out of the blanket we used to carry Mocha to the vet on her last day (  2009), my bike, 2 strollers, and a wiffleball bat. I put a basket inside with another blanket inside of it to make it more comfortable. As I went outside during lunch today, I grabbed the bag of treats and led her to the shelter. I propped the garage door open to make sure she could always access it and that she wouldn't get locked inside. I'm worried it won't be warm enough in there or that raccoons might be stealing the food I put inside the shelter. I want to care for her as best I can, in the garage if I can't take care of her in the house. Has anyone dealt with anything like this and have any tips? I know this is kind of unorganized, my bad, I'm just really desperate to help this cat. It pains me to think of how cold she must be...

I take care of eight ferals, and even though I'm in Texas, we can get some really cold temperatures.

I have asked two veterinarians about shelter for ferals, and they said that cats can handle cold temperatures as long as they have some shelter. It sounds like you've done a pretty good job providing it!

I built a wooden shelter for my porch ferals and put a small heater inside it (it's an oil-filled heater). But they prefer getting under the house instead. Or sleeping on TOP of the shelter - the heater makes it warm, I guess!

However, there are some heated options available if you have the finances to buy.  Here's a funky one:

http://www.wayfair.com/KatKabin-Out...dVStLm8sxbxadvIjNIMwqQKz4HjsNecUUkaAszU8P8HAQ

You can also buy a cheaper one that looks like a small dog house.  If you google "K&H Outdoor Heated Kitty House" you'll see a lot of retailers. 

I live in Ohio too and the past 2 winters have been brutal.  This is what my DH built for our 3  http://www.thecatsite.com/t/308423/feral-cat-heated-house-instructions

I also have used cheap rubbermaids and the K&H heated houses.

You can look at some of the shelters I have used throughout the year in my blog.  I have pictures under the tab Tips and Techniques in Shelters.

Thank you for helping this one.  If possible if you don't hear from anyone, please consider getting him/her to the vet for spay/neuter.  You really want to have this under wraps soon.

Friend of mine built a doghouse and insulated it for wintertime cause his dog was shorthair and outdoor all the time. An outdoor cat came along and they slept together all winter long. They adopted the cat but it was strictly outdoor as well.
When the weather warmed up the dog howled and howled cause the cat was not in there every night.

icoele said:

 
Hi, where I live in Ohio the temperature in the winter can dip to below freezing very easily. Even right now, we have a cover of snow. Since September I have been interacting with a stray black cat. It has a locket of white on its chest and the left back paw has a tiny bit of white. I honestly don't know if it's a boy or a girl, but my parents think it may be a girl, so we'll go with that. This cat is either a not neutered male or a pregnant/nursing female, we think. It is very friendly, so much so that we can't really tell if it's an outdoor cat or a neighborhood fed stray. We plan to tackle this issue by attaching a breakaway collar that reads "MY OWNER, PLEASE CALL (my phone number)" However, if it is a stray who needs to catch food for her kittens, will this not alert the prey, starving her kittens from lack of food? If she indeed is pregnant, the kittens will likely not be able to survive in the cold. We have a resident cat who will stare through the door at this cat, which startles her, so we can't bring her inside. Our garage is rather crowded too, since we have a station wagon and 6 bikes inside along with other miscellaneous items. Since it's coming up on winter and I won't be using my bike, I fashioned a makeshift shelter out of the blanket we used to carry Mocha to the vet on her last day (

 2009), my bike, 2 strollers, and a wiffleball bat. I put a basket inside with another blanket inside of it to make it more comfortable. As I went outside during lunch today, I grabbed the bag of treats and led her to the shelter. I propped the garage door open to make sure she could always access it and that she wouldn't get locked inside. I'm worried it won't be warm enough in there or that raccoons might be stealing the food I put inside the shelter. I want to care for her as best I can, in the garage if I can't take care of her in the house. Has anyone dealt with anything like this and have any tips? I know this is kind of unorganized, my bad, I'm just really desperate to help this cat. It pains me to think of how cold she must be...

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Why should a collar with a message capsule on, alarm the prey?  You dont need to hung on a bell on that collar - as is common to do if you dont want the cat to hunt prey.

Anyways, if in doubt, my advice is you begin with helping the cat as well you can, and parallelly you seek after the owners.  NOT vice versa, beginning with seeking after owners before you do anything.

Your plans sounds good.

Good luck!

These extras arent necessary. Just the capsule.  Or even - it fhe cat usually doesnt carry a collor, any breacheable collar will be a sign in itself.  So just to attach the message so it doesnt fall off.  tape on it with a silver tape??  You will surely find some way, depending on the collar.

StefanZ said:

 
These extras arent necessary. Just the capsule.   Or even - it fhe cat usually doesnt carry a collor, any breacheable collar will be a sign in itself.  So just to attach the message so it doesnt fall off.  tape on it with a silver tape??  You will surely find some way, depending on the collar.

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I have never seen one of these capsule type collars you're speaking of. Do you have a picture?

icoele said:

 
I have never seen one of these capsule type collars you're speaking of. Do you have a picture?

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If there is no such in the pet shops near you, you can of course attach ANY capsule which can be used as a message capsule and fasten to the collar.  Or you can do make something yourself, just as long the collar is breakable and you can fasten the message to it.  If the cat dont have a collar, the owner will see a collar immediately.  If the cat does have a collar, be sure your collar is a different one.   AND the message is easily visible as soon the owner or finder does begin to look.