Hi everyone. I really need some advice. I cared about a few feral and stray cats in the past. A few months ago a new cat appeared around my neighborhood ( i live around a place which is kind of like a suburban area but with more parks and smaller forrests). He was definetly sick and starving, so i started to feed him and managed to cure him, now he is healthy and fine. Winter has recently came to my country and now it's very windy and during the night its around 0 Celsius or less than that. A few weeks ago i created two shelters for him, and placed it in the bushes where he likes to wait for me and and also sleeps/having a rest there during the day. The problem is that he doesn't want to use any shelter no matter where i place them, it's kind of hard to find out where he stays during the night, but based on my knowledge he doesn't have a proper and safe shelter (or at least i don't know about it). Is it possible to somehow make him use it, or it means he has a better place somewhere?
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HELP NEEDED PLEASE! Stray cat doesn't want to use shelter
- Thread starter adamm
- Start Date
Thank you for taking care of this kitty.
Some cats don't feel comfortable without an "escape hatch," so adding a second entry to the shelters will give him that. If another critter tries to come into the shelter when the cat is in there, he has nowhere to go.
You might also see if you can join the two shelters with a connection between them. You could use a length of PVC pipe for this, joining them together through a second entrance in each.
Also, if the cat hasn't been fixed, I would suggest doing that as soon as possible. Otherwise, you may have other cats to contend with.
Some cats don't feel comfortable without an "escape hatch," so adding a second entry to the shelters will give him that. If another critter tries to come into the shelter when the cat is in there, he has nowhere to go.
You might also see if you can join the two shelters with a connection between them. You could use a length of PVC pipe for this, joining them together through a second entrance in each.
Also, if the cat hasn't been fixed, I would suggest doing that as soon as possible. Otherwise, you may have other cats to contend with.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #3
He might have a safer hiding place. He could think that the new shelter could be a trap. Has he been trapped before?
Where he waits for you for food might not be his usual hiding place. He could be hiding nearby where there's no food but it's safe. So he ventures to the current place where you feed him and proably goes back to the hiding place after he finished eating. Unless you can track him down without him knowing to see where his hideout is.
But try not to scare him as if he gets frightened, he might not come back.
Where he waits for you for food might not be his usual hiding place. He could be hiding nearby where there's no food but it's safe. So he ventures to the current place where you feed him and proably goes back to the hiding place after he finished eating. Unless you can track him down without him knowing to see where his hideout is.
But try not to scare him as if he gets frightened, he might not come back.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #5
Well, as much as i could i've tried to track him down, he always comes from a backyard kind of area from a private property. There are plenty of options there where he can hide, unfortunately the owner of the property is a very old lady who is very hard to communicate with. She said she sees him someteimes, but basically thats all she could say.. The cat is very friendly with me - especially for a stray cat- he is playful, lets himself pet, purrs, etc. But just as youve said, my main goal is not to scare him away with a wrong idea. I will try out the escape hatch stuff, what Ondine suggested, hope it will work.
At least the cat has found you and is friendly to you and proably found a friend in you.
Thank you for taking care of this kitty [emoji]128077[/emoji][emoji]127995[/emoji]
Thank you for taking care of this kitty [emoji]128077[/emoji][emoji]127995[/emoji]
He might feel more comfortable in a bale of straw. Get one and hollow it out to make a nest. As a last resort put a pile of straw on the ground. it would insulate him somewhat.The straw can be dug into a garden or flower beds to improve the soil next spring. Get on one of those radio 'swap' shows that buy and sell, and ask for straw, or look on the internet under straw in your area. You can get it easily around holloween time. Some cats have another place they prefer, so if yours is going somewhere else, take comfort in knowing he must have somewhere he feels comfortable at. I have also found many cats won't use a shelter until it gets very cold, and then they will, mine just started using theirs and it is in the teens now at night. Keep us posted!
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #8
Thanks for the advice! I will try that as well, today i have made an other shelter for him, filled with blankets, with an escape hatch, its far better than the other one. We'll see soon how he will reacts to it, btw i will try the straw also, i have read about it at many cat forums.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #9
Well, i have seen him around 2 years ago when there were two other cats in this area who i cared about, he was friendly, but almost never hungry, so it seemed he has a place somewhere. Then i realized someone else gave him food, but noone knew where he belong, then he disappeared and came back starving and sick this spring, when i found him. Probably he got away from somewhere years ago, or thrown out..
Maybe someone else was feeding him and gave him shelter and then moved away. And after that he hung around to knowing that the person who fed him was no longer around and therefore he has got nothing to eat and had to scavenge for food and end up sick. I'm just guessing.
But at least, now, thanks to you that he is back to good health again and has food and a place to hide.
