Anyone use a shed as a designated shelter for their colony?

[moxiewild]

My partner and I are considering purchasing a shed to convert into a shelter just for our ferals.

They will not use the shelters we have our for them, and it may partially be because we had no idea where to place them since their territory spans over a mile and we have no idea where any of them go/stay/hang out. We only ever see them at meal time, often only through game camera.

Are winters aren’t normally harsh, but our temperatures have dropped way sooner than normal and we’re simultaneously experiencing very unusual consistent, heavy rains.

Now... I know, I know. If they aren’t using the shelters than they’re finding somewhere else to hunker down.

But it is frankly killing me watching them come by one-by-one throughout the day literally soaking wet, especially when it’s so cold out. We have the money, so I figured we could at least try.

We’re hoping to get something large enough to fit at least 5 of our shelters in there, along with some cat trees and a lot of cat shelving. We’ll cut out multiple entrances/exits too, all with windbreaks.

Does anyone have suggestions about potential things to look for in a shed for this purpose? Or anything else we should be considering?

I would love to hear about anyone else’s experiences.

 

[shadowsrescue]

I used something called a shed in a box. It was a thick tent material that was awesome as I could take it down in the summer. I placed it on my deck and used it for 6 winters to house my feral cats. We did make some modifications to it along the way. But it was amazing and just over $100. It is made by Shelter logic and it's the 6'x6' size. I bought it at Home Depot.

 

[moxiewild]

I used something called a shed in a box. It was a thick tent material that was awesome as I could take it down in the summer. I placed it on my deck and used it for 6 winters to house my feral cats. We did make some modifications to it along the way. But it was amazing and just over $100. It is made by Shelter logic and it's the 6'x6' size. I bought it at Home Depot.

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When I was doing a search for this on TCS, your posts were the only ones I came across who had the same general idea! Other search results were just about finding cats in sheds or allowing a cat to take up residence in a normally used shed, not one dedicated specifically for the purpose of sheltering ferals.

We are considering the Shelter Logic shed mostly because we LOVE the versatality of being able to take it down!

However, ideally we’d like to have entrances and exits that make it impossible for foxes and coyotes, and difficult for raccoons, to get through, since there is a lot of wildlife here. The windbreaks I mentioned would be the same portholes/tunnels we use for our some of our shelters that are made out of various plumbing and air duct parts and serve a dual purpose of working to discourage raccoons from entering.

We’d also ideally like to have 3-4 entry/exit points because only 2 of our 12-14 ferals are friends. On the rare occasions I’ve seen the others essentially “run into” each other at one of our feeding stations, they’ve tolerated one another but seemed uneasy to varying extents. And due to their utter lack of proper colony cohesion, I haven’t seen even close to all possible combinations together, so I really don’t know if certain cats fight or don’t get along. There are also an unusually high volume of ferals and strays that pass through, and sometimes that obviously causes problems. Just recently we had to trap one particularly aggressive interloper, in fact.

Admittedly, part of me is hoping that, if used, maybe the shed will encourage more cohesion among this group (at least partially/for some of them) and help reduce their territories a bit so I can keep a better eye on them.

I am not banking on that, of course. If none of them ended up using it at all, we would accept that - we could always use more storage space anyway!

 

[moxiewild]

Ugh, I just reread my initial post.

I really shouldn’t post late at night while watching the foster kittens play. All those spelling and grammatical errors!

 

[Sylvia Jones]

The shed in a box looks amazing. It would allow you to see if the cats will utilize it or not without costing a lot. The ability to easily take it down or even move to another area (in case cats don’t come at first location ) would give you flexibility. If it works as you are invisoning you can always then purchase a more permanent structure. Keeping this product info for myself for future use. Good luck! Since you are already their trusted food source I’m betting they will slowly start to try out the offer of shelter from the elements. And as you said they may start to trust each other more .

 

[shadowsrescue]

The shed in a box can really be modified to suit your needs. I was never able to close the front flap all the way. The cats would have freaked out. Yet if you make port holes for them, then closing it should not be a problem. Also there is no bottom. We made a bottom out of ply wood that we weather proofed and then added astroturf on top. That really made a difference and it was super easy to clean as well.
Mine was on our deck. We attached it to the deck so it wouldn't blow away. The first few years, we just added bricks all the way around and that worked well too. We also added a board to the back to get the flap all the way to the deck so it could be attached as well. It does make noise when it blows in the wind. My cats got used to it, but it scared them at first.

We loved being able to take it down in the summer. It takes about 2 hours to assemble the first time. So do plan on some time. Also since you have so many cats, you might want to look into the larger 8' x8' or 8' x 10'. I only had 4 cats using the shelter. Two of them were bonded and the others were loaners. Yet when it was really cold outside, they all ended up sharing the space nicely.

You can easily add benches inside so that you could stack shelters. You can see in my picture that we had some on the ground and others up on the bench. We also had another one on the right hand side that you can't see in the picture.

I forgot to mention that I no longer have any outside feral cats. We moved last year and I brought them all with me and they are now adjusting to inside living! Yet we are no using the Shed in a Box for its intended purpose! We are storing flower pots and other garden equipment inside. I am very impressed with the longevity of the product.

 

[moxiewild]

The shed in a box looks amazing. It would allow you to see if the cats will utilize it or not without costing a lot. The ability to easily take it down or even move to another area (in case cats don’t come at first location ) would give you flexibility. If it works as you are invisoning you can always then purchase a more permanent structure. Keeping this product info for myself for future use. Good luck! Since you are already their trusted food source I’m betting they will slowly start to try out the offer of shelter from the elements. And as you said they may start to trust each other more .

This is a good idea! We were actually in the middle of planning something kind of similar as a test run this morning.

I have a... I don’t know what exactly it would be called, but it’s like a wood pallet box, but without a top. It’s about 4ft x 4ft, and about 2ft deep.

We’re going to Home Depot tonight to grab some plywood, a few sheets of foam insulation, another roll of Reflectix, and a 2-3 tarps, then another bale of straw from Tractor Supply.

Our idea is to basically flip the whole thing over like a little cave/mini shed. Then making the floor by sandwiching insulation between the plywood and a tarp, and securing it with either nails or a staple gun.

For the top we were thinking of more or less doing the same thing, but obviously putting it tarp side up and allowing the tarp to drape over the sides. Then we’ll line the walls and ceiling inside the box with insulation, add Reflectix on top of that, as well as a sheet for the floor, then fill the hole thing up with straw.

We could cut out space for an entry and an exit and maybe even elevate the whole thing on cinderblocks.

We were also playing with the idea of adding a “wall” in the middle made out of plywood + insulation + Reflectix to make it into sort of a duplex. Reason being our cats not really knowing each other so starting with more privacy might be more appealing to them, in addition to the structure being quite big for a shelter so it won’t trap body heat very well. I figure reducing the size like that will help, though.

We’d also be able to then place two of our tote shelters on top of the whole thing for additional options.

I’m trying to figure out where best to place it in our (very small) yard, but we have a very sloped backyard, and the place I think they’d be most likely to use it at is where our little little drainage ditch is/where the water runs off the most. It’s also on the side of the house they most often use to get to the front of the house by slipping through a gap in the fence, so o KNOW most will notice it (they’ll have enough room to slip past it to get to the fence as they normally would).

Every other place in our yard is super open with no trees or anything, so I’m afraid it won’t be appealing to them. We’ll see though.

 

[moxiewild]

The shed in a box can really be modified to suit your needs. I was never able to close the front flap all the way. The cats would have freaked out. Yet if you make port holes for them, then closing it should not be a problem. Also there is no bottom. We made a bottom out of ply wood that we weather proofed and then added astroturf on top. That really made a difference and it was super easy to clean as well.
Mine was on our deck. We attached it to the deck so it wouldn't blow away. The first few years, we just added bricks all the way around and that worked well too. We also added a board to the back to get the flap all the way to the deck so it could be attached as well. It does make noise when it blows in the wind. My cats got used to it, but it scared them at first.

We loved being able to take it down in the summer. It takes about 2 hours to assemble the first time. So do plan on some time. Also since you have so many cats, you might want to look into the larger 8' x8' or 8' x 10'. I only had 4 cats using the shelter. Two of them were bonded and the others were loaners. Yet when it was really cold outside, they all ended up sharing the space nicely.

You can easily add benches inside so that you could stack shelters. You can see in my picture that we had some on the ground and others up on the bench. We also had another one on the right hand side that you can't see in the picture.

I forgot to mention that I no longer have any outside feral cats. We moved last year and I brought them all with me and they are now adjusting to inside living! Yet we are no using the Shed in a Box for its intended purpose! We are storing flower pots and other garden equipment inside. I am very impressed with the longevity of the product.

Lots of helpful ideas! I’m worried our HOA won’t approve it. A temporary but reoccurring structure seems like something they would nitpick at considering they nitpick at even more ridiculous things like the color of the curtains inside your home

I sooo wish we could bring all of ours in!!! We hope to some day be able to afford a large enough piece of property to build multiple very large enclosures for all of the colonies.

Congrats for getting them all in! I’ve been able to socialize and adopt quite a few out from colonies in danger. And, in fact, first feral I ever tamed, from the first colony I ever cared for, is cuddling up as close to me as he can possibly get right and making it extremely difficult to type!

We also have one of the only girls from our colony at home inside now. I brought her in to finish raising her single kitten, and by the time the kitten was 12 weeks old, Momma was showing promising signs of being able to be socialized, so here she stayed! She still has some feral quirks we’re working on, but she’s a very affectionate kitty now!

Wish I could bring them all in it’s really hard once you realize nearly all ferals have the potential to be happy, relaxed, cuddly little house cats if given the time, effort, and patience...

 

[tnrmakessense]

My partner and I are considering purchasing a shed to convert into a shelter just for our ferals.

They will not use the shelters we have our for them, and it may partially be because we had no idea where to place them since their territory spans over a mile and we have no idea where any of them go/stay/hang out. We only ever see them at meal time, often only through game camera.

Are winters aren’t normally harsh, but our temperatures have dropped way sooner than normal and we’re simultaneously experiencing very unusual consistent, heavy rains.

Now... I know, I know. If they aren’t using the shelters than they’re finding somewhere else to hunker down.

But it is frankly killing me watching them come by one-by-one throughout the day literally soaking wet, especially when it’s so cold out. We have the money, so I figured we could at least try.

We’re hoping to get something large enough to fit at least 5 of our shelters in there, along with some cat trees and a lot of cat shelving. We’ll cut out multiple entrances/exits too, all with windbreaks.

Does anyone have suggestions about potential things to look for in a shed for this purpose? Or anything else we should be considering?

I would love to hear about anyone else’s experiences.

I can't find it now (of course) but when I'd Googled "feral cat shelter" one person had outfitted a shed with a cat door, and had stacked totes inside.I know that Tractor Supply has sheds and they seemed pretty affordable. And I'm right there with you as far as the worry. I put a "starter" shelter out a couple of days ago, sure that none of them would get in a clear tote, but sure enough, even with me there, at least one had gotten in. Just as an aside, even though I live in Florida, I can only find one size (small) styrofoam cooler. So I got a package of 6 smallish sheets from Lowes and will cut them to fit.

 

[tnrmakessense]

Lots of helpful ideas! I’m worried our HOA won’t approve it. A temporary but reoccurring structure seems like something they would nitpick at considering they nitpick at even more ridiculous things like the color of the curtains inside your home

I sooo wish we could bring all of ours in!!! We hope to some day be able to afford a large enough piece of property to build multiple very large enclosures for all of the colonies.

Congrats for getting them all in! I’ve been able to socialize and adopt quite a few out from colonies in danger. And, in fact, first feral I ever tamed, from the first colony I ever cared for, is cuddling up as close to me as he can possibly get right and making it extremely difficult to type!

We also have one of the only girls from our colony at home inside now. I brought her in to finish raising her single kitten, and by the time the kitten was 12 weeks old, Momma was showing promising signs of being able to be socialized, so here she stayed! She still has some feral quirks we’re working on, but she’s a very affectionate kitty now!

Wish I could bring them all in it’s really hard once you realize nearly all ferals have the potential to be happy, relaxed, cuddly little house cats if given the time, effort, and patience...

I can SO relate to dealing with an HOA. What about disguising a shelter inside several waterproof outdoor benches with storage below ? And I'm right there with you as far as bringing them all in. I'm in a one bedroom with an undisclosed number, but have started caretaking a colony of 16 and spend all day and night worried about them. Two are already in with us and I'm sure more will follow.

 

[tnrmakessense]

My partner and I are considering purchasing a shed to convert into a shelter just for our ferals.

They will not use the shelters we have our for them, and it may partially be because we had no idea where to place them since their territory spans over a mile and we have no idea where any of them go/stay/hang out. We only ever see them at meal time, often only through game camera.

Are winters aren’t normally harsh, but our temperatures have dropped way sooner than normal and we’re simultaneously experiencing very unusual consistent, heavy rains.

Now... I know, I know. If they aren’t using the shelters than they’re finding somewhere else to hunker down.

But it is frankly killing me watching them come by one-by-one throughout the day literally soaking wet, especially when it’s so cold out. We have the money, so I figured we could at least try.

We’re hoping to get something large enough to fit at least 5 of our shelters in there, along with some cat trees and a lot of cat shelving. We’ll cut out multiple entrances/exits too, all with windbreaks.

Does anyone have suggestions about potential things to look for in a shed for this purpose? Or anything else we should be considering?

I would love to hear about anyone else’s experiences.

Found it. On Alley Cat Allies site, from Community Cats of Maryland. Not sure if the link is allowed but here it is.
http://4fi8v2446i0sw2rpq2a3fg51-wpe...tent/uploads/2015/03/cat_shelter_brochure.pdf