Freezing Temperatures How Safe Is My Feral?

[Cooper H]

Hello and happy new year everyone,
We have an 8 yr old semi feral cat, who only this past october decided to venture into our home. Cooper as we call her will only stay indoors if the outside door is open so she can run back outside.

Our temperatures are below zero and we're very afraid for her. We've closed the door on her once she's come inside a few times but she meows strongly and long enough for us to finally give in and let her back out. Only on occasion has she stayed inside with the door closed for a few hours She has a plastic bin with straw, styrofoam and a heating pad, but we're still very worried and she looks cold.
Any advice would be much appreciated.
Thank you, M&L

 

[shadowsrescue]

I can feel your pain. Worrying about your feral setting cold is so hard. Yet, with straw to burrow into and a heat pad, it really should help. Do you have access to electricity? My husband built heated houses for my 3 and used a Hound Heater. It worked really well for many winters.

Maybe she will get cold enough to want to stay inside. I am here in Ohio and it is to be below 0 the next many nights.

 

[Cooper H]

I can feel your pain. Worrying about your feral setting cold is so hard. Yet, with straw to burrow into and a heat pad, it really should help. Do you have access to electricity? My husband built heated houses for my 3 and used a Hound Heater. It worked really well for many winters.

Maybe she will get cold enough to want to stay inside. I am here in Ohio and it is to be below 0 the next many nights.

Thank you so much for responding. We read thru some other posts where we're to "ignore" her pleas for wanting to go back outside. Unbelievably she's been in the house now for over 8 hours! She just ate, has a full belly and is fast asleep. We're in upstate NY and this coming week will be below zero once again.
The hound heater sounds interesting. We also have a feralvilla, which unfortunately she's shown no interest in. She prefers the plastic insulated house with the kh heating pad and straw, this just doesn't seem the proper shelter as she looked extremely cold this morning. I'm sure it's due to this unbearably cold weather. Plus this plastic shelter is next to the house open to the elements. We also have the identical plastic shelter under a deck which she doesn't use very often either. Our little Cooper pulls at our heart strings, she's only 8 pounds and at approx. 8 yrs old is no spring chicken anymore!

 

[shadowsrescue]

Oh my, Upstate NY. I lived in Syracuse for 2 years. The winters were enough to put me under.

I have a blog where I have some info on the different shelters I have used. I started with a Feral Villa 7 years ago. My boy hated it and would not use it. I always felt it was just not tall enough inside. I then purchased some K&H shelters, but they were not warm enough either. My husband built an insulated cat house and affixed a hound heater inside along with K&H heat pad on the bottom. I started with 2 openings ( entrance and exit), but was able to close one up after a few weeks. I also had a Shelter Logic Shed in a Box on my deck that housed the shelters to keep the snow/rain out.

You can view some of my shelters here Shelters

I hope that she will remain inside tonight. A few years ago when we had the Polar Vortex, one of my feral boys came inside for 2 days. The other refused to come inside. Yet as soon as the temperature was above 0, he was back outside.

 

[Cooper H]

Cooper remained inside last night! Stayed up all nite, played with toys under the Christmas tree. We didn't sleep much but to have her safe and warm is priceless. She wanted out in the morning, but we were able to prolong her indoor stay until about 11am. It actually got up to 20 degrees today and surprisingly she came right into the house after work today. She ate a great dinner to! Now she's crying to head back outside. A low of 7 tonight is expected, Friday and Saturday the lows will be minus 9 and minus 18, that's bad. We're still researching though your material for outdoor shelters. The hound heater sounds like a perfect way to keep her warm outside but we need a bigger shelter area to house her little plastic house. we were thinking a small shed like one of those Rubbermaid ones 5'x7' or something like that. but wonder if they're heavy enough to not blow over in storms? One thing that we don't do is leave food out for her, too many fox, raccoons and an occasional bobcat, fishers and hawks. We try to feed her inside, she will come in for food if the door remains open or we stay near her while she eats to protect her. We are so happy to have found this site, thank you

 

[surya]

I made a little house and put it on the porch by my apartment. I have a large colony of cats I feed and I thought one of them would use it. For some reason they don't, but I put a cardboard box out there a few days ago because of the freezing temperatures, with a cushion and some bedding and one of the feral'a loves it. So I guess it's trial and error sometimes figuring out what makes them happy.

 

[msaimee]

I used a wooden pet house with a kitty tube heating pad, a little straw, and my sleeping bag draped over the house and it kept my feral warm in sub zero temperatures. He never would come inside. My neighbors and I are caring for another feral cat in a similar way this winter, and she is doing fine and also does not want to come inside. Each year many feral cats with even less care and shelter survive winter and mate and have kittens in the Spring. They are amazing creatures.

If I were in your shoes, though, and I was caring for a feral cat who would actually enter my home and stay for a while, I would keep the cat inside, at least for the winter. I would put ear plugs in my ears at night to sleep through the meowing and rest peacefully knowing kitty was warm and dry. Many feral cats won't venture inside a house at all, so if yours does, he is likely capable of being domesticated.

 

[4theloveofcats]

Oh my, Upstate NY. I lived in Syracuse for 2 years. The winters were enough to put me under.

I have a blog where I have some info on the different shelters I have used. I started with a Feral Villa 7 years ago. My boy hated it and would not use it. I always felt it was just not tall enough inside. I then purchased some K&H shelters, but they were not warm enough either. My husband built an insulated cat house and affixed a hound heater inside along with K&H heat pad on the bottom. I started with 2 openings ( entrance and exit), but was able to close one up after a few weeks. I also had a Shelter Logic Shed in a Box on my deck that housed the shelters to keep the snow/rain out.

You can view some of my shelters here Shelters

I hope that she will remain inside tonight. A few years ago when we had the Polar Vortex, one of my feral boys came inside for 2 days. The other refused to come inside. Yet as soon as the temperature was above 0, he was back outside.

I am a fan! I bookmarked your blog page a while back. I have some standard rubbermaid bins with straw shoved under patio table and covered with tarps.

I also have the reflectix in a couple of bins with double Purr Pads.
Those are covered with tarps and 3mm contractor bags.

But darn it if this wind isn't CRAZY right now.
In DC area and never recall wind so wild in the Winter here.

I just saw a couple ferals I take care of and they chowed down some hot scrambled eggs and human grade tuna steaks.

Hope that will keep them going!

Again, thanks for your Blog!

 

[Burberrycat101]

I suggest buying the cats a cat jumper for times when it gets particularly cold,it would be beneficial by keeping them warm, the cats would be very grateful and it would look cute at the same time!

 

[shadowsrescue]

I am a fan! I bookmarked your blog page a while back. I have some standard rubbermaid bins with straw shoved under patio table and covered with tarps.

I also have the reflectix in a couple of bins with double Purr Pads.
Those are covered with tarps and 3mm contractor bags.

But darn it if this wind isn't CRAZY right now.
In DC area and never recall wind so wild in the Winter here.

I just saw a couple ferals I take care of and they chowed down some hot scrambled eggs and human grade tuna steaks.

Hope that will keep them going!

Again, thanks for your Blog!

I so hope your kitties do well with all of this cold and wind. This winter is gearing up to be a brutal one.
What a great idea to feed them scrambled eggs and tuna steaks. All of the extra protein will certainly help.

I always try to remember that feral cats are so resourceful and will go wherever is needed to be safe. It is hard as the human caregiver to believe and remember this. I always ask for energetic protection for my feral ones.

I will be thinking about you and your ferals. Check in when all is safe once again.

 

[Burberrycat101]

I suggest buying the cats a cat jumper for times when it gets particularly cold,it would be beneficial by keeping them warm, the cats would be very grateful and it would look cute at the same time!

Just realised I replied as though there are multiple cats, apologies!

 

[Cooper H]

So happy we found this site! Everyone is so very thoughtful and caring, thank you to all. I'll try scrambled eggs too. You all have wonderful and different ideas to keep our precious cooper warm, it's just cat-tacular! Just a little humor on a very cold winters nite.

 

[orange&white]

I hope Cooper continues to be happy inside on the cold nights.

I made my feral a winter shelter during the fall, and she started using it anytime the temp dropped below 60 degrees, so I really worried about her getting cold during a freeze. Like Cooper, Misfit has also been coming in at night and I have her sleeping in the guest bathroom. She does prefer the patio door open like I left it during the nice fall days so she could come and go, and she doesn't understand why the door is closed all the time now. She looks at me like "Why don't you just turn up the outside thermostat like you do the inside one and let me go out?" as she stands in the doorway, half in and half out.

 

[summerazura]

Just wanted to say that this thread helped to reassure me a little bit. I've been feeding some strays in my area, one's been put into a rescue but the other is feral-ish and I haven't been able to get her indoors in this horrible cold. She doesn't linger at my house when she comes for food but there's a shed in a neighbour's yard I'm nearly positive she stays in. But she hasn't yet come by for today's feeding and I'm getting worried now. I'm just hoping she's okay in this cold.

 

[summerazura]

ETA: she just came by Was unsuccessful tempting her indoors, she almost stepped in but bailed at the last minute so she's eating outside. I folded a blanket and sandwiched a heating pad I have in it to warm it up, to try and give her some break from this cold. I feel better that I've seen her though.

 

[vyger]

The one thing that cats outside in severe weather can get is frost bit ears. I have seen many wild cats and barn cats here with parts of their ears missing. The upper part of the ear will freeze and the flesh will die. It forms a line that scabs where it froze to and then the dead part drops off. Sometimes they can develop blisters and get infections but usually it just looks like it was trimmed with scissors. I had heard that the ends of the tail can freeze but I have never seen that. Most of them keep their tails warm when they curl them up. But in general they survive well as long as they can get food and water. Outside cats develop thick coats. The real problem is with a cat that is always inside and doesn't grow a proper winter coat and ends up stuck outside. Those can die if they don't get shelter.
We hit 40 below zero for 3 nights in a row last week. Now its up to 0 and feels like a heat wave. My feral tom cat, and the three others that are mostly outside spent the whole week in my usually unheated entryway. I put an electric space heater in it for them. Now that it warmed up outside they don't want to come back in.
Most animals, wildlife, survive severe winter conditions pretty well, unless it goes on for too long. Several years ago we had an unusually large amount of snow that made things pretty hard. A lot of antelope died that year, not from the cold but from the train. The antelope followed the train tracks because the snow there was not deep. Unfortunately they didn't understand to get out of the way of the trains. Entire herds got mowed down. The loses were so great that they canceled antelope hunting for the next 4 years so the population could recover. Domestic animals like cattle usually fare pretty well since they are taken care of and fed. Although I learned that bulls, intact male cows kept for breeding, need to be kept in some shelter because they literally will have their testicles freeze.
Ouch.

This is Scottie and me out for a walk in our parka's. His is better than mine.

He apparently had his ears frostbit before we became friends.

 

[vyger]

Here are some instructions for making shelters out of foam meat packing boxes.
Feral Cat Winter Shelter

And if you want to try something like this I have found that Gorilla glue, the kind that foams and fills gaps, works really good on foam. It welds it together.

 

[timeoutforfun]

I've been doing some research about beddings for feral cats and I was wondering if someone could answer this question for me. Is it ok to use any type of shredder paper or does it have to be newspaper? Sorry for the ignorance I just want to make sure that what I am doing is working. Thanks

 

[orange&white]

I'd use straw (not hay) if you have moisture, like rain or snow. Water won't absorb into straw so it stays dry. I would think newspaper would get wet and freeze, making the shelter colder.

I used straw, but covered it with a fleece blanket. We don't get much precipitation here, mainly dry cold temps.

 

[vyger]

I've been doing some research about beddings for feral cats and I was wondering if someone could answer this question for me. Is it ok to use any type of shredder paper or does it have to be newspaper? Sorry for the ignorance I just want to make sure that what I am doing is working. Thanks

Shredded paper has no body to it. It all goes flat with the least little bit of pressure. And it does get wet and retains the moisture. It also gets moldy. Wood chips and sawdust work but not very well since they also compress and get wet. In my experience cats tend to use it more as a litter than a bedding. Foam rubber works but it also sucks up and retains moisture, like a sponge. One thing that does work is just a plain foam board. The foam is am insulator and is waterproof. It is a little bit soft and can be easily cleaned. A foam board with an old shirt would be popular choice among cats.