Winter and the Ferals

Tess, Jazz and Que at the Logan feeding station come when they hear me call "kitty kitty". Their sleeping shelters are inside a chain link fenced area and the shelters are surrounded by bales of straw. This fall I added a few more bales around the shelters.

Before I built the shelters for these kitties they spent much of their time across the road in a garbage plant which meant crossing a busy street with lots of heavy trucks. In the mornings before I arrived they made their way to the feeding station to wait for me, unless it was really cold. It really bothered me that these kitties didn't have a safe, dry spot to sleep or to wait for my arrival.

In November 2009 I decided I would make some winter sleeping shelters for the cats and install them in the vacant lot beside the feeding station. It is a fenced area and is private property but has not been used for the past few years. I had my fingers crossed that no one would see them and have them removed. My fingers are still crossed, but so far so good.

I bought 3 Rubbermaid containers and three sheets of insulation Styrofoam and production began. I had Boomer as my tester, first for the entrance hole to make sure it was the right size and then for making sure the interior would offer enough comfortable sleeping space.

I cut the insulating foam to line the bottom and the sides, which I also covered in a Mylar sheet that reflects body heat back to the cats. Once everything was fitted and secured in place I put in a thick layer of wood shavings so the cats would be comfortable and warm. Then I cut a Styrofoam top and secured it to the sides before putting the lid to the container on.




Next stop, vacant lot to drop off the shelters. Now that was a fun exercise! I was able to drop the containers over the fence but was unable to climb the fence here. There is a spot that is easier to climb which is way on the other side of the lot. A few days later my sister came into the city from her farm to bring me a load of straw. She backed her truck up to the fence and we heaved bale after bale over the fence. The next day I returned to arrange the bales around the sleeping shelters for the cats. It is relatively safe inside this fenced area, but I have seen a fox scoot through the same hole that the cats use to come and go. Because of this, I arranged the bales in such a way that the cats have two exits through the bales to escape if necessary.

The picture below shows Tess (foreground) and Jazz sitting just outside their shelters. It didn't take them long to discover these shelters and they were well used last year and are being used again this year.

I would like to add that shelters should not have towels or blankets for the cats to sleep on. A cat sleeping on a damp towel or blanket loses body heat. The ideal bedding is straw or wood shavings. Also, it is not a good idea to feed ferals too close to their sleeping shelter as it could attract other animals if all food is not consumed.

Sophie, my litte feral tortie

Sophie arrived last Saturday evening a badly injured little cat. It wasn't our first meeting. This past August she had spent the night in my garage awaiting a trip to the vet to be spayed the following morning. Robin is the colony caregiver that Sophie is from and she has been going through the colony doing a wonderful job of TNR this summer.

Over the past week I have loved and cared for my sweet Sophie but just a little while ago I had to say good bye to this little girl. Her injuries, combined with what we all suspect was an auto immune disease, was too much for her wee body to cope with. Robin and I made the decision that it would be far better to help Sophie to cross the Rainbow Bridge than to watch her suffer needlessly. All week I have wanted desperately to hold Sophie and kiss the top of her little head but being a feral it wasn't a good idea. Early this evening just before we sent her on her way across the Bridge, I kissed her on the top of her head.

Just 48 hours ago she was eating and showing signs of improvement but that only lasted a few hours and when I got up the next morning she was not doing as well and she continued to decline.

I miss her but I know it was the right decision for her even if it is difficult for me. I love you Sophie, my little feral tortie. XO

Sophie, The Tortie - Day 4

I am heaving a small sigh of relief. Sophie seems to have turned a corner in her recovery. Yesterday I went in to see her early in the morning but she was not looking too good. She actually seemed a little bit worse than the day before. The only good thing is she was still eating a little bit of food.

I cleaned her cage and litter box, and gave her a fresh towel for the top of her carrier. When I came back into the room with her food she was on top of the carrier and I could see that some of her wounds were draining and making little puddles on the towel. If Sophie wasn't feral I would wash her wounds to help the healing process but there is no way I can touch her.

Around noon I was even more concerned for Sophie so got in touch with Robin who cares for the colony Sophie comes from. Robin put in a call to the vet who had treated her on Saturday evening and he recommended another type of antibiotic. I took off for the vet's office with hopes that this pill would be the magic we needed to help speed her recovery. I also stopped off at the store to pick up some food that Robin recommended, Fancy Feast Liver and Chicken.

Whenever I have had a problem with one of the ferals in my colony, I have had no problem getting them to take a pill. I give them a small amount of food with the pill inside and they always eat it up. Sophie on the other hand was really cagey. She managed to eat around it on the first two attempts, so I tried crushing a pill in a small amount of food. Well she hardly ate that at all. I even got some suggestions from anipals on Twitter - thank you.
This morning little Sophie didn't look much better. She was tucked way at the back of her carrier and even with a bowl of fresh food just warmed in the microwave she still wasn't too interested. I left her for a little while. When I returned a few hours later she had eaten some of the food, which was good because I had crushed her pill in it. I have also been adding a little water to her food to help keep her hydrated. I gave her more food and left her again.

About 2:00 this afternoon I gave her another fresh bowl of food and when I returned it was empty, so I gave her another bowl and this time crushed a pill and again she ate everything. I prepared another bowl of food and she has been eating that too. Before I go to bed I will give her more food to get her through the night and my fingers are crossed that she cleans that bowl too.