help with kitties

we have two cats that seem to be less than a year old that we would see by our house in the late summer and fall. Recently, with the cold weather, DH and I have noticed that every night when we pull up from work and throughout the night, these 2 babies are huddled on the corner of our patio against the side of our house I guess for some form of warmth. We put out a little make shift house for them with blankets and food and I check on them every night. I just feel so bad for these guys and I don't know what else to do. It kills me to see them out there in this cold. I currently have a cat and a dog and we tried bringing a new cat in once and Lenny, our cat, was spraying all over so I can't take them in. I just don't know what to do. I feel so bad for these little guys and want to make sure they are safe especially with the real cold weather approaching. Someone suggested getting the HaveAHart cages and trying to get them somewhere safe but I don't know. I have no problem feeding them and keeping up with the blankets and what not but I just don't know if that is what's best for them. Any suggestions?

Thanks so much in advance.

Re: help with kitties

What's best is obviously to give them somewhere inside Do you have a garage? Short of that, there are simple cat shelters you can build to give them shelter. You make them out of plastic tote tubs and line them with Styrofoam for insulation. You should not use blankets because they can get wet and freeze. Straw is best. If you do a search for How to Build an Outdoor Cat shelter, you'll get a lot of ideas. This site should give you some tips too:

IndyFeral

Are these cats friendly? Have you been able to get them spayed/neutered? Perhaps take some pictures and post them here. I'll share them on facebook and see if maybe we can get them homes. Most no-kill shelters are full right now and will only get worse come spring. HTH and thanks for caring about these kitties

Re: help with kitties

Domino gave great suggestions.

I know that when my sister was looking to adopt a kitten I was passed some information about getting cats spayed and neutered at very low to no cost. There are a lot of programs on Long Island for Feral Cats---basically Catch-Spay and Release programs. You may want to look into something like that so that these cats stay to two cats and don't end up being 10 cats in the Spring!

I will see what kind of info I can dig up as far as catch-spay-release programs!

Re: help with kitties

Here is the website for the Long Island Cat Project .

They may be able to help you with low-cost spay or neutering of these cats if you decide to keep them as feral and care for them as outside cats.

If not I love the idea of getting pictures and posting them around on the site and facebook! Maybe we can get them homes!

Re: help with kitties

Thanks so much for the information! I wish we had a garage for them but it was converted into part of the finished lower floor before we bought the home. They are very skiddish but seem friendly enough. Whenever I get close to them they scatter although the tuxedo one will usually only run a couple of feet away and watch me, he/she knows I bring the goods, lol. I usually just drop the food and water and let them be but I will definitely try to get a picture of them and post it.

I will definitely look into building them a better shelter and DH is all about it, he's actually become obsessed with taking care of these guys. I will call some places today regarding the neuter/spaying at a lower cost. I have noticed a bunch of strays in my area and it really breaks my heart. Tonight when I stop to pick up food for them I will get the straw that was mentioned as well.

I was speaking to one of my friends and they told me I shouldn't be feeding them because I will attract other animals such as raccoons and what not, especially since I have woods behind me. I have no intention of not feeding them but if this is true, does anyone know if there is a way to avoid this?

I really appreciate all of the info!

Re: help with kitties

Posted by Naner325



I was speaking to one of my friends and they told me I shouldn't be feeding them because I will attract other animals such as raccoons and what not, especially since I have woods behind me. I have no intention of not feeding them but if this is true, does anyone know if there is a way to avoid this?

You might attract raccoons with the cat food. You could try feeding them at certain times, like morning and night, and then taking the dishes back in when they are done. But I would take the chance of attracting other animals to keep those kitties fed!!!!

Re: help with kitties

I don't know how serious you are about this but my SIL who lives with MIL had 2 cats and the one cat was peeing all over everything. She was a vet tech so she spent a lot of money on ALL of her animals...I'm talking teeth cleaning, the works. So, she took the cat to the vet and it turns out it was all behavioral. My MIL couldn't take the pee anymore, all her things were getting ruined and her house smelled like cat pee so SIL had to give the cat away. She was devastated but found this lady who lives at Oak Beach who runs a cat rescue out of her home for all the strays in her neighborhood. They don't go in her home because that would be too many cats but she has a whole area outside with a few heated cat shelters. I didn't even know they made these, it sounds really cool. Maybe you could look into something like that to keep them warm? Not sure how much they are.


ETA: found a few websites for you regarding feeding and providing shelter for feral cats

indyferal

Outdoor heated kitty camper

outdoor heated kitty house from petco

Message edited 1/6/2012 6:28:18 PM.

Re: help with kitties

Sorry, I haven't been on and just saw the new info. Thanks so much! I am still feeding the little guys and then taking in the plates so I don't attract raccoons or anything else! I have been trying to get pictures but the minute they hear one of us, they take off but, they do return every night when they are hungry so I usually drop the food and run. We also filled the corner they sleep in with some straw and bought a battery operated heated blanket that we turn on and put under the straw every night. I emailed a couple of local shelters last week but DH and I plan on dedicating much more time this week to getting these guys a better homing option. Thanks again for all the help ladies!