building dirt cheap cat shelter for a feral

[Stormy Peak]

I've lived in my home since 2000, it's about 4 blocks from the highway, and over the years, I've seen so many dumped cats.
Why people do this when we have a no kill shelter, it just boggles my mind : (

I've rescued a few of them that would allow me to approach them, and taken them to the shelter and in a few cases my vet's office, as my vet Andy will do her best for them before even thinking about putting them to sleep.

But, most of the cats were skittish around people and most I never saw but 10 or so times during warmer temps, before they
disappeared during the winter months. II know they probably died of predation (eagles, hawks, owls, foxes and coyotes, or even neighbor hood dogs), or by accident (hit by a car) or of disease, exposure, starvation.

I just didn't have the funds/resources to feed them all or provide shelter. Also for some years we had racoons in the neighborhood...and putting out food...the cats would probably not get much of it, as the coons would be there first, or drive off the cats, as the racoons are more aggressive and bigger.

Anyway, the coons are gone, don't know why....just don't see them anymore. And last year, a long haired cat, colors of browns, tans, and shades of grey in it's fur showed up. I saw it darting about here and there from time to time, a full grown cat I had never seen before, so doubted it was a neighborhood pet. Probably dumped. Somehow it made it through last winter...and I saw it again a few times this summer.

Last week, I opened my back door to let AU out, and I saw it scramble off my porch, then stop to look at me, almost out of the light from the porch. It was COLD that night, and I think the cat was going for an old doggy tent I still have set up on my porch. I had a dog name Ernie some 15 years ago and it was his tent. My other dogs never really used it, but I haven't had the heart to throw the thing away, although the canvas is starting to finally rot. Guess I'll do it next summer.

Anyway, I softly said "Hi, kitty kitty' to the cat as it looked at me, and it waited another 20 seconds the disappeared into the dark.
I waited another 30 seconds then let AU out. He doesn't chase cats, but I wanted that cat to leave without being panicked by the dog.

So, that night, I put out on the front porch, some dry cat food and a few tablespoons of canned salmon I opened up the day before to make a sandwich with. And I called "Here kitty kitty" a few times and went inside. I looked out a 1/2 hour later and the food had been eaten.

So, I've been feeding this cat, and only saw it one time...last night, when I opened the door and startled it off of the porch. It stopped though and I once again called it...then closed the door. I hope it will get use to my voice. I'm also glad it is the cat that is getting the food and not something else.

Anyway, I think I'm going to try to build it a shelter next to the wall of my house. Been looking at cheap builds off of YouTube for a full hour. Most involve a plastic storage container with a styrofoam one inside of it, using straw and insulation and bedding.

I have a large container I can empty and use...don't have anything styrofoam, and the styrofoam coolers, are usually not a winter item around here....I am hoping I can get lucky and find one at the thrift shop. I have the tools to cut entry holes into them, and I found out that a bag of straw is $13.00. I can probably afford that, if I watch my budget for the rest of the month.

I don't know why this particular cat has me...I never, couldn't really get involved in saving them...there were just too many, and I already had a pet food, pet care burden on my budget. Maybe it's because I'm missing Jaya so much, feeling the 'feel' for another suffering animal....one suffering in a way Jaya did, when her former owner left her tied up outside with no shelter through Boise's hot summers and frigid winters.

In about another 2 weeks, the temps here will drop and many times it will be 10 to 15 below zero. (-23C to -26C ) So feeding this cat might be useless if it dies of exposure. I'm not sure how it made it through last winter, so it might have a warm enough spot?

I don't think I could ever bring this cat into my home, Song and Thump bicker all the time...adding a 3rd cat to the mix would probably mean outright warfare and Song would be just miserable. Thump...seems to enjoy it.

Maybe I can at least gain this cat's trust and later find someone to home it. ???

Anyway... I will try this, and hope I don't end up with 15 feral hanging about...not sure if I can afford to feed this one extra cat, but I'll figure out a way. I think AU is going to lose out on some scraps ...lol

Stormy

[Abby Brooks]

Do you have an old dog-house that your babies may not use anymore? That's what we did for our neighborhood barn kitties. We PACK it with straw and put it out of the wind!

[Stormy Peak]

The only thing I have is Ernie's old tent. It has kind of the shape of a covered wagon...and I sat it on top of 3 inch styrofoam, and lined the inside walls with the same, put in a thick doggy mattress and wool blankets. I got it for him when he was a pup, and he lived 15 years...and died about 15 years ago. I use to make him come inside during the worst of the hot days and cold nights. I always worried about him losing an ear, or a bit of his tail if he fell asleep in minus zero temps.

The tent has had the roof of a porch over it all this time, so it's held up great, as most of the time it didn't get wet with rain and snow. But as mentioned, the canvas is finally starting to rot. I don't think it would even survive being moved from one side of the house to the other. Also, I don't have a porch on the front side of the house - so I need something that will hold out the rain and snow as there will be no roof over the shelter.

I went downtown today and couldn't find a styrofoam cooler to use as an insert, so I might just use the large plastic storage container that I have, and buy some thick styrofoam and line it with that. Maybe even take a few of the emergency reflective blankets I have in my car and wrap the styrofoam with those before fitting them inside of the container, to help reflect the body heat back onto the cat. ? the straw might tear the stuff though...it's pretty lightweight flimsy looking stuff.

I am going to see if I can also find a pallet or two, to get the shelter off the ground and have something to tie it too, incase of high winds that sometimes happens with winter blizzards. I might pull the styrofoam out from under Ernie's tent and put it on the pallet and then set the shelter on that, for added insulation.

I need to check the price of some 3 or 4 inch styrofoam. I saw 2 styrofoam coolers at the thrift store today, small ones, high up on a shelf. I might even go buy both of those, and cut them down to fit the storage container's floor and sides and maybe even the inside of the lid that snaps onto the container.

I don't have a much money, but I think I can be resourceful enough to make a shelter for this cat to keep if warm and dry before the worst of winter hits. The $13.00 the straw will cost, will probably be the biggest expense in putting this shelter together.

Stormy







.

[The Steward]

Just yesterday I built one with an empty storage tub, turned on its side, filled with some straw, and draped a blanket over the open side with a door hole. I almost never get stray cats but in the last few days it has gone below freezing every night, and 3!! have turned up hunting for food and warmth. I wish I could steal them all because I hate when people let their cats roam in this area... most are eaten within days thanks to the coyote packs.

[John Smith]

We've had a few come up over the years, none ever stay...until...COVID, a female came up and seemed interested in us, we threw her some cheese and then some food in a dish, we worked from home with doors open so eventually she wandered in, kept her distance, but has since allowed petting and will stay inside at night some times.... she's a good mouser, birder, lizarder - fortunately and unfortunaetly...now knows her name we gave her

We made a bed out of two small chairs, a seat cushion and a towel over top when she 1st came up, she would stay there at nights, but it doesn't get that cold here...maybe high 30s at worst. But she stays in more when it is cool and we have on heat, she aint dumb.

She still uses that bed, she has been here maybe 1.75 years...she looks about 2.5 years old, was kitten ish 8-10 months when she arrived we think

[Stormy Peak]

I'm thinking about naming this cat, Stranger.

As in "Hey, Stranger" since I've rarely caught but just glimpses of it, either running away, or if at night, just barely in the porch light shine. Maybe if it keeps getting feed, and hears my voice, calling it to come eat, it will not run off so fast later on when it sees me and hears me.

Stormy

[Stormy Peak]

Just found out the forecast for Wednesday night......

The low will be -15 to -18 (around (-26 to -28 Celsius) depending upon what weather agency you look at.

So I need to get this shelter built, as the really cold weather is coming about 2 weeks early. I'll call my sister and see if she will help me do this. Not sure if I can handle some of the things easily, like the 25 pounds of straw. I have to be careful about lifting even that much.

Stormy

[John Smith]

goodbye stranger, its been nice...hope you find your paradise...

Good luck building cat paradise, that is cold! no me gusta!

[Stormy Peak]

Well, I got the shelter built yesterday. I got the price wrong on the expandable foam...there was another product on that end shelf and it was for the $3.00 or so...the foam was close to $9.00 But I managed to use it to layer the bottom of the container, then I 'set' into the foam while it was expanding a couple of styrofoam panels. So hopefully, the floor of the shelter will not allow too much cold from the ground to seep up into it.

I also left room on the sides to 'set' side panels into the foam too. Then I lined the gap between the foam panels and the plastic wall with straw...and made a thick bedding of straw inside. Before I put the plastic lid on, I took an emergency blanket out of my car...one of those super thin, foil looking blankets, that reflect heat back at a body...and I put that over the top of the shelter before snapping the lid down on top of it, then I trimmed off on the outside of the shelter, excess material.

It got cold last night and tonight it's suppose to be around 7 to 10 below zero. At around 1pm this afternoon is was still 4 below zero.

Stranger, ate some cat food last night, and I can tell that he/she has been inside the shelter, due to the straw that's been moved about it in...but I don't know if the cat slept in there, or just went in to check it out. Right, now the shelter is on the ground, and too close to my front door.

Once this cold snap stops, I'm going to start slowly, to move it and the food to the north, farther from my front door and away from the house roof. I don't want ice and snow coming off the roof and hitting the cold plastic lid of that shelter...it will break the plastic and scare the cat.

I have a fence with huge planks that will block a lot of the north winds, and I want to put pallets down and put the shelter up off the ground by at least 3 feet...as we've had snow almost that deep at times. I can then also tie the container to the pallets or to the fence, in case of high winds. I think the cat will feel more comfortable to, not being so close to the front door and any traffic that comes and goes so close to the shelter.

I will try to supply a photo maybe later today or tomorrow of the shelter : ) Would love to catch one of the cat, but I doubt that will be possible as wary as the cat is at being seen.

Stormy