Pre-Winter Cat Habits



Sherbet crossed over 2/20/10



Sunny crossed over 12/14/09

With these two photos, I'm remembering two of our regulars who must have been taken by coyotes. I still miss them and think of them, even though they they never would let me get close as they were feral. So now I announce to the colony, "Watch out for those hungry coyotes! Get your escape routes lined up everyone." Coyotes are known to come into our development in the winter months.

The cats in our homeless colony (feral and abandoned) seem to be eating more now than they did in the summer. Is this because they are preparing for winter by gaining extra padding for the coming colder months? If any of you know anything about this please post a comment or two. For some reason, I do not remember the pattern developing in prior years. It would make sense that their instincts would include putting on some extra subcutaneous fat for the winter months. None of them is younger than 3 1/2 years old. So they all know that the temperatures here get really cold as the weather changes.  In this part of northern Arizona, our night-time temperatures average between about 17 degrees F. and 35 degrees F (the latter is 1.6667 degrees C.)

Thanks for posting! It is always a help to receive your knowledge and opinions on my blog.  If you have not already done so, become a follower of my blog (see below) and you can get my posts on your dashboard (or however else they are received).

I hope all of you are well and happy,

Debby of Homeless Cat Care

DTConsult@cableone.net

Some Older Ferals Socialize

After reading my blog, one woman near Chicago contacted me about her concern for a young female feral cat which she had been feeding for a few months. The woman estimated the homeless cat to be several months old. Perhaps she was 4-5 months old. She wanted to do something to help the cat through the cold winter months to come.

Of course, trapping the cat for spay/neuter is a priority. If you are reading this and do not know how to begin with spay/neuter of a feral, know that some cities have private animal rescue agencies supporting trap/neuter/return (TNR). If you do not have one of these, you may have a branch of the Humane Society somewhere in your area. I think they are national. Sometimes the Humane Society has clinics for free or low cost to get cats spay/neutered. You should be able to borrow a trapping cage from them. I would not turn the feral over to the Humane Society in the trapping cage permanently since some, if not all, branches have a policy of euthanizing feral cats. It's also a good idea to have a feral cat tested for feline leukemia and feline HIV before you let it in the house if you have other cats. In fact, it’s wise to keep your indoor cats completely separate since there are other diseases/viruses which can be transmitted by the cats touching noses, which they love to do. I had one indoor cat which contracted the Caleci virus from an abandoned cat I let come inside. Do not let a feral use another cat's litter box, especially if it has not been tested for feline leukemia.

Alley Cat Allies has great online resources for management of feral cats. I have not read all of their material - here are two of their links for your convenience

Click here for guidelines for humane trapping, lists and links of suggested trapping equipment, and a video of a successful feral cat trapping

About Feral Cats

Usually, animal rescue people tell me that you should start handling a feral cat no later than 6 weeks old in order to socialize it to humans. But we have been able to tame a few older cats that were exceptionally willing. It is ideal to dedicate a room where you can sequester the feral as you socialize it. We have a sun room which is separated from the rest of the house. If the feral is already in the habit of feeding at your place, you can leave open an outside door for it to come in and out at feeding time. This allows the feral cat to get used to feeling safe in your home and with you without feeling trapped. Some people keep ferals in an extra bathroom while taming. Sometimes you can socialize using a holding cage, as long as the feral does not stop eating (some of ours stopped eating while recovering for a few days in a holding cage after spay/neuter). A holding cage is like what people use to contain a dog indoors. Once you add towels and a litter box, it can be rather comfy for the animal.

Currently, I am taming a really sweet tortoise shell feral called Stripe. She is about 1 ½ years old and very friendly. I hope to get photos of her soon. I’ll share more about taming her in a coming post.

Thanks for reading my post - leave a comment if you like. I plan to share more about my experiences and what I have learned from managing this homeless colony. Please let your friends know about my blog.

http://homelesscatcare.blogspot.com/

I would be extremely grateful if you feel inclined to donate to the management of this feral/abandoned colony, using the PayPal button on the sidebar.

Debby Taylor DTConsult@cableone.net