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- Oct 11, 2006
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I feed a feral colony that is not on my property, and a few miles away, so I carry a "Cat kit", as I call it. I usually feed them on my way home from work, and in the dark in a lonely spot.
Here's what's in my kit:
1. Canned and dry food. I bought a bucket container of Deli Cat dry food, and bungee-corded it to a tie-down hook in the back of my Subaru Forrester. When the Deli Cat runs out, I can re-fill the container with my regular brand of dry food. I prefer flip-top canned food for quick feeding. I have to open several cans, and don't want to stand there, taking a long time to open them. That being said, carry a Dollar Store cheap can opener for the ones whose tab breaks off. Include a large scoop.
2. Water. In the winter, it's harder for the cats to get water, as the water source nearby is usually frozen. If I'm at home before I go to feed them, I take a Thermos of hot water to melt the ice in the water dish, and one of the females loves the steaming water. She actually waits for it before she eats.
3. Feeding tray/plate. I use one of those big, black plastic party platters that pre-made sandwiches come on. It's good size for many cats to stand around together. Make sure you wash it well before using it. I don't know if cats can contract Listeria from lunch meat. Other options: the Dollar Tree has smaller party platters that are plastic, but look like cut glass. I also carry a pack of cheap styrofoam plates in case I find that the platter broke, which happened probably due to the extreme cold.
4. Water bowl. I use a heavy metal cake pan, and carry a spare in the kit.
5. Plastic spoons, heavy-duty. For dishing out the canned food. It often semi-freezes in the car, and cheap, Dollar Tree spoons often break. You could also use a metal spoon and wash it. I don't, as I don't like cat food in my sink. I'm weird.
6. Small plastic shopping bags and large trash bags. Shopping bags for bagging up the cans, etc. and trash bags to clean up the area. I pickup the beer cans and also the cat food bags the other people leave behind. It's just good manners to clean up after yourself, and it also may help to make nice with whoever's property the cats live on, in my case, a parking lot.
7. Fold-up fabric cat carrier or a standard one if you have room, with a large towel or fleece throw blanket. You may need to take a cat to the vet or home with you. Maybe include a foil space blanket to wrap around the towel/blanket for a hypothermic or sick/injured cat. They are about $2.00.
8. A roll of paper towels.
9. Anti-bacterial hand wipes. Used mostly to remove the canned food smell! Also good if you touch the cats or the dish with your bare hands. Who knows what diseases they or the raccoons who eat their food may have? Bear in mind that these will freeze slightly in your car. Mine always do.
10. Rubber gloves, such as surgical gloves. See #9. Also keeps the wet food off your hands. I usually spread it on the dry food with my hands.
11. Thick work gloves. For picking up trash and handling animals for medical evaluation and/or trapping. I'd wear a pair of of #10 under these. The area where I tend to looks like a place where drugs may be used. I'd hate to pick up a syringe while picking up trash.
12. Sturdy all-weather shoes/boots.
13. Rain poncho.
14. Winter hat and Balaclava/ski mask. Winter gloves.
15. Flashlight.
16. Pepper spray. The parking lot is in a lonely, dark, unused area of the shopping center. The store that it is part of closes at 6:00 PM. It is bordered by a field of 6 ft-tall reeds. I see lots of trash, and even found a purse there that had been stolen. The cash was taken, but they left the credit cards, etc., i.e., they needed drug money. I'm a 5 ft tall woman who couldn't judo flip an ant. Most citations I've seen online state that human pepper spray also works on small animals. If you encounter a vicious cat, dog, etc. who is attacking you, it may help. They do sell dog pepper spray, so you may want to carry that, too, if you don't think that the human kind with repel animals.
17. Plastic sheet/tarp and some clothesline to make an emergency shelter, like a small tent.
Here's what's in my kit:
1. Canned and dry food. I bought a bucket container of Deli Cat dry food, and bungee-corded it to a tie-down hook in the back of my Subaru Forrester. When the Deli Cat runs out, I can re-fill the container with my regular brand of dry food. I prefer flip-top canned food for quick feeding. I have to open several cans, and don't want to stand there, taking a long time to open them. That being said, carry a Dollar Store cheap can opener for the ones whose tab breaks off. Include a large scoop.
2. Water. In the winter, it's harder for the cats to get water, as the water source nearby is usually frozen. If I'm at home before I go to feed them, I take a Thermos of hot water to melt the ice in the water dish, and one of the females loves the steaming water. She actually waits for it before she eats.
3. Feeding tray/plate. I use one of those big, black plastic party platters that pre-made sandwiches come on. It's good size for many cats to stand around together. Make sure you wash it well before using it. I don't know if cats can contract Listeria from lunch meat. Other options: the Dollar Tree has smaller party platters that are plastic, but look like cut glass. I also carry a pack of cheap styrofoam plates in case I find that the platter broke, which happened probably due to the extreme cold.
4. Water bowl. I use a heavy metal cake pan, and carry a spare in the kit.
5. Plastic spoons, heavy-duty. For dishing out the canned food. It often semi-freezes in the car, and cheap, Dollar Tree spoons often break. You could also use a metal spoon and wash it. I don't, as I don't like cat food in my sink. I'm weird.
6. Small plastic shopping bags and large trash bags. Shopping bags for bagging up the cans, etc. and trash bags to clean up the area. I pickup the beer cans and also the cat food bags the other people leave behind. It's just good manners to clean up after yourself, and it also may help to make nice with whoever's property the cats live on, in my case, a parking lot.
7. Fold-up fabric cat carrier or a standard one if you have room, with a large towel or fleece throw blanket. You may need to take a cat to the vet or home with you. Maybe include a foil space blanket to wrap around the towel/blanket for a hypothermic or sick/injured cat. They are about $2.00.
8. A roll of paper towels.
9. Anti-bacterial hand wipes. Used mostly to remove the canned food smell! Also good if you touch the cats or the dish with your bare hands. Who knows what diseases they or the raccoons who eat their food may have? Bear in mind that these will freeze slightly in your car. Mine always do.
10. Rubber gloves, such as surgical gloves. See #9. Also keeps the wet food off your hands. I usually spread it on the dry food with my hands.
11. Thick work gloves. For picking up trash and handling animals for medical evaluation and/or trapping. I'd wear a pair of of #10 under these. The area where I tend to looks like a place where drugs may be used. I'd hate to pick up a syringe while picking up trash.
12. Sturdy all-weather shoes/boots.
13. Rain poncho.
14. Winter hat and Balaclava/ski mask. Winter gloves.
15. Flashlight.
16. Pepper spray. The parking lot is in a lonely, dark, unused area of the shopping center. The store that it is part of closes at 6:00 PM. It is bordered by a field of 6 ft-tall reeds. I see lots of trash, and even found a purse there that had been stolen. The cash was taken, but they left the credit cards, etc., i.e., they needed drug money. I'm a 5 ft tall woman who couldn't judo flip an ant. Most citations I've seen online state that human pepper spray also works on small animals. If you encounter a vicious cat, dog, etc. who is attacking you, it may help. They do sell dog pepper spray, so you may want to carry that, too, if you don't think that the human kind with repel animals.
17. Plastic sheet/tarp and some clothesline to make an emergency shelter, like a small tent.
I've never had to use it, thankfully, but I've "practiced" and learned the feel of it while it's in my pocket. 
