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- Jan 15, 2021
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Hello,
My name is Lorena and I am new to this forum. I would appreciate some advice about a shelter I had built for a feral cat family. I'll start from the beginning. About two years ago I found a family of five cats living in a private empty lot on my mother's street. This is a huge fenced lot that is guarded 24 hours a day by a security guard from a private company hired by the lot's owner. I became friends with the guard, who took care of the pregnant cat and later of her four kittens (this is why I know it's a family). I have been feeding the cats since that time and I have also TNR'd all of them. Problems began when the pandemic struck. The guard was sent home due to his age and the company began changing guards every other day. Some have been kind, while others have stolen the cat food I bring them every week. Please note than I live in Mexico City. After a couple of weeks, the security company finally left the same two guards in 24 hr shifts. Both of them loved the cats and offered to build a shelter for them. I bought all the materials and they built it in a few weeks. It was amazing, the cats seldom left it. Every time I visited they were inside. They used it during the day and at night. About three weeks ago, during the night, the guard heard strange noises. When he opened the door of his cabin, he saw two dogs running away from where the shelter is located. Immediately after, the cats came running out of the shelter in sheer panic. Fortunately, none of them were hurt by the dogs. Since then, the cats refuse to enter the shelter The dogs keep coming back, but the guard put up a fence so they can no longer go into the area where the cats live. I don't know where they come from, but I do know that they use a gap in the fence to exit to the street, where they look for food. I have blocked this gap and another one I found. I can't know if there are any more gaps because the lot is huge. I decided to move the shelter and placed it on two metal barrels so it would be high (see picture), hoping that the cats would feel safer. I have sprinkled it with catnip, sprayed it with Feliway, placed food, but nothing works. They are now sleeping on tree branches. It is very cold at night, but still they won't use it. I would be very thankful for any suggestions on how to make them use it again. And sorry for such a long post, but I don't know what to do. Thank you and have a nice weekend.
My name is Lorena and I am new to this forum. I would appreciate some advice about a shelter I had built for a feral cat family. I'll start from the beginning. About two years ago I found a family of five cats living in a private empty lot on my mother's street. This is a huge fenced lot that is guarded 24 hours a day by a security guard from a private company hired by the lot's owner. I became friends with the guard, who took care of the pregnant cat and later of her four kittens (this is why I know it's a family). I have been feeding the cats since that time and I have also TNR'd all of them. Problems began when the pandemic struck. The guard was sent home due to his age and the company began changing guards every other day. Some have been kind, while others have stolen the cat food I bring them every week. Please note than I live in Mexico City. After a couple of weeks, the security company finally left the same two guards in 24 hr shifts. Both of them loved the cats and offered to build a shelter for them. I bought all the materials and they built it in a few weeks. It was amazing, the cats seldom left it. Every time I visited they were inside. They used it during the day and at night. About three weeks ago, during the night, the guard heard strange noises. When he opened the door of his cabin, he saw two dogs running away from where the shelter is located. Immediately after, the cats came running out of the shelter in sheer panic. Fortunately, none of them were hurt by the dogs. Since then, the cats refuse to enter the shelter The dogs keep coming back, but the guard put up a fence so they can no longer go into the area where the cats live. I don't know where they come from, but I do know that they use a gap in the fence to exit to the street, where they look for food. I have blocked this gap and another one I found. I can't know if there are any more gaps because the lot is huge. I decided to move the shelter and placed it on two metal barrels so it would be high (see picture), hoping that the cats would feel safer. I have sprinkled it with catnip, sprayed it with Feliway, placed food, but nothing works. They are now sleeping on tree branches. It is very cold at night, but still they won't use it. I would be very thankful for any suggestions on how to make them use it again. And sorry for such a long post, but I don't know what to do. Thank you and have a nice weekend.