Heavy Winter In The City - How Humans Can Help?

[solomonar]

Heavy winter here. The prevalent residence buildings are 10 stores towers, small patches of green (now white :-)) fields in between.

I saw many feral cats beneath the cars to shelter from the -10 Celsius degrees weather.

I would be very happy to help them somehow, but I am short in ideas.

Any experience, tip, advice?

Thank you!

 

[Norachan]

The best way to keep cats safe in the winter is to make them some outdoor shelters. Is it possible to do that? Straw is the best thing to keep them warm and dry.


If it's very cold they won't be able to find anything to drink. Put out some warm water and dry food for them too. You'll need to change the water when it freezes, but even if they only get a short chance to drink it's better than nothing.

 

[di and bob]

Food is one of the most important things to remember. A cat can stay much warmer if it is well fed. They use a tremendous amount of energy trying to stay warm, they lose much with shivering. I have a heated water bowl to feed wet food in, but dry is better than nothing. You will be blessed for caring enough to help, thank you!

 

[solomonar]

Nice ideas! Thank you. I think I have to imagine something to keep straws all together, while not being subject to theft.

Good points about water and food! I do have some leftovers from my cat - mostly one month old dry food. I was reluctant to feed ferals by such food, but perhaps is better than nothing.

 

[Norachan]

A cardboard box with a plastic rubbish/trash bag taped around it and a hole cut in the side will do just as well. It really depends on whether you have somewhere you can leave the boxes that not many people will go. Does your city mind if people try to help feral cats?

 

[di and bob]

I feed all my leftover food from my picky housecats to my ferals and outside strays. They are very grateful. It puts food to use that would otherwise get thrown away. another good idea for dry food is to bring it to your local shelter. They are a good place too for towels, toys your cat are tired of, and any extra cans of wet food your cats don't like.

 

[surya]

I have a little colony by a dumpster where anything I leave will get trashed. I save these square shaped water jugs and cut off the top. I put a paper bowl inside with their food in it on rainy days. That keeps their food dry. I'm in Houston, so it's not too cold for them except for a few days in the winter. If you don't want to spend money on Rubbermaid totes, because you think they will get stolen, cardboard boxes inside plastic garbage bags seems like your best option. Sometimes I see stuff left by dumpsters that would work too, like small furniture and coolers.

 

[solomonar]

Today I left some dry food in a small plastic bag, near a residence tower. Mysteriously, nearly half vanished two hours after, but no paw traces in the snow.

Tomorrow I will place a water bowl nearby. But I am very confused- where those cats shelter? How they can move around and no traces? Where to put food and water then? Confused.

 

[surya]

Feral cats come out at night, so the best time to spy on them (and see where they are hanging out)is in the morning or the evening. If you feed them the same time each day, then they will start showing up for meal time. They try to avoid humans if they are feral, so pick a quiet time in the evening or morning if you can.

 

[abyeb]

Thank you for caring! Yes, shelters with straw as well as leaving food out for ferals are the best ways to help them through the winter. You’ve gotten such great advice already, but since this hasn’t been brought up yet, I’ll link you to a terrific article that gives more info: How To Help Feral Cats Stay Safe & Warm During Winter

 

[solomonar]

Thank you for advices and links! The city here does not pay particular attention to cats. The department (city has 6) shelter management told me they only had 2 cats some time in the past. While caring literally thousand of stray dogs (2 million inhabitants city, and a lot of cats on the streets).

I know a lady here running a cat shelter on pure charity base (no tax deduction for the donations...) but her shelter is very small and she encounters a lot of problems (funds shortage being only one of them). I would not dare to bother her even more and I doubt she knows to much about ferals, as she basically shelter cats brought by owners or found in difficult situations).

Briefly, very little experience - if any - in caring ferals here. Thank you for any tips or advice!

 

[talkingpeanut]

You should also try to spay and neuter as many as you can! One of the most important things you can do.

 

[solomonar]

I gave the ferals a handful of dry food and leftover from a can. Whey were happy- I guess. They started by wet food.

Looking closer to their place, I noticed 4-5 water bowls, some with frozen water and chicken bones all over the place.

I am the happy companion of a strictly indoor cat, a 2 years old healthy one.

I am concerned about:
a) the health of the ferals - surrounded by meat and bones leftover (it is winter now but any meat will eventually decay when the temperture incidentally falls)
and
b) the risks to bring some parasites or bacteria back home to my cat.

Any experience or ideas?

 

[talkingpeanut]

You should not feed them if you are not going to help spay and neuter. Is that an option for you?

 

[solomonar]

talkingpeanut
I cant help- spay and neuter. First, I have to catch them. Second, I have to refer them to a vet. My daughter (who graduates this year) can do it, but only starting this automn. No other consistent policy or resources here - everybody considers the ferals as a "no problem" circumstance (because cats dont bite like the stray dogs). If the vet neuters them, then the cats must be sheltered, not abandoned in the snow. And sheltering during convalescence is a huge task in hand, because of lack of room in most vet premises.

++++

I screened the financing options here to set up a cat shelter - it is almost nothing available. Nobody cares. Neither the authorities, nor the business sector.

I know a lady who shelter some cats and a guy who struggles to keep another small shelter working. They are already overbooked by abandoned cats.

 

[talkingpeanut]

There are humane traps that rescues and vets have access to. Often they will let people borrow them rather than buy their own.

Cats can be released as soon as 24 hours after a spay or neuter if necessary. They can stay in a crate with their essentials (small litter box, foods, water) until their release.

 

[solomonar]

talkingpeanut

I will check and see what can I do. I never saw here a trap like that, but I suppose they are some, somewhere.

To be honest. I feel very bad to release a neutered cat in heavy winter 24 hours after surgery or even sooner. Because of the risks to my own cat and limited available room I cant host a feral cat in my home, not even for one day.

Perhaps leaving the neuter thing to the springtime (which is due in 2 months) is feasible.

I am also thinking to a public awareness campaign about the issue of feral cats, but I have no idea about the chances. Leaving aside the point of kindness, the ferals rise risks for public health and maybe this can make more sense for the decision-makers, I guess.

 

[orange&white]

This shelter may be able to help you with some resources for building winter shelters and general advice. They are in Bucharest. Maybe if that is not close by then they might have a volunteer close to your neighborhood.
Spay and Neuter for 1000 Cats in Romania

Also, the chicken bones and bowls of water were left by someone else? Maybe if you could find the other person or people feeding the cats, you could work together as a group.

Bless you for helping the kitties through the winter months.

 

[solomonar]

Thank you for the contact! They looks like an USA-based non-profit. I just wrote them.

 

[orange&white]

Thank you for the contact! They looks like an USA-based non-profit. I just wrote them.

Yes, I noticed that after I linked. California company operating in Romania...and under an umbrella company based in England. Isn't that something? Hopefully they can help or at least advise.

From their main website:
Romania Animal Rescue, Inc. dba Animal Spay/Neuter International is a California Nonprofit Corporation with IRS 501(c)(3) tax code exempt status. Tax ID 72-1546354 Animal Spay and Neuter International is a Registered Charity (1172316) registered in England.

That's interesting.