Prepare Ferals For Winter

[maggie101]

Nights are getting cooler…time to freshen up the bedding in your cat shelters so they stay warm and cozy. Should you use straw or hay? Always STRAW, and here's why:

STRAW is tough, thick, dry leftover stalks from crops. It's lightweight and golden in color. Straw has a hollow center which makes for great insulation (just like double pane windows). Straw will reflect body heat back to a cat and actually repels moisture.

Hay is green and heavy. Hay is typically used to feed animals, like horses. It absorbs moisture, making it damp, cold and uncomfortable for cats, and has the potential to get moldy. Do NOT use hay (or blankets) for bedding in outdoor cat shelters.

For an easy way to remember which to use…
"Hay is for Horses, Straw is for Strays."

Buy bales of STRAW at your local co-op, farm/ag supply store, local garden center/nursery, Home Depot, Lowe's, Tractor Supply, or local landscape supply. Search Facebook Marketplace for local sellers. Also check with farmers who are selling pumpkins, they often sell bales of straw too.

 

[Furballsmom]

This is terrific info, thank you!

 

[kittychick]

I'd never heard that little "memory helper" (and anyone who knows me knows I can use all of those I can get!) - what a GREAT way to remember!!!

Now we need a way to remember "no blankets to get wet so that kitty gets wet too" and "best to get the shelter off the ground" etc. I think we need a "Feral Schoolhouse Rock!" (hey - it's the only way I remember how a bill becomes a law, and how the Preamble to the Constitution goes!).

 

[Furballsmom]

Lol