Releasing feral in cold weather?

[tandl]

I have a feral cat that we brought into our house in early September when she surprised us by having a litter of kittens on our deck. We kept everyone safe and healthy and finally got mama and the 5 kittens speutered and vaccinated last week. Kittens will be adopted out, but mama will go back outside. She is part of a small colony we have been working to catch and neuter/release for a couple of years now.
When we brought her inside it was still summer weather, and now it’s below freezing at night and only in the mid 30’s or low 40’s during the day. Usually these cats are very hardy in the cold, but as she’s been inside for 4 months, she has not built up a ‘winter’ coat. Is putting her back outside now a bad idea? Or will she get her winter coat quickly?
We have many warmed houses and safe spots to get food and warm up by a fireplace for the ferals, but as she has been away for 4 months, I don’t know if she will get spooked by seeing her old colony members, and be less likely to hang out on our property?
Also, she is still nursing these kittens! We have had a horrible time getting them to eat kitten food. They will all pick at it and snack, but they never eat with the gusto that 13 week old kittens should. And that’s bc they still seek her out for milk and she hasn’t pushed them away yet. I had held off a couple of weeks on getting everyone spayed as I hoped that process would kick in, but nope! Even after getting spayed she’s still letting them nurse. So, is putting her outside going to cause her pain if she’s still producing milk?
Thanks!

 

[Lucy&Petra]

What is driving you to want to put her back outside? Curious.

 

[shadowsrescue]

I would really try hard to allow her to stay inside. She will have an adjustment period being outside and without her winter coat it will be a struggle for her. Please reconsider and allow her to stay inside. Since she has been inside for 4 months, has she been able to be socialized somewhat? Could you keep her inside as a part of your family?

 

[tandl]

I would really try hard to allow her to stay inside. She will have an adjustment period being outside and without her winter coat it will be a struggle for her. Please reconsider and allow her to stay inside. Since she has been inside for 4 months, has she been able to be socialized somewhat? Could you keep her inside as a part of your family?

We already have 9 rescued house cats, and can not take any more. She is friendly and content with me, but terrified when any other human walks in the room. She has been kept with the kittens in a section of our house that can have fully closed doors, and it’s a decent size but certainly not massive. She seems depressed to me—she’s used to being out hunting and frolicking and stalking…and now she just sleeps.
It was never in the cards to keep her as a house cat—we hope she continues to be a part of our little backyard crew and we absolutely will continue to provide food and shelter outside, but 9 housecats is over our limit, so adding more would mean I’d have to give up a human kid or two!

 

[Lucy&Petra]

Maybe if you have a leash or could purchase a leash you could take her outside a little bit everyday for awhile and help build up her coat?

 

[minish]

Minish loses fur very fast when it's hot but I don't know the other way round. I think maybe you can upgrade the shelter backyard (discarded sweaters etc) and give her an option to enter the house when it's too cold. Some of my neighbors do that but those are not ferals, they are strays raised in the neighborhood.

 

[fionasmom]

I wonder if the reintroduction to the colony will not go smoothly and she may not be included again.

 

[dahlia]

One of the ferals I feed was caught to be spayed and ended up staying at the vet's office for several weeks because she had a horrible upper respiratory infection. When she was released, the other colony cats pushed her out. She still comes back to eat and they allow that, more or less, but she has had to find somewhere else to shelter. I am not sure where she goes but I have seen her coming from several blocks away and across a busy street (which I worry about). Just be aware that there is a possibility that they might not accept your momma cat back and it would be unfortunate if she had to find somewhere else to shelter in the winter.

 

[SweetLittleKitty]

I have a feral cat that we brought into our house in early September when she surprised us by having a litter of kittens on our deck. We kept everyone safe and healthy and finally got mama and the 5 kittens speutered and vaccinated last week. Kittens will be adopted out, but mama will go back outside. She is part of a small colony we have been working to catch and neuter/release for a couple of years now.
When we brought her inside it was still summer weather, and now it’s below freezing at night and only in the mid 30’s or low 40’s during the day. Usually these cats are very hardy in the cold, but as she’s been inside for 4 months, she has not built up a ‘winter’ coat. Is putting her back outside now a bad idea? Or will she get her winter coat quickly?
We have many warmed houses and safe spots to get food and warm up by a fireplace for the ferals, but as she has been away for 4 months, I don’t know if she will get spooked by seeing her old colony members, and be less likely to hang out on our property?
Also, she is still nursing these kittens! We have had a horrible time getting them to eat kitten food. They will all pick at it and snack, but they never eat with the gusto that 13 week old kittens should. And that’s bc they still seek her out for milk and she hasn’t pushed them away yet. I had held off a couple of weeks on getting everyone spayed as I hoped that process would kick in, but nope! Even after getting spayed she’s still letting them nurse. So, is putting her outside going to cause her pain if she’s still producing milk?
Thanks!

Definitely don't put her out while she is still nursing. It will cause distress for both her and the kittens. The kittens might start crying incessantly in the middle of the night, too. Can you keep her in until they are fully weaned? And even then I would wait for two weeks after. A big part of this is about bonding. To use an extreme example, if you love a kitten and it dies, you feel a lot of pain, and this is the pain of the bond being broken.