Hello!
I'm new here and I'm glad I found this site!
So sit back with a cup of coffee as this post might be kind of long...
First off, I don't know too much about cats, just that my ex girlfriend used to have one...
I'd say about 3 weeks ago I started to see what I believe to be a mother cat and her kitten. They were hanging around the back of my shed, so I started feeding them first some leftovers, now dry cat food.
It seems that they are only hanging around my backyard as them two are ALWAYS there near the shed. I've also noticed another cat which I thought was maybe the father, but I don't know if there is any relation. Sometimes they all hang out together, but mostly the mother and kitten play on the lawn when no one is around.
So now I've been feeding them for about 3 weeks. I posted some pics of them as well, but I'd like to know what everyone's opinion is if they are feral or strays. The supposed (by me
) mother and father look pretty thick and don't look like they are starving for food. But then again, I live in a pretty suburban neighborhood, so they might have been feeding from garbage cans or from other neighbors feeding them.
The mother is all gray, and the father has a white chest, belly and paws. The kitten is the cutest, he/she's a light creme color with brown ears, shnoz, tail and paws. But it's the eyes that get me...they're light blue!
PICS!
Here's all three of them:
Here's the mother:
Here's the father (with my shed in the background):
And the kitten:
They are all pretty frisky and will run if I approach them. But what I've been doing lately is putting the food and water out, then I sit on the deck stairs ( about 12 feet away) and wait for them to come out. I've been doing this for acouple of days, and they are getting used to me. That's when I took the pics. I had to use a telephoto lens to get some close ups. I also try not to make any sudden or drastic movements when I'm out there. But they didn't seem to mind the camera's shutter noise
Anywho, last night got pretty cold (about 40 degrees). I'm here in NY, so the winters can get pretty bad. I was browsing these forums and started looking at some houses. Of course the ones that I would like to get for them are around $150-up. So what's the next best thing? To make one of course!
So I found an old octagon shaped fish tank in the basement that I no longer use. I then wrapped it completely in insulation (which I use for custom stereo installs in cars for sound deadening and heat control=this stuff is not cheap but since I had some extra....). For the bottom, I used some dry straw. I even made some small windows! Hopefully this will help when the temps drop.
Do you think this will be warm enough for them? I know I should trap them and bring them to the vet, but I just barely had extra time to wrap the tank in insulation.
So if you have any tips please let me know!
Thanks!
I'm new here and I'm glad I found this site!
So sit back with a cup of coffee as this post might be kind of long...
First off, I don't know too much about cats, just that my ex girlfriend used to have one...
I'd say about 3 weeks ago I started to see what I believe to be a mother cat and her kitten. They were hanging around the back of my shed, so I started feeding them first some leftovers, now dry cat food.
It seems that they are only hanging around my backyard as them two are ALWAYS there near the shed. I've also noticed another cat which I thought was maybe the father, but I don't know if there is any relation. Sometimes they all hang out together, but mostly the mother and kitten play on the lawn when no one is around.
So now I've been feeding them for about 3 weeks. I posted some pics of them as well, but I'd like to know what everyone's opinion is if they are feral or strays. The supposed (by me
The mother is all gray, and the father has a white chest, belly and paws. The kitten is the cutest, he/she's a light creme color with brown ears, shnoz, tail and paws. But it's the eyes that get me...they're light blue!
PICS!
Here's all three of them:
Here's the mother:
Here's the father (with my shed in the background):
And the kitten:
They are all pretty frisky and will run if I approach them. But what I've been doing lately is putting the food and water out, then I sit on the deck stairs ( about 12 feet away) and wait for them to come out. I've been doing this for acouple of days, and they are getting used to me. That's when I took the pics. I had to use a telephoto lens to get some close ups. I also try not to make any sudden or drastic movements when I'm out there. But they didn't seem to mind the camera's shutter noise
Anywho, last night got pretty cold (about 40 degrees). I'm here in NY, so the winters can get pretty bad. I was browsing these forums and started looking at some houses. Of course the ones that I would like to get for them are around $150-up. So what's the next best thing? To make one of course!
So I found an old octagon shaped fish tank in the basement that I no longer use. I then wrapped it completely in insulation (which I use for custom stereo installs in cars for sound deadening and heat control=this stuff is not cheap but since I had some extra....). For the bottom, I used some dry straw. I even made some small windows! Hopefully this will help when the temps drop.
Do you think this will be warm enough for them? I know I should trap them and bring them to the vet, but I just barely had extra time to wrap the tank in insulation.
So if you have any tips please let me know!
Thanks!