How To Prepare Ferals for Winter?

With a few odds and ends and a trip to the hardware store you can help feral cats find a safe place to survive the worst that winter can offer. For instance, the weather report warns that a winter storm is moving into the New York area. Ten to 12 inches of snow are expected to fall by morning. Joan Scroggs leaves her home on Long Island and heads for the 12 feral cat colonies she has tended seven days a week, 52 weeks a year, for 14 years. At each colony, Scroggs inspects the handmade cat shelters to determine if the seams are sealed and the boxes are elevated adequately to keep cats high and dry. She angles a board in front of each shelter to protect the occupants from wind and blowing snow. Scroggs knows that once the storm hits, she must return to each shelter periodically during the night to dig out a path so the cats can come and go. Caring for feral cats involves much more than simply feeding them, which often results in cats congregating and breeding more than they might if individual cats roamed freely. Diehard soldiers such as Scroggs know that being a caregiver is a year- round responsibility that involves trapping, vaccinating and spaying or neutering the cats prior to releasing them again. But tending cat colonies is especially arduous when temperatures drop and the weather becomes harsh. Even though feral cats develop a thick coat in the fall to keep them warm, they can die from exposure if at least some protection from the elements is not available.

Creating Shelter - Do’s and Don’ts

With a little ingenuity, caretakers can provide the added warmth that these cats need by constructing a homemade shelter. A shelter may provide warmth for two, three or more cats, depending on its size and the sociability of the cats. Feral felines who compete for food at other times of the year may find they are willing to overlook their differences when temperatures drop. "There are no enemies in a snowstorm," says another veteran caregiver, Joanna Harkin, an attorney and director of Alliance for Stray Animals and People (ASAP), a nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C.

Before constructing a shelter, be sure to obtain permission from the landowner on whose property it is to be placed. A shelter should be at least two feet by three feet long and 18 inches high. It should have an opening small enough to prevent dogs or other large animals from entering and a flap or L-shaped entryway to keep the cold air from blowing in. And bigger shelters are not necessarily better. The body heat generated by the cats huddling inside tends to disperse, leaving the interior of the shelter as cold as the weather outside. Ideally, the shelter should be small enough to transport in your vehicle to the colony site.

Shelters can be built of wood or other materials and need not be complex. For example, ACA publishes a fact sheet with plans for building an insulated, wooden cat shelter . The plans include materials needed and schematics for cutting the wood and insulation. Materials for one of their wooden shelters should run about $25-$30 at your local lumberyard. For about $25, Scroggs constructs boxes made of two-inch-thick home insulation boards. The boards come in large sheets at home supply stores. She seals the seams using a silicone gun to prevent cold air from entering. Scroggs then elevates the shelter on cinder blocks and places a flat piece of wood on top to weigh it down.

You can make an "instant" shelter from a cardboard box with a trash bag taped over it. Cardboard boxes from moving companies or ones in which computer equipment is packed make sturdy little dens and can be obtained for little or no cost. Tape a few boxes together to create a hallway. "One can be creative with cardboard," says Harkin. Once the boxes are positioned, throw leaves over them so that they’ll remain out of sight. Another option is to use milk crates wired together and covered with plastic. For those who have no construction skills, doghouses that are winterized with plastic coverings or insulation make convenient cat shelters. Reduce the size of the original doorway, and install a flap on the opening to keep out cold air and wind.

A shelter should sit a few inches off the ground on bricks, blocks or pallets (wooden platforms used for unloading boxed goods) to keep it from becoming waterlogged. Shipping firms or hardware, farm or pet stores may be able to provide discarded pallets or offer advice on where to obtain them. "As long as the cats stay dry, they can survive any climate," says Holton. During snowstorms, dig out a pathway from the shelter so the cats can get in and out. Although some areas of the country have relatively mild winters, providing shelter to protect the cats from the elements is still important. At California Polytechnic State University in San Lius Obispo, members of the Cal Poly Feral Cat Program built 12 feral cat shelters out of dark green, 55-gallon trash cans, cutting a doorway out of the side of each. "We like these better than dog houses because we can conceal them in the shrubs," says Edie Griffin-Shaw, director of the program.