Today is National Feral Cat day, a day dedicated to education about feral cats and their struggle. I'm not sure that I've explicitly stated that we take care of a feral cat colony, albeit a small one. You may remember the family of kittens we found on my
birthday. About a week after we caught the kittens and gave them to the rescue group, the group came back out to trap the mom, get her fixed and return her to our property, a process called TNR or Trap and Return.
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| Penelope's litter at the foster home learning to socialize so they can be adopted. |
The little lady that they trapped, tested for feline leukemia and aids, is now our outdoor cat Penelope. We introduced you to her
here. Once we agree to the TNR we were serious about taking care of her. I went online to research outdoor shelters so she would have a warm place to sleep. I found that especially back east, where the winters are harsh, there is a whole group of people making feral cat shelters and sharing their ideas. Here is just one
resource.
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| Penelope at home in our backyard. |
We made Penelope a shelter from an 18 gallon rubber maid container that cost $5. We cut a hole on each short end. Feral cats feel more comfortable if there are two exits. It's instinctual in case a predator finds them. Thankfully Penelope is the predator of our backyard eco-system, the birds keep an eye out for her. Next we searched for straw, not hay. Straw does not absorb water so any moisture that may get in will actually sink below the straw. Straw also lets the cats burrow into it for extra warmth. Our pet store does not sell straw so we had to go to Farm Supply and came home with a bale of straw! As it gets colder and the rain and wind pick up we will make another shelter for her and I'll show you how. We also have a small shelter and feeding station in the front of our property for the other cats that roam the neighborhood, The General, and a few others we see from time to time.
If you are interested in any kind of information about feral cats or TNR here are some really great resources available on the web:
Modern Cat's blog also has a very touching story of her feral cats posted today. Head on over and check it out
here.
Cats are wonderful animals and feral cats deserve a chance too. I feel like the host of the Price is Right, but please spay and neuter your pets and consider keeping them indoors. They live 3 to 4 times longer if they are indoor pets. If you let them outside please make sure they have tags and a microchip and safe and warm places to sleep with access to food and water.
That's my soapbox for today!
Cheers,
this little bird
Penelope is a lucky cat to have found you! Luckily not many feral cats here in England but there were plenty in Mallorca.
ReplyDeleteActually, the first cat my husband and I had was a feral one. Unfortunately she had aids and did not live long. We still missed her :(
So good to hear there are not many feral cats in England. And so sweet you gave that sweet kitty a good home for the time she did have.
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