I have 2 feral cats that are essentially the most domesticated feral cats you will ever meet. They don’t wander far, they have vet checks, they love cuddles, and they love treats (that’s a lie… one of them will only eat crunchies. She refuses fresh salmon, fish, chicken, wet food, or treats; she’s a crunchy lovin cat).
They are getting older, so I’ve become more concerned about them getting through the winter months. Last year we started implementing solutions. We failed at a few but succeeded at others.
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Shelter
My husband found this dog igloo at Petsmart. It works perfectly for them! We originally popped it on the deck on its own. After our first storm, we realized that was an issue. The storm left the inside of the igloo drenched. So we placed our deck table in front of it. It helped give it more comfort, and honestly, for the next few storms, it worked great. But then we had a huge snowstorm. My poor cats were snowed in and waited patiently for me to shovel them out. After that, we lined up some lawn chairs on the opposite side of the table and bungee corded them to the table. This helped to prevent snow from coming into their igloo from that side.
Getting the cats to use the shelter was super easy. I just popped it on the deck full of blankets. The next day I put their food closer to the shelter and they “found” it.
Heat Source
Not only do I have their igloo filled with fuzzy comfy blankets, but I found this cat self-heating blanket and paired it with this heating pad .
Water
Someone told me animals regulate their heat by what temp their water is. It could be a complete lie, but it made sense. Also, I feel bad all of their water sources are frozen over. SO I bought them a heated water dish!
What are your best trips, tricks, and must-haves to help your little feral fur babies out in the winter? I would love to hear about them in the comment section!
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