HELP NEEDED PLEASE! Stray cat doesn't want to use shelter.

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AdamM
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HELP NEEDED PLEASE! Stray cat doesn't want to use shelter.

Post by AdamM »

Hi everyone. I really need some advice. I cared about a few feral and stray cats in the past. A few months ago a new cat appeared around my neighborhood ( i live around a place which is kind of like a suburban area but with more parks and smaller forrests). He was definetly sick and starving, so i started to feed him and managed to cure him, now he is healthy and fine. Winter has recently came to my country and now it's very windy and during the night its around 0 Celsius or less than that. A few weeks ago i created two shelters for him, and placed it in the bushes where he likes to wait for me and and also sleeps/having a rest there during the day. The problem is that he doesn't want to use any shelter no matter where i place them, it's kind of hard to find out where he stays during the night, but based on my knowledge he doesn't have a proper and safe shelter (or at least i don't know about it). Is it possible to somehow make him use it, or it means he has a better place somewhere?
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Kay
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Re: HELP NEEDED PLEASE! Stray cat doesn't want to use shelter.

Post by Kay »

I have been wrestling with a similar problem lately - I have two long term strays I feed regularly, and have been trying to find a good way to shelter them for a couple of months - so here are some of my ramblings on the subject

one of mine took to sheltering in a small store area under a concrete stand for a coal bunker, so I put straw inside and propped a plastic panel partially across the front to keep off the rain - this he happily took to until a hedgehog decided to hibernate inside - so I put more straw inside an unwanted coal bunker, which he can access through the small door, and he seems happy in there

the other cat is a bigger challenge - he has slept fairly regularly in a Mr Snugs kennel, which I have added a lining to and vet bedding, but he will not use it when I have put a self-heating pad inside, and although I don't think it's enough for the below freezing temperatures we have had these past few nights, as he really needs to be further inside a bigger space, I daren't experiment as it is very likely to put him off altogether

like your stray, I think he curls up under a large evergreen shrub in my garden for choice, but when it's very cold, or very wet, he needs an alternative

what kind of a shelter have you tried? is it bone dry? any chance another cat goes into it?

one thing I have found with both cats, is that they feel the need to watch the approaches to their shelters - the one in the coal bunker will only curl up in the very front by the open door - so I'm pretty sure neither would use any set up with a cat flap, or even a cat flap sized aperture, which means you need something which faces away from the prevailing wind - south is usually best

how do you feed him when it's raining? obviously a sheltered feeding next to a sheltered sleeping place might do the trick

if no kind of shelter is accepted by him, could you cover over an area of bushes with tarpaulins to at least keep the area he currently uses dry, and perhaps add some straw among the branches

and if all else fails, feeding him up with a high fat diet can help maintain body temperature - I feed my two with boiled up chicken thighs, which are quite fatty
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Janey
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Re: HELP NEEDED PLEASE! Stray cat doesn't want to use shelter.

Post by Janey »

Same here. I have a kennel type shelter which two of my ferals use, Frost and Perdy, which I have filled with straw. But they were evicted by the hedgehogs. They also have another plastic type hut with bedding in but they keep going back into the straw filled one, I think they may be sharing it with the hedgehog(s) as it is large. We also have another feral, Dennis, who I worry about most as his buddy, Tiggy, passed last Christmas (he was the cat next door, who actually was a feral kitten my neighbour took on when she moved in). He is brother to Perdy, so he does hang around a bit with her and Frosty thankfully, but doesn’t share their bed, although he could because both are big enough. My neighbour thinks Dennis sleeps somewhere in the allotments behind us but I often see him sat under a bush in the garden :( This weekend we’re making another hut, which we’re going to place in a different part of the garden. It looks easy enough to make and it’s one I found online made from a large storage box with polystyrene and straw inside. Hopefully they will all have a bed then. Unfortunately though you can’t force them to use them, but I agree with Kay in that they like to see their territory from their bed. I also think they like the straw because it doesn’t get wet as easy, like cloth, and it’s warm for them.
AdamM
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Re: HELP NEEDED PLEASE! Stray cat doesn't want to use shelter.

Post by AdamM »

Kay wrote: he needs an alternative

what kind of a shelter have you tried? is it bone dry? any chance another cat goes into it?



how do you feed him when it's raining? obviously a sheltered feeding next to a sheltered sleeping place might do the trick
Well, i have tried two types. One of them is a regular warm, hooded cat bed (with an additional blanket inside) surrounded with a thick box, making it sure to doesn't get wet inside, no matter how hard it rains/snows, plus its partly covered by the bushes. The other one was a wooden box - i created a hole on it, so he can easily get inside) and the box itself was covered with additional layers making it waterproof. I can feed him next to this area, which is sheltered by a concrete part of the houses. It's quiet, safe , noone would disturb him, and he actually likes this place, thats why i thought i can put the shelter there. One of the blankets inside are white, the cat is black, sometimes i found some black hair in it, so he noticed it, and went inside, but doesn't use it as a sleeping place, instead of it he sometimes sleeps next to it.. I really don't understand it. I'm feeding him with warm food, with high nutritional value, but i'm still worried about him.
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Kay
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Re: HELP NEEDED PLEASE! Stray cat doesn't want to use shelter.

Post by Kay »

It's a thankless task trying to second guess a cat, but my hunch would be that he feels vulnerable inside the shelter

It might be worth placing it in an open space where he could get a good view of anyone or anything approaching - and patience may pay off here - sometimes something rejected for ages suddenly becomes the best thing ever - usually just when you're about to give up and get rid of it

I know how hard it is thinking of a poor cat out in the cold - cats are designed to be curled up in the warm - but it could be he has found somewhere else to shelter in for the time being

But who knows? One of my ferals quite suddenly decided to stop being frightened of me, and now curls up in his bunker every night

Do keep us updated though - I still have my neutered Siamese/Tonkinese boy to get in from the cold
AdamM
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Re: HELP NEEDED PLEASE! Stray cat doesn't want to use shelter.

Post by AdamM »

Thank you for the advices. I will try a few different things, sooner or later something will work. And of course i will keep you updated :)
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