I hope the Feral Cats appreciate me risking my life on treacherous roads to get them food!

[Siwsan]

Well, treacherous by my standards, which can be triggered by snow flurries. But, today is definitely more than snow flurries. I had to shovel the driveway just to get my car IN to the garage!

Anyway, this is my favorite. (S)he doesn't dash away when I look out the window. Once it gets warmer, I want to try getting this beauty more comfortable with me being close. Maybe even try to catch, check and release.

[BusyBeingBest]

1. Awww. She looks pretty grateful.

[Siwsan]

4. I always feel bad when the other ferals beat her to the food dishes

So I bought a 32 lb bag and, weather permitting, will try to do one refill before I go to bed. Sometimes they arrive early, sometimes they are triggering my Blink camera ALL NIGHT LONG, checking to see if the 'diner' has switched to a 24 hour joint.

I finally started switching off the back yard camera, at night.

[BusyBeingBest]

11. I used to feed strays and feral on my back porch, too (eventually

they all disappeared though )--for a while I had an electronic food dispenser that I bought from Amazon so that I didn't have to worry about a couple greedy piggies eating it all (set the timer so it went off several times overnight) and a freeze-proof water bowl that I kept plugged in. Also had a couple kitty huts and/or plastic and cardboard boxes with weight-activated heat pads, but only a couple cats ever used them because they are afraid of being trapped by coyotes and bobcats. AND a wildlife camera like to see who was showing up. I went kind of overboard... I miss them, but I don't miss watching the skunks enjoy the kibble, lol.

[Siwsan]

12. My Blink security camera has shown me I also have raccoons and opossums.

BIG raccoons and opossums. I haven't seen them for a couple of weeks, now, but they are bold as brass. I cut up some apples and put them out for them. Then I realized, the last thing I want is raccoons hanging around my veg garden! About the only thing I plant that they don't like are tomatoes.

Last year I found deer hoof prints in the back yard. That was a shock. There is a wooded area a little less than a mile, from me. I think the lack of traffic, last year, had them wandering father afield than usual.

[Wawannabe]

2. Name her!

And call her name. She wants you to! 😉😀👍

[50 Shades Of Blue]

3. What a sweetheart!!!!

The kitty too!

[Walleye]

5. I'm sure they appreciate it. They just can't show it

I have a cat that comes to my back door on my second floor deck every evening for supper. Had him fixed and vaccinated when he was a kitten. Been taking care of him for 10 years now. It took a couple of years but he let me pet him now and he’s very sweet. He freaks out if he comes inside and I shut the door though. I have a little house for him on my deck. I’m just a sucker for the kitties. The indoor cat I have now also appeared on my deck a few years ago but he had obviously been owned by somebody else he was only about half grown, so he is very tolerant and friendly with the feral cat.

[Siwsan]

8. A cat shelter is my next outdoor project

I have an old crate outside, with bedding, but they didn't seem to like it. I might try moving it to the bushes until I can come up with something more inviting.

[Walleye]

9. My friend sent me a little house as a present

It’s pretty cool and easy to put together. It’s held up pretty well over the last I would say five years. Has a door on the front and back and a peaked roof. It’s insulated and has a padded floor. It would be fun to put little solar panels on it to provide heat inside. Going a little too far I guess

[SheltieLover]

6. Ty for caring for your ferals!

I just picked up 20# of dry but am feeding cans of tuna & fresh cooked turkey breast (too tough for my liking - pit bull struggled with a chunk of it). I cut the turkey teeny & little 4 lb feral ate about 1/2 lb!

Pictured kitty looks like Saimese! Maybe domesticate her?



Ps - I'm sure they appreciate you!

[Siwsan]

10. It's almost a kind of quid pro quo. Since they arrived, my groundhog problem has ended.

Groundhogs almost destroyed my herb garden and when they got past the garden fence, YIKES!! I wonder if the cats maybe took over their dens.

I saw just one groundhog in the past 2 years and it was up the street, standing up and casually leaning against the curb. Really funny to see.

[SheltieLover]

20. Funny how Nature works, isn't it?

[CurtEastPoint]

7. I love you for this. This is what I do. TNR. Minus the snow.

[Duppers]

16. Blessed are the critters savers.

[Arkansas Granny]

13. I feed one little feral kitty. She's the only one left of a large family of ferals that

I fed for years. Although she has been fed on my back porch for nearly 5 years now, she will not allow me to get close enough to touch her. She waits for me each afternoon and lately has been hanging out on the front porch with me watching the birds, weather permitting, but she stays well out of arms reach.

I have offered her beds to use on a couple of occasions in the past, but she has ignored them. The past few days she has commandeered a cardboard box that I had put on the porch with the intention of breaking it down for the recycle can. I put a piece of fleece material in there and she has slept in it the last two nights. I have ordered her a new bed which I will put in the box when it arrives on Saturday. I hope she will use it. Our temps are going to drop below zero for the next few days and I hate to think about her being out there cold and alone.

[Siwsan]

14. It is so bitter cold, here, right now

But the cats I'm seeing (3 pretty regular) look fat and sassy. I strongly suspect I'm not their only dining stop.

[CurtEastPoint]

18. Get some wheat straw and line it with it. Mine make a little nest in it!

[Arkansas Granny]

19. Good idea, but I don't have an opportunity before the frigid temps

we're expecting.

The bed that's due to arrive tomorrow has a "blanket" that covers half of it so she will be able to crawl under it like a little cave. I'll put the bed in the box that she has adopted. She seems to appreciate the piece of fleece I put in there. I wish I could bring her inside, but she won't even let me touch her.

[Rhiannon12866]

26. I managed to finally bring in my previous cat - who I'd been feeding for awhile

It got suggestions from a woman who works with ferals at the local animal hospital, she said "my" cat wasn't a true feral since she stuck around while I was there. So I took her suggestion and borrowed a have-a-heart trap from the animal hospital, used tuna (she said I should use something with a strong odor) to bring her in. Turns out this cat was a spayed female who had been abandoned. I got her health issues taken care of at my vet and she became a much different (house) cat.

[Duppers]

15. If that doesn't deserve a heart, I don't know what does.

[Siwsan]

17. It's hard to not love kitties

[tblue37]

21. Pretty girl.

[malaise]

22. You're a good person

I have an alfa male with an injured foot and another one trying to dethrone him.
I now have to feed the youngest male away from the rest of them - he is terrified of both of them.

[Siwsan]

23. I have a soft heart for birds and cats

I have bird feeders in the front yard, and feed the cats in the back yard. I love watching both.

I never see the cats in the front yard during the day, but they do have a night time trail that runs the length of the front of the house. In the Summer, that's where the catnip grows.

So far I haven't seen any kittens or even juvenile cats so I'm wondering if these have already been spayed/neutered. And they are all pretty healthy so I think I'm not the only neighbor putting out food for them.

[malaise]

24. I was a dog person most of my life

but after my beloved dog died I decided I couldn't handle that grief again and first I started feeding the birds and then started feeding the feral cats. I tame the kittens and give them away.

[Siwsan]

25. If I ever see any kittens, I'll definitely rescue and foster. Ok, and probably adopt one.

It's been over 2 years since I lost Boudicca and it would be nice to be back in a 2 cat household.

[Demovictory9]

27. she's got her winter coat. nice and thick