Winter Feral Cat Care

Fall Preparation for the winter ahead

• Supplement adult food with kitten food, or alternate kitten food with adult food starting in September, to help put weight on your feral cats for the cold winter ahead.  Kitten food has about 1½ - 2 times the calories of adult food, so your feral cats will eat the same amount but gain weight.

• As the days grow shorter, your feral cats will be coming out earlier to wait for food.   Unlike humans, whose lives revolve around a clock, theirs revolve around daylight hours.  Dawn and dusk is when most ferals venture out to eat.  Adjust your schedule accordingly, to insure your cats are not waiting in the cold for you to arrive with their food.

• Start to think about shelter ideas, how you will keep your cats hydrated in the winter, and general winter care.  Here are two terrific resources:

• Karen Commings, ASPCA Animal Watch, Coming in From the Cold (a must read!)

• Neighborhood Cats in New York City - innovative ways to prevent water from freezing (check out their entire web site!)