Community Cat Colony Management
Managing feral/community cat colonies is often a part of TNR programs. Below you will find information and links to pages that help with establishing and maintaining a colony as well as troubleshooting issues that may arise.
Photo by Luke Scarpino on Unsplash
If you are a caregiver for outdoor cats and are approached by local authorities, it's important to know your rights. Here's the info you need.
A few winter feeding tips:
DO NOT use metal bowls for water in cold weather as a cat's tongue may accidentally stick to the bowl. Also, rubber or silicone camping bowls will do a better job of keeping the water from freezing. You can apply foam insulation to the hollow underside of a regular plastic feeding dish to delay the freezing of the water. And fill with very warm water. A pinch of sugar stops water from freezing as quickly and provides an added energy boost. If you have an electric-heated water bowl that is a good option or a microwaveable Snuggle Safe Pet Bed Microwave Heating Pad available on Amazon also works well. Wet food in insulated containers is ideal for cold weather because it takes less energy to digest, which means more energy for the cat to stay warm. And feed them a bit more than usual!
Top 10 Tips: Caring for Feral Cats in Winter - ASPCApro
Winter Weather Tips – Help Stray Cats this Winter - Alley Cat Allies
How to Care for Outdoor Cats in Winter - The Humane Society of the United States
Insulate the shelter with straw to repel moisture. Do not use hay, or things like pillows, blankets or towels—they soak up moisture like a sponge and make the shelter wet and cold which can lead to hypothermia and possibly death for the cat. You can also line the inside with mylar as this will help to reflect body heat and keep the cat warmer. You can line the styrofoam with contact paper so the cat does not scratch up and digest sytrofoam which can be toxic to them.
Helpful tips for outdoor cats in the summer heat
1. Pick up wet food within 1 hour to avoid attracting insects and because the food can quickly go bad, possibly making your cats sick.
2. If you put wet food on top of dry food, all of it should be discarded within an hour.
3. Consider just feeding dry food during the hot summer months.
4. Leave out only as much dry food as the cats can eat.
5. If the cats eat all of the food in 15 minutes or less, put out a bit more.
6. If you do give wet food, add water to it to keep it from drying out.
7. Use plastic as metal bowls retain heat longer; avoid glass or ceramic that can break easily. Plastic also tends to be easier to clean.
8. Create a “bug barrier” for food bowls by raising the bowls or the feeding station off the ground slightly and surrounding them with a narrow line of food-grade diatomaceous earth (DE) or baking soda or place bowls in a shallow dish filled with water, creating a moat around the bowl.
9. Provide water in deep bowls to reduce the rate of evaporation and put in the shade when possible. Add ice cubes if needed. Avoid metal bowls.
10. Rinse and refill water bowls daily and remember that there is lots of dangerous stuff that grows in the slimy residue that grows in the water bowl so wipe/clean them often.
11. Keep the feeding location neat and clean, for the health of the cats and for community relations.
12. Try to create a shady spot for cats, perhaps with a tarp, bushes, an umbrella, old lawn chairs, etc.
13. Lay frozen water bottles in the shade where the cats can lay next to them (larger bottles stay frozen longer).
14. When extreme heat advisories are in effect (usually when temps exceed 103), it is too hot to TNR as it is more difficult for cats to recover from surgery. If you have to trap for medical reasons, try to do it at night or during early morning hours and try not to leave the cat in the heat in a trap for long.
15. Control bugs when trapping for TNR by putting the trap on top of newspaper and then laying down a ring of food grade diatomaceous earth around the perimeter of the trap to keep insects like ants out. Cats often will not go into a trap if ants are covering the food you use for bait.
Managing Community Cats - A Guide for Municipal Leaders From Animal Sheltering
A Closer Look at Community Cats from the ASPCA
Colony Management - Caring for Your Colony from Feral Cat Focus of WNY
An Overview of Caring for Free-Roaming Cats, How to help your neighborhood's feral felines: tips for keeping neighborhood cats safe, and The Neighborhood Cats TNR Handbook from The Humane Society of the United States
Dealing with fleas and parasites with community cats can be a real challenge! Here is what Alley Cat Allies has to offer on what you can do. And check out these tips from the NYC Feral Cat Initiative!
Managing a Feral Cat Colony from the Zimmer Feline Foundation
Community Cat Programs Handbook: Managing Stray and Feral Cats from Best Friends.
An Overview of Caring for Free-Roaming Cats from The Humane Society.
How to help your neighborhood's feral felines: tips for keeping neighborhood cats safe
When Neighbors do not want the community cats in their yard, you can help them find humane solutions: Steps for Humanely Deterring Cats (aka Neighbor Relations)
Are you seeing posts or hearing people talk about how cats are the cause of the decline in bird populations? Here are some research-based facts on this topic that points to loss of habitat, pesticides, and climate change as being the primary causes:
Humans: The Number One Threat to Wildlife from Alley Cat Allies
Resolving conflicts between cats, wildlife and humans from The Humane Society of the United States
Birds are vanishing from North America from The NY TImes
And from CBS News: "The major reason for bird species decline is loss of habitat, especially grasslands and forests. ... All have experienced declines in some areas since the 1960s and '70s, and further declines are anticipated, due to habitat loss and deforestation, and climate change.”
Are you tuning in to the Community Cats Podcast?
Check this out on Colony Caretaking Tips and Tricks presented by Neighborhood Cats.
“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” Mahatma Gandhi
A great option for cats in the winter. Be sure to use straw and not hay!
10 Tips for helping outdoor cats in winter!
Community Cat Shelters, Condos & Feeding Stations
Visit this site from Neighborhood Cats for several types of winter shelters for community cats.
Did you know that Amazon offers a wide variety of feral cat shelters for your colony or backyard cats?
Visit this Facebook Page dedicated to Community Cat Shelters!
And check out these options from Alley Cat Allies
Alley Cat Advocates offers these tips for Building Winter Shelters for Community Cats
And from Petfinder, How to Build Feral Cat Shelters including a video with lots of helpful hints for any kind of outdoor shelter.
Need a raccoon-resistant feeder? Check out this DIY from Shadow Cats.
Large raccoon-resistant feeder
