It all started when my lady spotted some black bowls around our apartment complex. She was pretty sure they weren't litter, and one evening she saw a black cat eating from one of the bowls! She wrote a note on her business card and taped it to the inside of the empty bowl.
The next day she got a very nice email from the person who was feeding the cat. We asked if we could help and she said yes! She had no idea that other people cared for outdoor cats, just like her. My lady told her all about Alley Cat Allies, and our new friend was so relieved to know she wasn't alone.
We told her we could help improve the life of this outdoor cat by getting him neutered. The lady was also worried about the cold winter coming, so we offered to build a shelter. That was our project this weekend!
Fortunately Alley Cat Allies has lots of shelter ideas and guidelines on their website. We picked one of the shelter options that looked like it would fit out needs best and got to work.
First we needed two bins, a big bin for the outside shell and a little bin just big enough for a cat to curl up and be cozy in.
Big bin, meet little bin!
We cut a 7" hole on one of the short sides of the big bin a few inches from the bottom. That would be the entrance for the cat. That size hole should be big enough for our tom cat, but should still keep out other critters like possums and raccoons. Next step was to cut a piece of insulating foam for the bottom of the big bin. That way any cold from the ground won't get in to make our cat chilly. Then we put the little bin inside the big bin.
Next step was to make a tunnel from the hole in the big bin through to the little bin. The instructions we read said to use some corrugated tubing, but we couldn't find one that was a big enough diameter, so we cut the bottom off a plastic pot. It worked great! When we put the pot through the hole in the big bin, we could measure how big we needed to make the hole in the little bin. When we cut everything, all the parts fit together perfectly and snugly.
You guys look GREAT together.
The next part was the messiest and MY favorite. My lady bought a big bale of straw and started shoving a bunch of it in all the open spaces. My fella also suggested we put some left over foam bits on the side. Straw was everywhere on our little apartment balcony!
Straw also went inside the little bin. That's where our cat will go to stay dry and warm. We put the lid on the little bin, and then put more straw on top and all over it before finally putting the top to the big bin on.
Looks cozy...
You can see the complete instructions for making a shelter like this on Spay and Stay's website. It wasn't too hard to make, and cost under $30. Pretty nifty, right?
After our shelter was built, we had to put it some place the cat could use it. The exact location is TOP SECRET so no one messes with it, but it's somewhere in the woods so it won't bother property management.
The field and woods by our apartment, lookin' down right wintery.
Ready for a cat to move in!
It may take our cat a little while to decide that the shelter we made is safe, and/or a better place to stay dry and warm than where he usually goes. We'll just have to keep an eye on it and see!
That's very kind of woo mates! We will keep this design in mind. Play bows,
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-s- what a brilliant and really kind thing to do!! people forget ferals need love and comfort too..my gran use to feed a pack of feral cats at the back of her house..and the people came to neuter them with grans help...thank god for people like you is what I say.
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