It's good of you to want to help them, Lucille. This is an issue I'm dealing with this weekend--and the cats are my own. I have two indoor cats and two cats that stay outside during the day and come in at night. I keep a dog house on the porch for the latter two, warmed with microwavable disks when needed. But we're having a big snow/sleet/ice storm, and tomorrow's temperature is predicted to fall below zero, with high winds from tomorrow night through Monday night. I don't want the cats outside in dangerous temperatures.

They don't get along with my indoor cats, so it gets complicated. I'm going to try keeping them in the basement for a couple of days. I hate messing with their routine, but I can't think of a better way to deal with this.

Best of luck to you and the kitties!

We put out food for any in need. We have a sheltered area in the back yard where the animals can get out of the wind. We see a big gray fluffy cat come out of there occasionally. We don't know if it has a home or not. It's 45 here now so I think they will be OK. Luckily no ice or snow.

I'm glad your hitchhiker kitty made it home. I have my tricycle outside my front door with a nice fitted tarp made for bicycles/tricycles and there is about 4 square feet of room under it they can us as a shelter and their tray of food/water is just outside the tarp. But I don't know if they would share the same space, but is is all I have to offer.

Alisande I hope they get through the storm and get into your basement and stay safe, it is good of you to provide that room for them.

Just remember, pet food left outside attracts animals other than the dogs or cats you may be trying to feed. It attracts skunks, raccoons, coyote - even rats. It's really not a great idea.

Well, the cats have the area staked out so the rats aren't going to come around. And the placement of the tray between the tricycle and the wall would only allow for very small animals.

There may be a highly entertaining chapter of this thread (to others, not to me) if I ever get skunked, however.

A suggestion for those wishing to provide shelter. If you can find it straw makes for better insulation than does cloth. Cloth when fur is wet can absorb the moisture and become icy. Straw does not absorb as much moisture and will maintain it's insulating ability. A true feral normally will not enter a place that does not have two entrances. A cloth partially covering the door can be acceptable to some ferals but not all if they can see out of the shelter.

A neighbor and I provided food and shelter for a neighborhood cat that acted like a feral whose owner died and it was kicked out of its home. The above are things that we learned. His favorite was a roll of wire with blankets draped around it stuffed with leaves and grass with a piece of plastic over all.

I feed the little ferals at work. Well, some of them anyway. There are probably hundreds in and around the whole property. I have about 8 regulars. It's an outdoor facility, surrounded by fields, so there is a food source for them anyway. They bring me mice all the time. Ick. There are a couple empty buildings that we leave the doors open on for them to go in out of the rain or wind.

I was told that "they" dont want anyone feeding the cats.....

However I suspect that the elite "they" in question are home, asleep and quite unconcerned about the goings on of the night shift. Besides, a few years ago, "they" called in a pest control company to trap and remove the cats. The men that came to do the job said that they drop them at the shelter,likely to be euthanized immediately, as they get their traps back the next day. Anyway. Once all the cats were gone....guess what? We were overrun with rats and then snakes. No pest control company could control it. Finally some more feral cats moved in and handled it. Haven't heard any more genius ideas about the cats from the college educated and therefore better than thou "they." They teach cause and effect in elementary school. I guess they needed that room in their brains for all that higher edumacation....

amylou see if there is a TNR, trap, neuter, release, group that works in your area. It will decrease the number of kittens that are born to the group. However if there are any that are diseased, feline leukemia, they may be destroyed rather than be put back into general population. Some groups have enough money to do the testing others do not.

I'm curious - how cold is 'freezing cold' in Houston terms? It's 8 degrees outside here right now, which I would expect to be too cold for cats. I know there are feral cats around my neighborhood, but I also know they are expert at finding comfortable places to survive outdoors.

Raven lives north of me and she is at 45 but my local temp is supposed to get to 32. 8 is too cold for anything, but I don't think these 2 kitties have an indoor apt where they go. There are some inside hallways that shelter from the wind and of course under my bike tarp.

I think the low is supposed to be 31. That is cold for here.

The wind has been getting on my every last nerve. I have been irritable all day.

super cold up here in the middle of Oklahoma... and I feel so bad, for all the homeless people we have...

adding, it's 23 right now, supposed to go down to 18

If you look on line, there are some easy to make feral cat shelters...

SE Wisc: It going down to 10F tonight with wind - Cold. My furnace has its work to do. I'm glad that I got the snow cleared away this morning. We did not get a newspaper delivered this morning. Maybe its under the snow on the lawn and I'll find it during the spring thaw.

Our temps feel like about 10 below zero with the wind chill this morning according to the meteorologist on the news. I have four styrofoam/tote shelters stuffed with straw, a couple with heat pads in them, as we have at least two neighbor cats and one stray that hang around here. I have been putting the food on the porch to feed the stray - I’ve been trying to trap him so I can see if he’s truly feral or if maybe he has a chip. I checked the porch cameras and we had no visits to the food overnight, so hopefully the neighbors kept their kitties in and the stray is hunkered down somewhere warm.

Outdoor cats or feral cats would never survive in my neighborhood. Red tailed hawks and coyotes prevent a growing population.

What is 'freezing cold' for you? Curious. I'm in Canada. :)

Can't speak for Lucille, but for me it would be anything below 60°. :-)

It’s a balmy 6 degrees outside right now, with the windchill it’s -20 and that’s with the sun out. I haven’t seen any animals in our neighborhood that are kept outdoors or ferel for about 2 years. The last time I did, the weather was similar to what it is now and it was a cat that looked very lost. DH had the dog out to potty when it went up to her as if she was asking for help. We brought her in and fostered her while we tried to find her owner. After a couple of weeks with no luck, I found her a new home where she is completely spoiled.

I hope those kitties are able to find a warm place, I hate seeing homeless animals, it’s just not right.

Debby water freezes at 32F wherever you are. But I'm with Marilyn, anything below 50-60 and it is cold.

Not to side track the thread, but my dog definitely wears clothes outside in this weather. I dress her up sometimes just for show, but when it gets cold she has a little sweater and a jacket.

Lucille, Little Lil refuses any coats ect. but loves to be under blankets..she uses an indoor potty pad. Rosy also uses a potty pad but loves her indoor nighties. She's a fashion diva for sure, but really it's because she gets chilled so easily. Anything below 72 and she wants to barrow under the blanket. So common with small dogs.

It is sad to see animals outdoors in the cold. I'm in Pennsylvania so it's cold. A few years ago, a neighbor gave me an igloo type dog house which I put bales of hay in. We are in dairy farm land so hay is plenty full and cheap or free. The farmer up the street told me to take what I want whenever I need it for the dog house. Before the holidays we put 3 bales in, broken up of course. We have it in the field beside us along the wood line about 200 feet from our house. I've only seen one cat this year around it. We take cheap cat kibble down and put it inside once in awhile. It's always empty when we go back so somethings getting its belly full but it could be any number of wild critters.

Your doing a good Lucille.

We have quite a few feral cats in the neighborhood, along with a couple of coyotes and hawks. There are several people who maintain cold weather shelters in their yards for the cats.

I was looking out the window this morning and noticed fresh rabbit tracks in the snow that abruptly ended in a disturbed patch. I am thinking that Mr. Hawk had a good breakfast.

We have a friend who feeds and tries to TNR the numerous strays and ferals in his area. He turns covered storage containers into cold weather shelters, it's pretty easy to do and cheap and really keeps them warm. Lots of how-to's on youtube and on animal rescue websites. As for homeless people mentioned above, while I do feel badly for them as well, they can go to shelters during inclement weather. Stray/feral animals cannot.

Below zero F. around here, with 35 m p h wind.

Good time to stay inside.

Haven't seen feral cats.

o j

Temps are plummeting and tomorrow will be minus 22 windchill index Five above in real time. I have no stray cats but any people who let their pets, dogs or cats outside should be dunked in a pond and made to sit outside all night.