# Hearts breaking



## Mystified_Mark (Aug 2, 2020)

We've been feeding a 'feral' calico off the back porch. Recently, she comes to sit by the back door, makes little sounds, seems to want to join the family. Trouble is, two other rescued female cats are already in our tiny house, and one of them is pretty territorial. We're sad we can't take her in, with winter on the horizon. We've been talking about setting up a shelter on the porch. No ideal solution is evident. Has anyone dealt with this before?


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## Mosi (May 17, 2021)

I bet a lot of people have. Almost anyone who has fed ferals has had this experience.

You can make a nice cat house on your porch, and she will use it. Blankets she can crawl into, maybe even put a hot water bottle in there for a little while to warm it up ahead of time.
If you insulate the cat house it will keep her warm enough unless you have very bitterly cold winters where you live.

I have a friend who built the cat house under the dryer vent of her house and ran the dryer all night long but that seemed a bit excessive to me.


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## Bug861 (Apr 17, 2021)

I had a pregnant feral visit my yard each day for a year. I used a big plastic dog house with the top on. And lined the entire thing with the reflective bubble foil. Then lined the entire thing with cloth. I also put some super soft blankets. And placed a drop cloth over it. She only used it a couple of time. The male cat started to use it, unfortunately he was in a terrible fight and I never saw him again. Now I have one of the kittens (now 4 months old) and he’s sleeping in a pot filled with dirt. So I’m going to empty the dirt and get a blanket. Till he can understand not be scared of the dog house. Mom cat doesn’t come around anymore. You can make something called “jasmine rice bag”. You can use an old socks, fill with jasmine rice, tie the end. Put It in microwave for 2 minutes. Warm up the cats blankets.


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## Mosi (May 17, 2021)

Any rice will do for that, actually you can just get the cheapest kind you can find, and don't need to use jasmine rice. Just FYI.


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