Help Provide Warm Winter Shelter For Community Cats

DIY SHELTER PROJECT FOR DUMPED COMMUNITY CATS

Over 25 community cats living at an apartment complex dumpster are in desperate need of a permanent solution for shelters before the bitter cold winter weather arrives. Many of these cats were dumped there intentionally by owners and even apartment complex management themselves. The majority of the cats never had to fend for themselves for food and some will be experiencing their first winter outdoors. We try to get as many placement as possible but the colony grows every year because it is a dumping ground. It’s crucial that we stay on TNRing and getting new cats placed/ rehomed/rescued/ adopted to keep them at a manageable number. This year so far 5 cats have been able to find placement and we hope to get at least 3-4 more out of the situation before the end of the year.

Over the last 4 years we have been fortunate to have a small dedicated team of feeders that’s feed only at night when it’s more discrete since the management at the apartment complex is NOT cat friendly. They have expressed ill will towards the cats and anyone feeding them. Ironically as mentioned above, staff themselves have dumped cats at the scene themselves after emptying out apartments containing abandoned cats.

Because of this, we have never been able to get them stable shelter and every winter it’s heart wrenching when they come eat and their fur has icecicles and to see some of them trembling facing their first winter. I would like to think they have somewhere warm but I can’t imagine where they go to escape the bitter cold. My hope is that somewhere in the heavily wooded areas they have some kind of burrow!?

In the past we have made so many feral cat shelters/bins and tried hiding a nice wooden cat house but to find that they’ve been discovered and tossed /hacked down. There is only one place that is safe/low key enough to hide a shelter because it is difficult to access. Not only is it heavily wooded and thick and it’s right behind the dumpsters where it slopes fairly steep. It’s definitely an area where no one is going out of their way to look or go. So once the shelters are put in place it’s not somewhere that one would want to go regularly even to maintain it let alone discover/remove it. This is why wooden houses that could rot or sink into the ground or need refreshing of bedding/straw may not be ideal.

⭐️What we are proposing for shelters are truck/camper tops⭐️A truck top is strong, durable, difficult for anyone to remove and also low to the ground, so less visible to the eye as we want to draw little to no attention to the cats as possible for people who would try to harm.

This is something we’ve wanted to do for them for a while now but because of cost and the considerable amount of work involved/additional help needed we have been unable to bring it to fruition. This year we would love to make this happen if we could have your support- it would bring us all (myself and the colony feeders) much relief to know they have something that is a permanent adequate shelter that is both safe and warm.

THE PLAN: although we will set our goal for 1 large size camper top, ideally we would need 2. We are proposing 1-2 camper /truck toppers depending on size. Must be able to make 2 exits. Several materials will be needed as well. We will line the inside with durable insulation and spray paint/camouflage the outer shell and windows so no outsiders can see the cats. We also need to cover the top with some artificial shrubs and a throw a couple bails of pine straw over the top and around for extra safety purposes. The truck top will sit on several pieces of weather treated 2x4’s/ planks rather than directly on the ground. Inside there will be a couple bails of straw. We will most likely find the truck top on FB marketplace. We will need to rent a truck to pick up and later transport it -and pay an extra strong man or 2 to lift/transport /help assemble the shelter during late hours.

Temperatures are dropping fast and they need time to acclimate to the new shelter. Please remember homeless abandoned kitties this holiday seasonthey need our help.

The funds cover the truck topper, transportation of the truck topper(truck rental), thick insulation throughout inside, camouflage paint and artificial shrubs, strong pressure treated wood (not pallets) for it to sit on, and lots of straw for the inside. Possibly will need to hire another strong man to help assemble.

Finally, I just want to conclude by saying thank you to anyone supporting this cause. I realize it is not a straightforward, cheap or ideal plan but we are willing the make it happen if you will support it! It’s might not seem cost efficient solution but IT IS LONGTERM and safe for them and we know it will work! It will provide shelter for the years to come. Most of all, it could save their lives. We appreciative of your support but so will many homeless cats! We are grateful for any donation big or small

This is where we got the idea from a cat rescue resource.Camper Topper Shelter Alley Cat Allies

Some of our colonies cats we helped recently find adoption, rescue, or TNVRd: