In the city of Rutland, Vermont, few might guess that two bustling commercial streets host a very special population. These streets contain a tended feral cat colony.
A nearby resident had been feeding the cats. This well-meaning cat-feeder declined an offer for cat houses to shelter the cats. She did not believe the cats would use them.
"Those kitties sat in freezing wind, just stiff as a board," says Annie Somers of Rutland, a volunteer who rescues cats and places many through a foster home network. "I saw them doing that last year. They certainly needed shelter."
The kitties had been migrating to the back of a restaurant. The only person they’d allow near them was their regular feeder, a woman who works at the restaurant. The cats recognized her car. They knew what time she arrived each day. When she showed up, they would creep out of the woods for their food.
“It is both beautiful and also one of the saddest things I have ever seen, that they have to live this way,” says Annie. “So many of them were, at one time, someone's pet.”
At least at the restaurant, people are responsive to the cats and the food source is ongoing. On a recent night it got so cold that these feral cats, usually fearful, began approaching people in their cars.
Annie Somers told Sue Skaskiw about this. Sue was a good choice, as she leads the Vermont Volunteer Services for Animals Humane Society in nearby Bridgewater, Vermont. Sue's husband, a well-known furniture maker, built insulated cat houses. After adding bedding, Sue sent the cat houses over to Rutland. Annie got home from work and headed over with the cats' new shelters. (Pictured on right: Annie Somers and Elijah the cat.)
"We put them where the cats come to, at edge of the restaurant's property," says Annie. "The shelters were well hidden, but the restaurant doesn't like the cats around. They think it's bad for business when people see cats out in the back of the restaurant.
"So there we were, putting cat houses out and it was freezing out, so cold. We tromped through the woods, pulling branches aside, and setting the houses down. I was sprinkling catnip in the holes."
That's when two police cars arrived. The police shined a spotlight on Annie and another woman who was helping her. The women smiled, doing their best to look like law-abiding citizens. It dawned on Annie that she was holding a clear plastic bag of catnip. Annie, who doesn't even drink, wondered what the police would think of this.
An officer emerged from his car not looking especially friendly. He asked what the women were doing.
"Putting cat houses out," replied Annie reasonably.
He responded, "Cat houses?!"
Annie assured the officer that he'd heard her correctly. She invited him into the woods to look at the cat houses. The officer noted that it was kind of late to be out here doing this sort of activity. Annie acknowledged this, explaining that she gets out of work kind of late.
The officer stood there baffled for a few moments so Annie finally said, "It will take some time for us to take care of them. They are ferals."
The officer nodded. Then, to Annie's utter surprise, the officer explained that he has a feral cat at his house whom he built a little house for. Much reassured about this officer's intentions, Annie let on that after she left this site, she'd be heading over to a car dealership to feed two stray cats there, too. The officer nodded and left.
The next day dawned . . .
The next morning, Annie headed out to the same part of town where she'd heard that another woman was feeding cats. Annie stopped in a random driveway to ask a woman she saw if she knew anyone feeding cats. As luck had it, she'd asked the very woman! Even better, it turned out that Annie and the woman are former work colleagues. When Annie asked her if she could put the feral cat houses on her property, the woman readily agreed.
So the cats' houses are now in a protected place on private property. Rutland Animal Control Officer Craig Petrie transported the cat houses there himself. Annie will deliver food for the woman to continue feeding the cats. The restaurant where the cats were hanging out has agreed to donate food scraps for the kitties, too.
Best of all, Annie says that many of these cats are not completely feral. She says several would be quite adoptable, given time and TLC. Some of these kitties still need to be neutered and spayed. Annie believes that, contained on this woman's property, the cats will be much more easily trapped for transport to a vet's office.
Annie has already taken one friendly male cat inside in preparation for neuter surgery. She calls him Max. This kitty didn’t even need to be trapped. He was thrilled to be in a warm home eating canned food and right away was giving head-bonks to Annie’s chin. Now Max is in a foster home.
Anine's next visit to the yard containing the cat houses was much happier: Several feral cats sat atop the houses as if to proclaim, “These are ours!”
As for the woman who assumed the cats wouldn't use the shelters, Annie says, "I see them sitting in there eating with tails sticking out of the entry hole!"
It was a good day.
LEARN MORE!
Click here to see Annie Somers and Elijah, a feline she rescued from the sidewalk in front of a Rutland bar, on "For the Animals" TV show, hosted by Sue Skaskiw and Pamela Dein of Vermont Volunteer Services for Animals Humane Society (VVSA)
(Pictured: Annie Somers, Elijah the cat, Sue Skaskiw, & Pamela Dein on CATV)
HOW TO MAKE AN OUTDOOR CAT SHELTER
Wooden cat houses, such as the ones VVSA provided for Annie to set up in Rutland, are sturdy and last over time. They can also be made large enough to shelter several cats.
In a pinch, though, you may need to make cat houses quickly and set them out to protect cats in need. For these more temporary but still very worthwhile shelters, Annie buys a plastic storage bin with a lid on it for $3.98. She cuts a hole for entry. She lays pieces of wood in the bottom for weight so it won't blow in the wind. She adds a pillow, and insulating material (such as that seen on water heaters) to reflect body warmth. Atop that, she lays a blanket. She lines the sides of the container with Styrofoam, snaps on the lid, and secures the entire thing in place.
Annie notes: "Plastic keeps them safer from rain and snow than the cardboard shelter I had put out at first for them which I had covered in plastic."
Annie bought storage containers in dark brown. Translucent is available but the visibility through the walls might freak a cat out. Unusual colors, such as turquoise or lime green, may appeal to humans. But for better camouflage protection, dark brown works well. On the outside of the houses, Annie wrote in permanent marker: "VVSA Humane Society," their phone number, and a request not to move the houses as they are helping stray cats.
Adding a pillow after inserting the Styrofoam up against the walls, holds the Styrofoam in place, too. Then there's no need to glue the Styrofoam to the inner walls.
"One thing I have learned is that cats love cushions," smiles Annie. "Whether it is a thin chair cushion you buy at a discount store or something from your home. They just gravitate to them."
The insulating material is sold by the foot from rolls at hardware stores. It is aluminum-colored and shiny. A more expensive version of this sells at pet stores, complete with sewn edges, to reflect warmth back to cats in their beds.
"I just set a plastic dish of food inside of it and went back next day," says Annie. "Was I glad to see it all being used!
When Annie needed to create a quick temporary shelter for the two cats at the car dealership, she taped plastic over a cardboard box to protect it from rain and snow. She taped the garbage bag on neatly and tightly so it would not flap and scare the cats. She weighed it down with two cans of garbanzo beans, one on each side, under the pillow. Vermont winters are so cold that rocks she might have used were frozen into the ground!
"Cats love cardboard anyway and they love holes," says Annie. "You just have to make sure the hole is big enough, especially if you don't know what size cat you are working with. At least I know those two cats have a solid shelter until I trap them. Feeding every day will enable me to trap them easily because they now expect food from me."
Annie estimates that when she sets canned meat in a trap, it will take about 15 minutes for the cats to go for the bait. In this cold weather, the cats cannot be left in a trap for long. So Annie will set the trap, get in her car, and wait.
"Not many organizations will trap in winters here, and I can see why," says Annie. "At the same time, the cats need more help in winter. So I just ignored winter and started trapping when I saw them all out there."
Since winter is inevitable and will not ignore the cats, it's a good thing someone like Annie cares enough to brave the elements on their behalf.
Story posted by Sheryl Rapee-Adams, Best Friends Network Volunteer
Photos used with permission from Annie Somers