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Strays were once a Pet that was lost or abandoned. Ferals are kittens of strays and have never been touched by a person.

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How to Befriend Stray and Feral Cats article by hkh Befriending Strays and Ferals: First and foremost, you need patience before even considering befriending strays or ferals. Patience, understanding and the desire to really want to make a lifelong buddy are the keys to successfully accomplishing that bond. As opposed to adult felines, young 4-5 week old feral Kittens are the easiest of the two to catch - which is why we always keep our eyes and ears alert for kittens. Catching Kittens We begin making friends by bringing food twice each day at a regular time, so they grow to expect their feeding and depend on it. At first most feral kittens will run but after a week maybe more, while placing the food, they'll usually come around to jump the food, so that's the chance we slowly take to attempt to pat them on the top of the head, between their ears. (they like that) They'll usually tolerate it too, if the hand movement is slow and they are eating. When they are finished they may leave or there may be one or two that stay and befriend you with time. It's a start and you need to take it step by step from there. (if one or more is friendly with you, then bonus, chances are you'll be able to scoup them all and get them off the streets! Or call a no-kill shelter and get them to wait not far from you so you can scoup them and once they are caged, hand them over to the shelter's staff in attendance. They'll be in good hands from there.) Now if it takes time to catch the kittens, be careful about eye contact. Eye contact is not made at first, only a bit here and there. If they look like they want to bolt because one of us is looking at them, then, we look away - immediately and put our eyes down. (this shows submission and non aggressive behavior) We never make it like we're in a hurry because any quick - loud - or abrupt movement will cause them to run as fast as their legs can take them (and boy oh boy, can they ran as fast as the wind!).

Food to Feed Stray Kittens 4-5 week old kittens are usually in the beginning of weaning off their moms, which means they are probably a little hungry. Sudden changes in their diets can and does make them sick, so caution needs to be taken. We begin by using Carnation Milk, Rice Pablum and a bit of Wet Can Food. Using 1/4 cup of Carnation Milk, we dilute it with 1/4 cup water, half a cup of rice pablum and 1/2 a can of wet can food. If they handle this well after 2 days, then add an egg once daily to their food. The recipe is one feeding for 4-5 kittens and kittens should eat 3 times a day until they are at least 4 months old, then twice daily.

Whether a Stray or a Feral, these animals have basic human requirements. Food, Shelter and Respect. When food is scarce, they require people help Now we're not saying to give outdoor animals your table scraps because that's a no-no, but a bag of dry food of a decent quality, can sparingly go a long way without interupting it's independance. I can vouch that any animal that you feed on a daily "handful" basis, will hang out and catch any mice or uninvited rodents you have running around. And yes, even if you are feeding them only a handful a day, a stray or feral will do what nature calls them to do naturally. The following concepts are basic requirements that can assist outdoor cats survive outdoors.

Outdoor Shelters Winter is of course, the hardest season for all outdoor animals to survive. Besides the bitter cold, there is also a severe lack of outdoor food. Mice, Gophers and Birds, the three most common food sources for these critters -when they can't find anything else to eat, are scarce during the cold winter months. Sunlight can play a major role in keeping an insulated area warm, by natural heating. Find out how to make an outdoor shelter out of almost anything, that help strays survive all year round.

Water for Drinking Now no matter the season, anything that lives requires water so as not to dehydrate. An easy way to help all animals outdoors (birds included) is to leave rain buckets around areas where they will collect rain easily. By leaving the bucket on a slight tilt with a one inch block of wood, water can be collected in a smaller clean margarine container leaning into the bucket. This way, water drains into the margarine container and animals can drink when needed. BE sure to keep any used container as clean as possible. If several animals drink from the container, you want to be sure that there is no chance of spreading diseases, amongst the felines or other animals that drink from the same container.

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