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Strays were once a Pet that was lost or abandoned. Ferals are usually kittens of strays and have never been touched by a human hand. Strays or Ferals who live in the wild and survive in allies or elsewhere - need a little help.

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About Strays Habits and Needs article by hkh Strays and Ferals: While Strays and Feral Cats have certain traits; like garbage picking, their lives are lived in plight and fear. Their survival is based on daily activities, which decide if they live tomorrow. People, in a world of turmoil, find it hard to acknowledge these simple facts and it is unbelievable how a gesture of kindness can go a long way. Ferals and Strays, need our help with food, shelter and by means of Spaying and Neutering: IF you want to contribute to helping the stray population, speak to your vet and ask if they will spay or neuter a stray and how much. If you are able to catch a Stray and have it neutered, you are helping the excistance of the animal and assisting in keeping down population and disease. I hear some saying "oh just put the damn cat down, that'll help the populations!", but in reality, our eco system needs the services of our estranged little felines. Farmers use them as a cheap means of keeping down mice populations when in fact they do not really like eating the mice, unless it is of dire neccessity and starvation, however they do enjoy the sport of hunt, the catch and the play. Their purpose is to serve humans and make great companions. This is possible - over time - even when they are strays. It takes time and dedication to befriend such an animal and an honor to accomplish. Ferals - are the more wild and abused, deathly fearful of humans, therefore are practically unapproachable and will get violent out of sheer fear and mistrust if captured, so don't ever think you can just capture one and be friends with it. Being "Friends" takes time, dedication and a true soul. >

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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