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How and where you feed a colony of
feral cats can depend on circumstances beyond your control. If they
live behind a fence which you can't get behind, then you're clearly
limited in what you can do. If you have access to the cats'
territory, but only at inconsistent times, that factor will drive how you
feed them. Basically, you try to do the best you can and come as
close to the ideal as possible.
Location
 Ideally, the feeding station will be located at a spot where the
caretaker has regular access, but is not visible or even accessible to the
public. This protects the cats and makes it easy for them to come
and go. Again, you have to adapt to the circumstances. For
example, if you must feed through a fence, then buy an arm extender
(available for about $8 at hardware stores - it's the tool used in stores
for reaching items on higher shelves). Use the extender to push the
food and water bowls out of arm's reach of your side of the fence (but not
so far that you can't retrieve them). If you feed in an alley, but
it's accessible to others, then try to hide the spot where you feed with a
board or piece of wood.
The Station
Of course there are many possible variations on a station to put the
food and water in. You need enough room for one or two cats and the food
and water, plus it should be covered to protect from rain. One simple idea
is a wooden box with one side completely open. It's important that one
side be open because only a small opening or doorway could allow one cat
to stay or sleep in there and keep the other cats out. If you (or anyone
you know) does carpentry, build the box with a pitched roof. Because
the station will be outdoors, it would be best to seal the seams of the
box with silicone and give the wood a couple of coats of deck paint.
Otherwise, if you're using plywood, it will quickly rot.
Another idea is to buy a Rubbermaid storage
bin and, using a box-cutter, cut out most of one of the long sides,
leaving a few inches off the ground to prevent flooding. It's easy to
clean because of the removable top and quick to put together. Small automatic feeders and waterers will fit inside.
If you're not able to place a
station on your site, there is one trick you can use if it might rain. Put dry food into a tupperware container and then rest the lid
upside down on top. This will keep the rain from getting to the
food, but if a hungry cat comes along before or after the rain, she can
just push the lid off and eat.
Depending on how often you're
able to put out food, you might consider using automatic dry food
dispensers and waterers. If you do, the station should be big enough
to hold them. We recommend the Le Bistro brand. Different
sizes at the best prices we've found are available through KV Vet Supply
(1-800-423-8211 or www.kvvet.com). A ten pound feeder costs $14.95, and a 2.75 gallon waterer also goes
for $14.95.
Trapping
Maintaining a regular feeding spot or station prior to trapping gives
you the advantage of knowing where to find the cats. If you then
feed at a consistent time of day, you'll also know when they'll be there. Knowing where and when the cats are coming, and essentially
allowing them to come to you, makes trapping a lot easier than trying to
go find them.
Winter Weather
Wet food, because it contains a large percentage of water, freezes in
cold weather and so cannot be relied upon unless the cats come right away
to eat it. Dry food then becomes the staple. One exception is
if you are using, for the cats' sleeping quarters, a feral cat winter
shelter similar to the one described on our Info page. These
shelters trap body heat and keep the interior warm enough to prevent or
reverse freezing. So you can place a small bowl of wet food inside
the shelter in a corner, and often it will get eaten. But never put
water inside the shelter - it could get easily spilled and it is just as
important, to prevent illness, that a cat be dry in winter as warm.
Ants
One way to keep ants out of the cats' food is to create a little moat.
Take a small tray of some sort that can hold a ½ inch of water, put
water in it, and then put the bowl of food on the tray. The water
surrounding the bowl will prevent ants from reaching the food, but the
cats can still lean over and eat.
Clean up!
Many feeders of outdoor cats put down cans, plates and bowls with the
obvious intention of helping the cats. But then they just leave a mess for
some theoretical person, or no one as the case may be, to come and clean
up. Naturally, this engenders hostility among neighbors towards the feeder
and, vicariously, the cats. For the cats' sake, as well as out of respect
for the community, feeding areas should be kept as clean as possible.
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