What follows is a scientific guide to feeding stray cats, packed with practical information. It's for those of us who, like us, have our hearts set on feeding these little furballs navigating the concrete jungle, yet are always unsure if we're doing it right.
Let's start by addressing a fundamental question: should we feed stray cats or not?
It's important to clarify that we do not recommend long-term, unregulated, large-scale feeding of stray cats, as this will only exacerbate their breeding, strain the relationship between animals and humans, and worsen their living conditions in cities. However, we encourage the scientific feeding of stray cats. Choosing the right feeding methods can not only ensure more animals are fed and survive, but also help them effectively extend their lifespan in outdoor conditions, and even ultimately help them change their fate, find homes, and become loving and caring kittens.
Let's take a look at how to effectively feed stray cats. First, let's highlight the key points.
Next, we'll delve into the details, which will be packed with useful information.
#01 Cat Feeding Time
Try to feed them in the early morning (winter) or at night when there are fewer people (summer).
#02 Cat Feeding Location
Important: Wherever you feed the cats, always keep the feeding area clean and hygienic. This is crucial for making cat feeding sustainable.
① Choose to feed stray cats in secluded, quiet corners where there are few people. Avoid feeding them under the windows of first-floor residents, at the entrance of the building, or at the entrance of the community. Feeding stray cats in densely populated areas for a long time will cause stray cats to gather, affect human life, cause conflicts, and indirectly affect the safety of the cats.
② If there are dogs nearby, please raise the height of the feeding container and move it to a high place that the dogs cannot reach to avoid cats and dogs fighting over food, which is not good for the cat's safety.
#03 Feeding Container
① You can choose reusable non-plastic containers, such as ceramic bowls or aluminum food boxes. When feeding your cat, carry a disposable dishcloth with you to clean the cat's food bowl before feeding. Be sure to take away any trash generated after feeding.
If cleaning is difficult, you can put a plastic bag over the porcelain bowl and change the bag when it gets dirty (similar to how food stalls do it). Be careful with disposable paper bowls—in Beijing in spring, a strong wind can make them disappear.
② You can make a feeding box by joining two foam boxes together. Make sure the opening size is large enough to fit a bowl for easy access. Waterproof and camouflage the outside.
In winter when it snows and in summer when it rains, remember to elevate the bottom of the feeding bowl as much as possible to prevent it from being soaked in sewage.
#04 Feeding Amount
I repeatedly instructed: Feed moderately, feed moderately, feed moderately.
Overfeeding will inevitably result in leftover food, which will not only spoil and cause the kitten to get an upset stomach, but will also attract a large number of insects, flies, hedgehogs, weasels and other pests.
#05 Food and Water
① Choose a quality-assured, economical cat food. Low-end cat food from reputable manufacturers is usually a good choice, at least it won't make you sick.
②Dry food and freeze-dried food are more ideal than canned food in summer, as they have a longer shelf life and are less prone to spoilage. The most serious problems in summer are food spoilage and flies and ants, so please keep dry and wet foods separate, that is, keep canned food in one bowl and dry food in another dish, and do not mix them together.
In addition, it is best to keep a distance between the water basin and the food basin to avoid cross-contamination (such as food being brought into the water basin).
In northern winters, water for stray cats can easily freeze. Besides providing ample dry food, you can mix hot water with canned food to encourage them to eat as much wet food as possible before the water freezes, thus replenishing their hydration. With sufficient moisture in their food, there's less need to worry about whether the cat can drink water quickly enough.
③ Never feed stray cats fish with bones, chicken bones, or even moldy rice, snacks, or other human food. This will only make you feel good. Injuries to their mouths or stomach upset can be fatal to cats without medical help. When feeding stray cats, safety is paramount. It's not about how good the food is, but about ensuring they don't die from it.
④ Ensure a clean and sufficient supply of drinking water, especially in summer. You can skip a meal, but you really can't live without water.
Water freezes easily in winter. You can pour hot water into an aluminum lunchbox, wrap it with several layers of towels, stuff it into a foam insulated box, and place a hand warmer underneath to slightly prolong the time before the water freezes. However, it's safer to change the water more often. Alternatively, you can combine this with method ② and make hot soup for your cats to encourage them to drink their fill before the water freezes.
During Beijing Adoption Day in winter, patented slow-freezing water bowls will be given away for free. You can apply for one at that time. Of course, if you are handy, you can also buy the materials online and make one yourself.
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#06 Combining feeding and sterilization
Simply feeding stray cats will only cause their numbers to grow wildly until they become so numerous in an area that they affect human life, which is the outcome we all want to avoid.
Therefore, long-term feeding without spaying/neutering is unscientific, irresponsible, and unsustainable. When feeding stray cats that are not friendly, please promote TNR (Trap, Neuter, Return) as much as possible; for friendly stray cats, promote TNA (Trap, Neuter, Adopt). Entering a home is the best possible outcome for a stray animal, bar none. Even if a cat chooses to continue living outdoors, spaying/neutering can minimize their risk of disease and reproductive complications, and extend their lifespan. A cat's basic needs for food, warmth, and sexual activity must be addressed simultaneously and effectively.
To help more community rescuers alleviate the financial burden of sterilization, various social organizations and pet hospitals offer free or affordable sterilization programs, including Beijing Adoption Day. Click here to apply for a sterilization voucher ⬇️.
#07 Community Relations
Maintaining good relationships with your neighbors, property management, and security guards is a great help in feeding stray cats scientifically. Their tolerance will help stray cats integrate into the human community environment more smoothly.
Unite the strength of everyone who can be united, overcome social anxiety, and get more cat lovers in the neighborhood to join in. Don't be a lonely and aloof cat feeder—that way, even if your neighbors criticize your cat feeding spot, at least someone will speak up for you and stand up for the cats.
#08 How to protect yourself
The recent high-profile case of a man tripping over a stray cat and the person who fed him paying 240,000 yuan in damages, despite the Shanghai Minhang District People's Court issuing a retrial ruling that may lead to a new twist, has undoubtedly left a shadow in the minds of other cat feeders. How can we protect ourselves from getting involved in disputes while feeding stray cats? Here's a crucial reminder:
① If a friendly cat appears at a cat feeding spot, please promptly and properly place it at a transit station and help it find an adopter. Transit stations include, but are not limited to, your home, a friend's home, or various boarding facilities such as veterinary clinics and pet stores. Do not temporarily place it in commercial or office locations! It is very dangerous for friendly cats to wander the streets. Like little fools, they cannot distinguish who is there to feed them, who is there to cause trouble, or who might accidentally trip them up or even scratch them while being played with in a friendly manner.
② During daily cat feeding, kindly remind nearby residents and passersby (especially children) not to approach the cat feeding area or stray cats. When communicating, pay attention to some techniques; try to talk from a perspective of caring for and protecting the cat, rather than simply protecting the cat itself. For example, say, "The cat might have fleas, and it wouldn't be good if they got on you. The cat might be possessive of its food, and it wouldn't be good if it hit you." Speaking from a human perspective is more likely to evoke empathy and encourage people to stay away.
Helping a stray cat is never a bad thing. We should do our best to make things perfect, keep the cat feeding area clean, maintain good relationships with the neighborhood, implement TNR (Trap-Return-to-Nurse) to prevent the number of stray cats in the community from increasing, and relocate and rehom cats that belong to our cats. This is the real way to protect them and also protects us cat feeders from getting caught up in the "good deeds go unrewarded" situation.
Look ⬆️, although it's not a luxurious cat feeding spot, you can see that the cat feeder is doing their best to keep it clean and tidy, which is one of the prerequisites for "the cat is happy and we are happy".
P.S. A tutorial on making a fly trap has been provided by a rescuer named Dayanzi. Friends who are worried about too many flies in the summer can try making one.
Swipe to see the fly trap tutorial and precautions.
Of course, this lengthy article is not about telling you to refuse a kitten lying in front of you that is about to starve to death; life-or-death emergency feeding is not within the scope of our discussion.
However, if your company or community has a stray cat care center, and you are willing to do something to help stray cats share this world with us more sustainably, stably, safely, and healthily, you can refer to the above actions.
May every wandering kitten eventually return home, and may every kitten that doesn't want to go home be healthy and safe, and together with humans, become the masters of this world.
