Hundreds of mini construction sites will soon give birth to just as many small shelters for stray cats, scattered in yards, on balconies and in alleys this winter. These houses, made by good Samaritans, help to keep the tomcats warm, but also to tackle the scourge of cat overpopulation.
According to her own statement, Sophie Royer initially preferred dogs. But this resident of Saint-Hubert, upset to see homeless kittens in the cold season, decided in 2016 to build a wooden house in front of his home. Quickly, one of its residents even gained the honor of gaining access to the adjacent building: Hatchi, a former traveling cat, has since been adopted by the lady.
She went on to make roofs for cool felines; every year it manufactures and distributes several new models on a voluntary basis and they require the cost of the materials used (container, styrofoam, straw, plexiglass, etc.), i.e. about thirty dollars. “My aim is to encourage people to take turns making them by explaining the method to them so they find it easy,” says Mrs.me Royer.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
Sophia Royer makes a classic model, with a plastic tub, Styrofoam and straw. His personal touch: a small awning in front of the entrance and an exit door with a plexiglass flap (useful for scared cats who feel trapped with only one opening).
The installation of these shelters is not only an impulse from the heart, the purpose of the operation is also to lower the kittens to sterilize them using CSRM programs (Capture, Sterilization, Release, Maintenance) offered by some shelters and municipalities. Saint-Laurent resident Chantal Séguin is a volunteer trapper working with the Montreal SPCA to help curb the city’s cat overpopulation. “It’s a real plague in Quebec, these cats are really pitiful,” laments the one who built and distributed about 70 cat shelters this year, in addition to those installed in her neighborhood.
Big span
A real community of builders of shelters for stray cats has also been structured, who share their manufacturing advice, their materials and their results. It is particularly connected around a Facebook page, “Chats au Chaud”, founded by Alexe Dupont in 2019.
The latter, after seeing videos of shelter projects carried out in the US, had sought to set up his own for his neighbourhood. When he launched a call to collect plastic bins on social media, his request quickly took off and hundreds of people offered to help.
PHOTO FROM HOT CATS FACEBOOK PAGE
Alexe Dupont leads a community to encourage Quebecers to build winter shelters for stray cats.
“At first I just wanted to build a shelter, but when I saw that people were boarding, I decided to create a page”, explains the one who returns to it every autumn by building about 50 shelters and motivates the others to imitate that with instructions.
Since then, several hundred people have now helped. Here, too, the control of the cat population is part of the discussions. “Organisations like Proanima often advise on trapping because the aim is also to get these cats sterilized and not to encourage colonies,” says Mrs.me DuPont.
It’s in the box
Everyone has their own recipe for making a stray cat home, but there is a basic model with options. Carole Lacasse, director of customer service at Proanima, reveals the main points.
“You can take two Rubbermaid-type plastic buckets, place one inside a larger one, and place Styrofoam between the two. You can also do it in wood. At the bottom you can put quick-drying carpets or straw, but above all no hay,” she says. Some use heating pads or lamps; however, caution is advised with these options to avoid any risk of fire.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
One of the cabins made by the resident of Saint-Hubert. It was placed sheltered from the wind, raised and stabilized with a plate on the roof.
Usually, the size of a shelter is planned for a single cat to limit heat loss (in the model proposed by the organization, the nested boxes are 40 liters and 68 liters respectively). Ditto for the opening, ideally eccentric: the animal should just be able to pass the head there, that is, about fifteen centimeters in diameter. The shelter must be raised above the ground, for example with pieces of wood, and ballasted with weight on the roof to stabilize it.
“We can’t just provide shelter, we also have to provide a source of water and food. It is a whole, insists Mme Lacasse. Put them aside, sheltered from the weather. The water should be changed regularly, especially if it freezes. Kibbles do the trick, but they must be removed at night so as not to attract nocturnal animals. »
For these maintenance reasons, she recommends placing the installation in a place that is easily accessible during the winter. It can be on a balcony, in a courtyard or an alley, sheltered from the wind. “Often the cats will tell us if it is placed in the right place and if they adopt the cabin or not”, concludes M.me Lacasse, who advises checking to see if a CSRM program is offered locally.
