Imprinting cages
Cat Food
Our cats are eating 2 kinds of dry food, Purina One and Kirkland Premium Chicken & Rice. One or the other is fine.
Feel free to upgrade to a higher quality food, but please don’t downgrade to poor-quality dry food such as Meow Mix, Kit’n Kaboodle, or Whiskas.
Canned food: Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Chicken or any Friskies poultry flavor.
Cat Dishes
2 shallow saucers - for wet food (one saucer per cat)
2 large heavy ceramic bowls - one for dry food, one for water.
Wireless Cameras
We request our adopters set up a wireless camera to monitor the cats and any wildlife coming in and out of the imprinting area. Inexpensive cameras are available.
Ant-proof food and water bowl.
Litter boxes and Litter
Scoop for litter
High-sided litter box
Outdoor litter box for garden after release.
Shelters
Heated shelter large enough for 2 cats. Purchase on Chewy.
Heating pads are a good option for cold nights. Purchase on Amazon here.
Cat Cave or Covered bed
Covered beds are useful to provide cats a place to hide so they feel more comfortable in a new environment.
Ping pong balls, toy mice, catnip toys and other small items are fun too.
Straw can be used for bedding. This will keep the cats warm even when they’re wet. Do not use hay!
Keeping outdoor cats healthy with flea treatment and dewormers
Capstar and Vetastar (pill form, kills live fleas)
Advantage II or Revolution (topical, kills fleas and eggs)
Food grade diatomaceous earth; spread this on the ground and on bedding to reduce fleas.
Instructions on how to feed your cat diatomaceous earth
How To Use Diatomaceous Earth As A Parasite Cleanse For Humans, Pets, And Livestock
A broad spectrum dewormer should be given once a month. You can give Profender, a topical dewormer, for cats that will allow you to pet them.
For cats that don’t allow you to pet them, you can include generic Drontal tablets in their food.
Other information
Oscillot Cat Fence Rollers are a good solution if you want to keep your garden cat in your yard.
Fencing around your yard can keep cats safe when your property is near a highway or a high-traffic street.
Scratch Pads or tall posts
Door flap to allow cats to go inside for safety
Advice for shy or fearful cats
Feral cats and how to tame them - a method for working with feral cats to socialize them.
For a shy or under-socialized cat, the world can be a scary place. If a cat feels threatened by the world around them (even if these threats are imagined), they can quickly withdraw from social activities and spend all day hiding. Working with a shy/fearful cat takes time and patience, but the experience is extremely rewarding!
Spirit cats are cats that are very shy with people. They live in your home, but are rarely seen - visitors will probably never see them. They are cats who live with you, and who may sometimes grant you the opportunity to touch them. Or, they may not.
Socializing feral cats - tips and advice.
Not everyone appreciates having working cats in their neighborhood. If you believe your neighbors will be bothered by your cats, here are some tips you and they might employ to keep the cats away where they’re not welcome.