General Discussion

So around here it's like 15 degrees outside, with a good amount of snow. There's a young cat, not quite a kitten, sitting outside my front door. I put a small box with a towel and some old flannel sheet scraps. The box also has some of those hand warmers that you open and shake tucked under the bedding so (s)he doesn't burn himself (which I doubt will happen because it so cold. I put a little cat food out there, and watched him eat a bit. He was visibly shivering which is probably bad.

Any tips?

And I don't think I could catch him and take him to the animal shelter, he ran when I went out there :/

sounds like you handled it well! you may be interested in building an insulated cat shelter or two

@Rucks Thanks for the link!

Update: I think he went under the back deck.

Do you have any canned cat food or even a can of tuna? Cats are more inclined to eat food that has a strong smell, so you might be able to lure him to you with that. Raw chicken might work, too.

Unfortunately, if you can't catch him, there's not much else you can do. What you've done so far is very good. If you have an extra blanket or towel, you could drape it over the opening of the box with some uncovered space for him to get in. It would help to keep the warmth inside the box.

If you really want to catch him, you'd have to make him come to you, and it would take some time. Most cats will be afraid if a stranger just walks up to them. (You're bigger than he is, so you are a possible danger in his mind.) If you sit down, it would make you look smaller and less threatening. Speaking to him in a soft voice is good, too. Slowly blinking at a cat tells them that you trust them, and if they blink back it means they trust you, too. (If you do this and he blinks back, you can try to move slowly towards him with your hand out.) Reaching out your hand gives the cat an opportunity to sniff you/check you out while still having an easy escape, so they feel safer. With cats who are afraid, you have to show them that you are not a threat.

If you do catch him and take him to a shelter, please please please take him to a no-kill shelter if at all possible! He'll stand a much better chance of being found by whoever might own him or living out the rest of his life in a good home!

@teacuptiger I don't think they would be able to catch him either, though a live trap would work. I hesitate to do that though because being in a trap would freak any feral cat out :)

@Pombei I might have some canned food somewhere, I'll have to check. I don't really mind him running around out there, I just don't want him to freeze to death. I am going to move the box and maybe wrap it in some plastic or something for more insulation.

Update: As far as I can tell, kitty is still under the deck.

Seems like you did the best you could. Leaving food out would help as others said just be sure to not attract other creatures.

An insulated box is the best thing-- and the hand-warmers were a good idea! It can take time to build trust, but you've given him a cozy shelter, and if you can keep feeding him, you might be able to get him indoors. If it's cold enough and you can open the door without scaring him off and have some fragrant food (tuna or wet cat food) inside, it might lure him in, but I understand you don't want to spend too much time standing around with the door open.

Live traps can be a good idea, especially if you put a towel inside and drape another over it so that it's somewhat insulated. If there's a local organization who traps feral cats to have them fixed, they often have live traps sized to safely capture cats that they will lend for this kind of rescue operation. You just put food inside, and the door closes when the cat steps on the pressure plate, and it usually does a good job of getting a shy feral.

You're doing a really good thing just doing what you've done and I applaud your efforts to do more. Hope you can get that cat inside where it's safe and warm! Plenty of feral cats can become loving pets once they're socialized, and if he's a 'teen', it's easier than socializing an older adult.

@Cwm108 I really appreciate what you've done for this cat :D a lot of folks would just ignore it. However! Cats really don't belong outside, both for their safety and the safety of any cute woodland birds and critters you might see around your neighborhood. If you happen to be in the US, definitely call animal control, it'll be the best for everything involved. The no-kill animal shelter I walked dogs at would work in conjunction with the city's animal control, and could report strays that needed to be picked up. So if you don't want to call animal control itself, google any no-kills in your area and see if they are interested. If you are interested in keeping the cat, that no-kill shelter might also place it on a hold list for you while it's being processed for shots, neuter/spayed, etc.

A more unorthodox method might be to try and see if a local university is doing anything with mammal trapping. My ornithology professor keeps a couple live traps in his lab in case someone's got a feral cat they want off the streets so that he can take them to the ASPCA (he's sort of become the "cat trap guy" in the tiny town my school is in). This is a good way to catch the lil guy and then if you want it as a pet all you need to do is take the cat to the vet.

Since you don't think you can catch it, all you can do is try and keep it in the area with food and the warm box, like the others have said.