The ideal is a cat house or a dog house. You can place straw inside and and
face the door away from the wind. You are wonderful to help him.
Gail

If you can provide him with a shelter to get in out of the wind and rain he
should be ok. Please also consider getting this boy neutered. You can trap
him with a live trap (these can usually be borrowed from a shelter or rescue
group for this purpose) and check around for a vet who is ok dealing with
ferals. You can go online and search for low cost spay/neuter to find any
voucher programs in your area. Once you get his weight up he will be healthy
enough to be out there reproducing. He'll stay much healthier if he doesn't
engage in that behavior and the cat fights that come with it.

W

Straw or some similar natural material is best for thermal isolation, that's
why people place it in barns for animals. Avoid fabrics, cause they tend to
soak the moisture from the air in, and become stiff and cold when temps
fall, providing little heat and comfort. Temps you mention are not very low,
and cats who are always outdoors adapt to colder weather rather easily (some
wild varieties even live in places like Siberia or South pole). Still, for
domestics, temps below -10°C are serious.

I feed strays in Michigan and if they are young and friendly enough or
really old where you can tell they may not make it through a harsh
winter I will take them to a shelter and hope they find a home or I
will try to rehome them if I can get them.

The older ones that are used to life on the streets or are truly feral
I try to provide a place where they can get out of the weather and
make sure they have plenty of dry food available at all the time plus
a can or two of moist cat food a day.  The moist usually freezes
during winter months unless they are there to eat when I put it out.
I try to give them the kind in gravy or with a lot of liquid on it so
they get their moisture because some winter days water freezes within
minutes of being put out.

It seems like you already have 'adopted' him!

Blair ;-)

In Minnesota, it's constantly amazing to me how feral colonies manage
the deep cold and heavy snow.

The other night I was out at a favorite late-night restaurant, and the
little Albanian cook was there. He'd told me in the past about how a
stray he'd decided to start feeding was doing so well, and in fact he
was in the kitchen. He invited me to visit his little adopted cat.

This cat was not a true feral - he'd obviously been socialized to
humans, since he was in the kitchen lapping up milk when I visited
him. True ferals will never mix with humans so easily. "Cat" was
happily parked beneath the refrigerator out vent, so he was bathed in
warm air while he ate.

A strong, tough, long-haired domestic Tom, he immediately rolled on
his back when I pet him. I lifted up his tail to sex him, and it was
obvious he was an un-altered tom.

I told the chef that he should fix "Cat", and if he couldn't afford
it, I'd pay for the procedure myself. There was a language barrier, so
I don't think he understood.

This is the main thing I'd suggest - if you see a wandering cat, get
it fixed ASAP, and if you can't afford it, google around to find
societies that will help foot the bill. My wife suggested that "Cat"'s
social status would drop if he were fixed, but that is a small price
to pay for helping your local wild population not produce more poor,
cold kitties in the future.

BLink
--------------------------
"The worst thing about censorship is [redacted]"