If your pet cat went missing or you’re being a curious cat (no pun intended) and wonder where strays stay during the day, you’re in luck.
In today’s article, I will discuss the whereabouts of stray cats in great detail. Typical places strays stay during the day include abandoned houses and wooded areas, as they prefer places with fewer human beings and noise.
Moreover, pet cats, strays, and feral cats often sleep during the day because they’re nocturnal species that pray at night. They prefer sleeping in warm, safe, and private places. They’re most active between the hours of early evening and early morning.
That said, let’s learn where outdoor cats sleep and go during the day. I will also share ways you can help stray cats, so let’s dive right in.
Where Do Cats Hide During the Day?
To understand where outdoor cats hang out day and night, you should consider their needs. Stray cats and other stray animals, for that matter, look for areas with food and water and safe and warm shelter if possible.
They’re nocturnal creatures, so they’re most active between dawn and dusk, which makes it harder to find or spot them throughout the day. If you want to locate strays, it’s best to do it at night and bring a flashlight.
Now, let’s consider possible hiding spots for a mature outdoor cat.
Around Residential Houses
Although they’re hard to locate, outdoor cats usually hang near residential properties because that’s where they can usually find safe shelter, water, and food.
So, when looking for a specific stray or your own missing kitten, look close to home. Check crawl spaces, your garage, gaps under your home, and anywhere else a cat could get into and stay warm, dry, and safe.
Additionally, check if someone rummaged through your bins. Strays always look for food, and unlike feral cats that will kill and eat prey, they’re not as experienced in hunting, so they will search your trash cans.
Consider Wooded Areas
If you have wooded areas near your property or just areas with overgrown weeds or dense bushes, check them out because that’s where strays hide sometimes.
They prefer wooded areas because they lack humans and have shade and possible food sources.
Check Abandoned Properties
If strays can’t find wooded areas to hide, they will frequent abandoned buildings and homes. Most owners find their missing cats in abandoned properties, including little-used buildings, outbuildings, etc.
Consider Areas With Food Sources
When looking for a missing or stray cat, think about food sources.
Unsurprisingly, food is a big motivator for cats. So, if you’re looking for stray kittens, consider areas where they would find food.
Also, consider places where your neighbors leave food for strays.
Cats have a strong sense of smell, so they can smell food from miles away. You can also leave food near your home and attract feral cats.
Do Stray Cats Sleep During the Day?
Strays will often look for safe, dark, and enclosed places to sleep during the day even though they’re not nocturnal creatures. You probably notice, cats like the dark.
They hate tight public spots because they fear predators and prefer secluded areas where they can sleep peacefully.
Strays just like most wild animals always hunt at night because they can catch and kill prey easily thanks to their instincts that work better when night falls.
At night, strays don’t have to worry about predators as much as they normally would during the day. So, if you’re looking for strays, plan a night search.
Do Stray Cats Stay in the Same Area?
Stray cats often stay in the same area they’ve marked, especially if a food source is available.
However, there’s no guarantee that the strays you saw in one spot will remain in the same area in the next few days.
If your favorite stray cat doesn’t find food in a specific location for too long, they will likely look for other places with food and water.
Unfortunately, strays aren’t the same as feral cats, so they can’t entirely survive independently. In other words, people’s generosity is the key to their survival.
As a cat lover, I’m sure you’re constantly thinking about the well-being of homeless kittens in your city.
If you consider helping with food, water, and shelter, search secluded places, such as underneath vehicles, awnings, junk piles, or bushes.
Some strays also hide on tree branches for additional safety.
Where Do Stray Cats Go When Raining?
Cats hate the rain because they don’t like getting wet, so you can’t cross paths with strays when it’s raining.
The ancestors of cats, wild cats, resided in dry, arid areas where there wasn’t much water to encounter. That’s why domestic and strays also despise the rain.
Moreover, cats groom themselves often, and getting wet ruins their grooming efforts. However, there’s one specific cat breed that likes water.
The Turkish Van, also known as the “swimming cat,” enjoys the water. So, they likely also like rain.
Do Cats Like the Cold?
Cats despise the cold, so they usually lay in direct sunlight or next to bodies of heat such as laptops, refrigerators, radiators, etc.
As I already established, their wild cat ancestors resided in dry and pleasant places. So, it’s not surprising that today’s cats prefer warm weather.
Strays also look for secluded, warm places when the temperatures drop.
Cats have fur, which keeps them safe from too much heat or cold, but they still look for warm places to stay during winter.
Where Do Cats Sleep Outside at Night?
Outdoor cats have a specific set of criteria when picking their sleeping spots. Living outdoors is potentially dangerous for strays. So, they usually search for suitable sheltering sites such as the following.
Safe Places
Cats have their hunting skills. They’re agile predators but still small species, so they can easily fall prey to larger species.
They’re also aware of this disadvantage, so they deliberately select a sleeping spot typically high up, out of sight, and safe.
When they’re up high, cats can monitor the movements of everything near or inside their territory and act quickly in case of danger.
Secluded Places
Although stray cats live outdoors, they still have standards. They prefer private and secluded sleeping spots. The same goes for indoor cats. They also look for napping spots around the home that other pets or people don’t frequent.
Unfortunately, stray cats don’t have the privilege of feeling completely safe as they live outdoors, but they make the most out of what they have and choose their living and sleeping areas carefully.
You can find stray cats in secluded places, such as abandoned and wooded areas. They can even make a small home out of a pile of boxes behind your bin.
Warm Places
Cats, especially strays, hate the cold, so they always pick warm hiding and sleeping spots where they can snuggle and take a trip to dreamland.
Outdoor cats also select dry, sunny areas where they can sleep together. Cats also hide in parking garages or public places for warmth in winter.
Where Do Feral Cats Sleep?
This information may surprise many, but feral and stray cats aren’t the same. They have their similarities but also differ in many ways.
Most cats, including pet cats, love the night. They’re nocturnal, so they usually come out at night to hunt, hang out, and explore their surroundings.
Understandably, outdoor cats find the streets at night quieter and safer than during the daytime. The darkness also boosts their already-sharp sense of smell, making it much easier to sniff out new things.
However, finding a safe sleeping spot is one of the biggest challenges in the life of a feral cat. That’s why you will find many stray and feral cats in quiet, secluded, and dark places that humans don’t frequent. And other cats can’t enter a feral cat’s territory that easily.
Stray and outdoor cats don’t always reside in the same area for too long. Sometimes, they leave their shelter when looking for food, water, exploration, or partners for mating.
How to Help Outdoor Cats?
Adopting feral cats and turning them into indoor kitties is almost impossible, as they lack socialization skills.
They don’t know how to interact with humans. So, if you try to turn a feral kitty into a house cat, you will have a hard time.
Stray kittens, on the other hand, can be quickly turned into house pets without much hassle because they were once pets; therefore, their previous experiences can help them become house cats once again.
Unfortunately, the number of strays in the US isn’t small. On the contrary, it’s high – 70 million strays roam the streets of the US every day.
Of course, you can’t adopt all stray kitties, but you can make their lives much easier, especially during bad weather.
Trust me; they could use your help when it’s cold or raining.
For instance, you can take the cats that cross your path daily to the animal shelters, where they can get spayed and neutered.
That way, you will extend their lives and prevent new kittens from going through the same difficulties.
Now, let’s learn other ways to help stray cats in your neighborhood.
Make Stray Cats Feel Welcomed to Your Property
You can welcome stray kitties to your property by leaving the garage window slightly open. That way, they can stay safe and warm while it’s cold or raining.
However, don’t get too attached to stray cats because they will leave your property once the weather improves.
Create a Secluded Outdoor Cat Shelter
You can create shelters for stray cats if you have old storage boxes, containers, or cabinets.
You can make temporary shelters with whatever you have and other materials, like plywood, polystyrene, sheet metal, and corrugated boards.
Provide Dry Resting Spots for Neighborhood Strays
Whether DIY shelters or existing structures on your site, ensure they’re flood-proof by installing wooden pallets or placing upside-down plastic crates on the floor.
Offer Stray Cats Dry Food
Felines, especially strays, need more food when it’s cold and rainy, as calories keep them warm.
Therefore, leave dry food near their temporary shelters or hiding places in winter, as wet food freezes and spoils faster.
When winter ends, you can provide wet or fresh food and keep your stray kitties well-fed and happy.
Install Heated Water Bowls
Stray cats also need water. So, ensure you provide clean water near their shelters or hiding spots.
In winter, you can install heated water bowls, as other bowls freeze quickly, leaving no time for kittens to drink and hydrate.
If you don’t reside in a harsh climate, you can fill their bowls with lukewarm water in winter, so they don’t drink cold water and become sick.
The same goes for stray dogs.
Adopt
The best way you can help stray cats is by adopting.
Most stray cats have been pets in the past, so they can quickly transform into house cats again. So, if you have enough room in your home, consider adopting the strays that frequent your property.
If you can’t care for pets, you can temporarily adopt them during the coldest months of the year. Saving a homeless kitty is one of the noblest things you can do if you’re financially capable of caring for a pet.
Wrap Up
Stray cats aren’t the same as feral cats.
Feral cats behave more like their ancestors and can take good care of themselves. However, strays aren’t as skilled. They have their inbuilt hunting skills, but they still need your help.
Living outdoors, especially when it’s rainy, stormy, or cold, can be hard and painful for stray cats and dogs, so help in any way you can.
I highly suggest adopting one if you have the space, time, and money.
If not, creating temporary shelters for strays and providing dry food and water during winter is enough. Cats hate rain and cold; hence they will appreciate your effort.
Hopefully, this article has helped you learn where strays hide and ways you can help strays nearby.
To summarize, they always hide in secluded places, like wooded areas, abandoned buildings, and sites with food sources where they can relax in peace.
And by knowing where they stay, you can lend a helping hand.
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*image by SAdesign/depositphotos
