Food needs of outdoor cats
All cats need food and water every day, regardless of their circumstances of life, and community cats are no exception. Community cats need human helpers, or caretakers, to provide for these needs.
Guidelines for feeding are as follows:
- Feeding cats at the same time each day is best. Cats are creatures of habit and show up at the regular time. This prevents birds and other animals from getting the food, and also helps with counting and checking the health of the cats.
- Adult cats eat about 5.5 ounces of wet food and 2 ounces of dry food per day (half a cup if only dry). Cats eat more in winter than in the warmer seasons. But their needs vary, and you should adjust the amount based on observing how much they actually eat in a feeding.
- Put out fresh water every time you feed.
- Be sure to keep the feeding area clean.
Our program
MC C³ has a Food Bank program designed for the support of community cats only—meaning those cats that live outdoors in our neighborhoods and are not owned by any particular person or household.
If you are a community cat caretaker, you must be on the list to receive food. Getting on the list is a two-step process. To start, please fill out our contact form with the location of your cat colony and your email address. This information will be held in confidence, but it is required. The colony must be in Montgomery County. Then, when a food distribution is planned, you will be emailed an invitation, in which you will be asked for fuller information.
Currently, the MC C³ Food Bank plans food distributions quarterly. However, all food that we distribute has either been donated or purchased with donated funds. Therefore, there may be occasions when food is unavailable. Similarly, the Food Bank relies on volunteer labor. For both of these reasons, we cannot promise distributions on a regular schedule. We had two distributions 2018, at which we distributed a total of over 2800 pounds of food. In 2019, we had distributions in January, March, June, and October, at which we distributed a total of 10322 pounds of dry food and more than 5000 pounds of wet food.
In 2018 we distributed 2800 pounds of food. In 2019 we distributed 15000 pounds of food.
Donating to the food bank
The food bank welcomes donations either of money or of cat food.
Open or recently expired food can be left at the Montgomery County Animal Services and Adoption Center (MCASAC), 7315 Muncaster Mill Road, Derwood, MD 20855, or at the Animal Welfare League of Montgomery County, 12 Park Avenue, Gaithersburg, MD 20877, in bins set aside for MC C³.
If you have further questions about donating to the food bank, please email us at foodbank@mcc3.org.
Food may also be donated through our Amazon Wish List or our Chewy Wish List.
Learn more
- Feeding colonies
- https://www.neighborhoodcats.org/how-to-tnr/colony-care/feeding
- How to keep water from freezing
- https://www.neighborhoodcats.org/how-to-tnr/colony-care/stop-freezing-water
