Keeping Your Outside Cats Warm

[cat lover]

All my outside cats have kennels and even my roamers during the day go into theirs at night. They have double walled insulated houses and I use straw, baby blankets, and even pillows in those during the winter months to help them stay warm when our temperatures drop into the single digits (like it is now). What do you do to keep your outside cats warm in the cold weather? I am always looking for new ideas since I have 10 cats!

[ajrsmom]

We have been taking care of 2 outside cats for a while now and even though they are "wild", they trust us. We put blankets in a chair for them and they will use it but I can't get them to go into a box or anything else. I worry about them now that it's cold.

I'll be keeping an eye on this thread to see what others suggest, too.

[cat lover]

My sister at one time had some like that and she put a new (so it ha no Others odor) covered litter box under cover for them and put blankets in it. She found them using it especially when the cold windy weather came along. She said they were always around when the time she would change their water and put out new food for them.

I had thought about an electric pad made especiallly for pets in her case, but I can't do that because all my kennels are out in different directions in the woods away from the house.

But at another time I put a dog house with a a heat lamp on it on my porch for some strays that would wander in and out plus a batch of straw for them. If you do this be sure the lamp is secured where they can't knock it down!

Anyone else have any ideas?

[wombat]

I thought this might be helpful... I have used these in the past when I have rescued stray cats... I haven't tried the solar covers... will read up on those... but have used the snuggle boxes.... and you can get the styrofoam pieces at Home Depot.. down the contractors aisle by the wood. And I didn't use the latch top type of box.. just the regular snap top type. Hope this helps.. and thanks for taking care of those fur-babies! Winter Shelters

Just search feral cats --snuggle boxes -- warm boxes -- birthing boxes

Here's a couple of variations:

Instead of using plastic containers, turn instead to Styrofoam coolers (the type you can buy at a 7-11) You can buy several and build a cat condo of warmth by cutting holes into the foam (after securing the tops of the coolers with duct tape). Stuff the inside with straw (wheat straw is best) hay should be avoided.Straw is dried and if a stray cat enters the enclosure wet, the straw will act as an insulator. Turn the foam coolers so the doorways are away from the wind. Mount them on several pallets to keep them off the chilly ground lay an old rug down underneath. Sprinkle dry cat food around the area. Weight the coolers down accordingly.”
-Submitted by Georgia- caretaker of 20 cats
“It depends upon how strict the budget is and where they live. I think it might be hard to get straw if it's an urban/suburban area? Because that's my best tip. We purchased two VERY cheap plastic containers from Wal-Mart (total about $17) - one that fits inside of another one. We bought a roll of R-19 insulation from Home Depot ($15). We cut the insulation to completely wrap around the length of the "inside" box, and cut strips to fit the sides. We placed the box down into the insulation, and squashed the lid down on top. Took a sharp knife and cut holes in either side, and used duct tape to "seal" the space between the two boxes, so no insulation was exposed. We stuff these insulated homes with straw, which is easy to replace because the top pops off, you can just lift the insulation to pop the other top.”


Hope this helps!

[cat lover]

Good idea wonbat! At this point even though it is sad we can't take in any more strays, but doing as you say we could at least give them a warm place to stay! I still feel bad I couldn't do their shots and all the other things they need, but at least they could be warm and have some food!

We are down to 10 cats and 5 dogs right now and those vet bills and feed really runs in to $$$$. We live in a rural area with no animal shelters or organization anywhere near that does anything for strays! The ones in surrounding counties struggle and will not and most of the time cannot take any on from our county. There are several people I am finding out that try to take care of what they can, but the numbers that are dumped well go over that we can take care of. Thanks again for the tips on the warm containers!

[AnnaInOhio]

What we did way back years ago when dh's mother was taking care of 2 stray cats..

We found a kit at the local hardware store for making a dog house (small) dh put it together, put roof shingles on the roof of it and used one of those plastic mats you put on your car floors ( could use a rubber dish pan bottom instead or a shower mat (plastic) in front of the doggy door opening and sliced it down the middle so they could come in and out. And of course put lots of towels inside for bedding. I can't remember but I think we put it up on bricks off the ground. Those cats loved it and snuggled together through several winters.

You could always just make your own dog house I'm sure there are some pretty basic plans free on the internet now.

I found one of several on YouTube.. this one looks really good, it's a 2 room.. one room for the cat/dog to look outside the other to keep warm and out of the elements.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nuoh64kz0gE


Anna

[pootersmommy]

Cat - We have 4 rescued cats outside and 2 babies inside (both rescued). I have had both females fixed so far, the males will be when it's a little warmer. Both inside kitties are fixed as well.
I am lucky to have a greenhouse. I put in a kitty door and they have beds in there resting on a heating mat you use for starting plants. We also have an insulated dog house (I insulated) with bedding. We also have a big square styofoam kooler (it was from a cheese place). I turned it upside down (lid on bottom), cut a hole to access, and it "just fit" in a big black trash bag (water proofed it totally). Old towels inside. They use all 3 places, often rotating from one to another!

We have a place here called 'Faces' it's a low cost animal hospital. They will spay/nueter for $20 per cat. Shots cost $12. You might check around your area for something like that. I couldn't do it, if I had to use the regular vet.

We have several cat colonies in our neighborhood. If you want to be 'designated', you have to accept any strays. Sometimes the place will provide houses (shelter) and food for free.

Good luck. Don't you just love them to pieces?!! We sure do - they are so much enjoyment.

[cat lover]

Love the cats and the people that put them out ought to be glad I don't know who they are! lol

We live in a very rural area and no animal shelters or help anywhere in the entire county! The surrounding counties that some have something are so full and overloaded they won't assist with anything from our county.

We have in all our "kennels" both cat and dog double walled insulated houses already, they are elevated off the ground (the cats even have "sky high" houses) with a three sided closed areas that they can have their food bowls and lay outside out of the wind.They also have porches and a deck so they all can survive whatever the weather is. I put straw in and around them in the winter and baby blankets I purchase at thrift stores. When we only had our 2 dogs we had purchased as pets they even had a heated dog house, but they lost that as we got more animals as it just wasn't fair in my eyes to the others. We have 11 kennels spread out in different areas under trees so I couldn't run electric to all those! lol