January 17th, 2011
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Cats are naturally drawn to heat – they sit right next to the fire, lay in sunbeams and loll by radiators. This is, at least partly, because they are cold. A cat’s body temperature is higher than humans’ (around 102 degrees) thus it’s easier for them to get cold and harder for them to keep warm in freezing temperatures.
If you are dealing with feral cats, provide shelter and blankets but, if it’s your cat, keep him indoors! Provide beds or blankets for your cat to lie on in the smallest rooms of the house such as bathrooms or closets and near heat ducts. Invest in a heating pad and slip it under your cat’s bed but only leave it on for short periods. Or, if you happen to have a very malleable cat, try putting a sweater on him – cautiously. Kelly is a pet writer. She lives in the Boston area with her three pit bulls and one neurotic cat. |
and doesn’t stop. She starts meowing and then cuts it off xD
I just wanted to let people know that a blanket for a feral cat outside is not good. The blankets get wet and make the cat even colder if wet. The best bedding is STRAW which won’t mold, discourage fleas and keep your feral cat warm and toasty in a proper shelter that is out of the wind.
One of my cats runs to the furnace vent when she hears the furnace click on. She stands with her face almost touching the vent and once the air blows she lifts her face and closes her eyes. It reminds me of how I enjoy the warm breeze in summer. I have small cat pads in front of each vent in the house but she only seems to want that initial warm breeze.
This might apply to other cats, but my 2 love to sit next to the open sliding doors, day or night, specially in winter!!!
Hot water bottles! I have 5 of them. They stay warm up to 12 hours. My 20 year old rescue Siamese doesn’t sleep with us, so he has 3 hot water bottles in his bed all winter (5 on very cold nights). His bed is right next to a heat rgister, so he keeps warm.
CAUTION about heating pads for cats: a friend had a house fire in which one of her cats perished. The fire was started by that cat’s heating pad. There are safe alternatives to electric heating pads. Please keep warm safely.
I just read your email on keeping cats cozy. I have been caring for stray and abandoned cats in my neighborhood for 20 yrs now and have come up with some pretty good ‘cat condos’. I live in MN and it gets VERY cold up here. I have two heated condos (heating pads plugged in a surge protected outlet) I took two dog pet taxis (one is big enough for me to sit in) and placed cushion from my lawn chairs on the bottom. Then took smaller cat pet taxi that has been wrapped in a fleece blanket and a heavy duty plastic yard bag over the top to keep it dry. Placed this in the larger pet taxi and put another cushion on top of that. I then stuffed old blankets all the way around to be sure there was no air flow. I then slid the heating pad under the small cat taxi. Then the whole thing is wrapped in a plastic tarp and placed in an area where the wind is blocked and the snow can’t blow inside. I always place something on the top of the taxi as an awning and then place plastic tag board on the sides to keep wind out. I then hang a hand towel over the opening to block wind. Be sure to leave a small gap at the bottom so the cat can see inside before entering. I place food inside the taxi and there is a heated water dish between the two. The condos are checked daily and fresh food put out.
donna! hurray for you! i do the same thing sort of for ferals i take care of. only issue is the raccoon and possum that now and then get hungry. mosty they don’t but now and then a loan hungry possum wants to stay warm and eat too ☺ the racoon, well that chases away the kitties and knocks over everything. i have my shelter about three feet above ground so wetness doesn’t get in too. the heating pad issue is what i initially was going to comment on. my Daisy has one made especially for cats. from dr. foster and smith there is one that is indoor/outdoor and on the cord is a tough rubber covering and then a metal wrapping to keep chewing from happening ☺ this particular pad is SAFER and i wouldn’t use a regurlar heating pad for the fire thing as one other commenter mentioned. this pad i use (the small one) was $79 and they come in medium and large. Daisy loves it. our heating system in our apt sucks. her pad is on her favorite chair that she OWNS ☺ cuz our apt is chilly! and dr. foster and smilth has these little cute blanket pads (Daisy’s is leopard) that have an inside lining that the astronauts used to keep warm. the cats’s body heat warms it and it radiates the heat back to the kitty. no electricity needed. Daisy has two of them since kitties sleep in numerous cubbies ☺
The best shelter for feral cats is large plastic containers, you know the kind that you store xmas stuff or other larger items in (4-8 bucks at Walmart). Cut a small opening (about 6×6) on end, more in the middle then at the bottom so moisure doesn’t get in, line with lots of straw (DO NO USE BLANKETS OR MATERIAL THIS IS BAD FOR OUTSIDE CATS, IT ABSORBS MOISTURE AND CAN MAKE THE CATS EVEN COLDER), straw is only about $5 a bale and can line 20 or more Houses. Then wrap and wrap and wrap in lots of bubble wrap (except for the opening) My outside feral cats love these houses and say toasty warm all winter.
Round plastic barrels that bulk food, soap, and other supplies come in are wonderful. Large ones go to chained dogs, smaller ones to cats. Being round, they blend with surroundings. We spray with camouflage paint, drill holes, add straw, and a simple stand. Best, they can be lowered onto hillsides abutting store parking lots. The foliage secures them, they are invisible, and avoid the conspicuousness of parking lot level and toxicity of runoff from parking lot at bottom of hill.