Inexpensive Outside Cat House

Any ideas on the subject matter appreciated.

"Terry" wrote in message
...
Any ideas on the subject matter appreciated.


Go to wal mart buy one of their 50 gallon storage tubs about $4.00 turn
it on its side so it is propped up or you can cut a hole in it if you like.
You can out some old towels in it or if it is a wet area you can use hay
for lining

http://www.spayandstay.org/wintershelter.htm

http://www.neighborhoodcats.org/HOW_...WINTER_SHELTER

Thank you for your response. Some great ideas.

On Mon, 23 Nov 2009 08:21:48 -0500, "Matthew"
wrote:


"Terry" wrote in message
...
Any ideas on the subject matter appreciated.


Go to wal mart buy one of their 50 gallon storage tubs about $4.00 turn
it on its side so it is propped up or you can cut a hole in it if you like.
You can out some old towels in it or if it is a wet area you can use hay
for lining

http://www.spayandstay.org/wintershelter.htm

http://www.neighborhoodcats.org/HOW_...WINTER_SHELTER

Great advice, Matthew! I would think that turning it upside down would
keep the rain/snow/sleet/wind out best.

And of course a weight on top, to keep it in place.

On Mon, 23 Nov 2009 08:05:40 -0500, (Terry) wrote:

Any ideas on the subject matter appreciated.

Matthew's idea is ok, but if you are a bit handy, these folks have a
nice plan for a shelter:

http://www.alleycat.org/NetCommunity/Document.Doc?id=36


I wish I had seen that before I built my cat box. It had to fit into a
space about 18" wide, so I went to Home Depot, had a 4' * 8' piece of
(outdoor 3/4") plywood cut into three 16" by 24" inch pieces, and one
16" by 30" piece (for the roof to overhang). So the whole thing is
just 16" wide and high, and 24" long. The front and back pieces are
16" high and 14 1/2" wide (because the plywood is 3/4" so we need to
remove 1 1/2". I cut a doorway with a jigsaw.

Don't use blankets, carpet, or towels. They retain moisture and fleas.

I also bought a heating pad:

http://cozywinters.com/shop/kh-1000-1020.html

I just hammered it together, but I replace a few nails with screws
because I found it that I couldn't get the heating pad into the box!
So now the entrance pivots when I remove one screw.

The box itself ended up costing around $30 although the pad was $70 or
so. It took an hour to put it together.

My husband made a great one using sheets of 4x8 siding. It's attached
to the side of our house. It's 2 stories with a ramp inside going to
it's upper floor. He even put sliding windows in with screens. Has a
large drop down door on the top level & a door on the bottom level that
can be opened for easy access, with a little cat size door in it. I use
the twin size thick sponge mattresses in it along with blankets & it's
wired so I can have 100 watt bulbs in the ceilings for heat in the
winter. Very spacious & cozy with a few perches on the walls and a radio
for their listening pleasure LOL. He built it in one day, the windows
were found at a yard sale.I even hung little curtains inside. They love
it! And it's a pleasure for me to go out in a cold winter night & peek
in the windows at them all stretched out & comfy inside....pj

"Terry" wrote in message
...
Any ideas on the subject matter appreciated.


Long before Smokey, our feral cat, came inside our house to stay, he lived
in a cat/dog carrier with the door removed that I kept outside on the back
porch for him. I put a moisture proof heating pad inside it, and kept it on
"low" and positioned it so that the rear of the carrier was "upwind" so he
wouldn't have all his heat blown away by the cold Winter wind. I covered the
plastic heating pad cover with a soft baby blanket that I ran thru the
clothes washer once a week to kill the fleas. Smokey lived there for a
couple of years before he decided to come inside and live with us.

On Fri, 4 Dec 2009 16:08:36 -0800, "Bill Graham"
wrote:


"Terry" wrote in message
...
Any ideas on the subject matter appreciated.


Long before Smokey, our feral cat, came inside our house to stay, he lived
in a cat/dog carrier with the door removed that I kept outside on the back
porch for him. I put a moisture proof heating pad inside it, and kept it on
"low" and positioned it so that the rear of the carrier was "upwind" so he
wouldn't have all his heat blown away by the cold Winter wind. I covered the
plastic heating pad cover with a soft baby blanket that I ran thru the
clothes washer once a week to kill the fleas. Smokey lived there for a
couple of years before he decided to come inside and live with us.

As of now, Scooter spends much of his time in his box. It's on the
dark side of the street though so during the day he goes to the
backyards and catches some sun on a neighbor's deck.

I did get one of those hard plastic heating pads designed for dogs and
cats. It seems to stay just a few degrees above the outside
temperature but goes up when something (like a cat) is on it. If I
touch it, it feels just slightly warm, but if I leave my hand on it, I
can feel it getting warmer. So far, so good. Supposedly it gets to the
cats' preferred temperature of 103F.

And of couse he has a nice fur liner in there as well. I just need to
put some sort of plastic covering over his door so the heat doesn't
get out quite so easily.

And of course, I need to see if he'd like to join the other three
inside when it gets really cold.