Please...give stray cats an outdoor winter home

If you live in a cold area and have stray cats who visit your house
for food, I suggest you try to provide some sort of shelter for them.
Even a box with a hole cut out for a door with an old blanket inside.
In the case of Mooch our resident stray of over four years, up until
now we lined a chair on the veranda with blankets and a heating pad.
But this year we also bought him a commercial small dog house and put
a fleece-lined cat bed in it with a heating pad underneath. He loves
it these chilly nights, and it's reassuring to see him disappear into
it after he's eaten one of his many daily meals. Here's a photo of
"The "MoochHouse" as it's called!

http://twitpic.com/l3t0n

Bobcat wrote:
If you live in a cold area and have stray cats who visit your house
for food, I suggest you try to provide some sort of shelter for them.
Even a box with a hole cut out for a door with an old blanket inside.
In the case of Mooch our resident stray of over four years, up until
now we lined a chair on the veranda with blankets and a heating pad.
But this year we also bought him a commercial small dog house and put
a fleece-lined cat bed in it with a heating pad underneath. He loves
it these chilly nights, and it's reassuring to see him disappear into
it after he's eaten one of his many daily meals. Here's a photo of
"The "MoochHouse" as it's called!

http://twitpic.com/l3t0n

Hi Bobcat,
Love the photos of Mooch - he is beautiful! Thank you for giving him
shelter. It is hard for them to keep warm in the winter. My outside guys
have access to my garage where there are plenty of beds: plastic and
cardboard boxes with reflective space blankets lining the sides, along
with regular blankets for comfort; heat lamps placed over their food and
water bowls so the water won't freeze; pieces of styrofoam sheet so they
won't freeze their tootsies when eating their food. The garage has an
'attic' that they like to get up into, and there are boxes with blankets
up there also. (this reminds me - time to get out the heavier blankets!)
We also have a couple of snuggle disks for spot warming. They aren't
spoiled, are they?

Here is a link to a website that has instructions on how to make outdoor
shelters - I am going to try the styrofoam cooler bed next.

http://www.indyferal.org/index.php?page=shelters

Give him a scritchy for me!

Mishi

On Oct 11, 10:01*am, Mishi wrote:
Hi Bobcat,
Love the photos of Mooch - he is beautiful! Thank you for giving him
shelter. It is hard for them to keep warm in the winter. My outside guys
have access to my garage where there are plenty of beds: plastic and
cardboard boxes with reflective space blankets lining the sides, along
with regular blankets for comfort; heat lamps placed over their food and
water bowls so the water won't freeze; pieces of styrofoam sheet so they
won't freeze their tootsies when eating their food. The garage has an
'attic' that they like to get up into, and there are boxes with blankets
up there also. (this reminds me - time to get out the heavier blankets!)
We also have a couple of snuggle disks for spot warming. They aren't
spoiled, are they?
Here is a link to a website that has instructions on how to make outdoor
shelters - I am going to try the styrofoam cooler bed next.
http://www.indyferal.org/index.php?page=shelters
Give him a scritchy for me!
Mishi

I will indeed, Mishi, although he had lots of scritches this morning
after he ate his breakfast. Thanks for your valuable tips. I'll pass
on that link to others. And congratulations on being Honorary Stray
Cat Protector of the Year!
Bobcat

"Bobcat" wrote in message
...
If you live in a cold area and have stray cats who visit your house
for food, I suggest you try to provide some sort of shelter for them.
Even a box with a hole cut out for a door with an old blanket inside.
In the case of Mooch our resident stray of over four years, up until
now we lined a chair on the veranda with blankets and a heating pad.
But this year we also bought him a commercial small dog house and put
a fleece-lined cat bed in it with a heating pad underneath. He loves
it these chilly nights, and it's reassuring to see him disappear into
it after he's eaten one of his many daily meals. Here's a photo of
"The "MoochHouse" as it's called!

http://twitpic.com/l3t0n

I agree. Even here in Houston we get some bitter nights. We have several
shelters and we're even going to add one on our upstairs deck for Shadow
(because of his bad leg he has trouble getting upstairs quickly in the rain
or sleet - we're going to put a triangular shelter on one corner of the deck
to put his food and water dishes). I'm leery about putting electrical
heaters outside in the damp, but one tip I got from "Animal Cops" is that
it's better to put hay in a shelter than blankets. Blankets can get and
stay wet, and hay, with its air pockets makes great insulation against the
cold and dries very quickly if it gets wet.

Hugs,

CatNipped

Bobcat wrote:

If you live in a cold area and have stray cats who visit your house
for food, I suggest you try to provide some sort of shelter for them.
Even a box with a hole cut out for a door with an old blanket inside.
In the case of Mooch our resident stray of over four years, up until
now we lined a chair on the veranda with blankets and a heating pad.
But this year we also bought him a commercial small dog house and put
a fleece-lined cat bed in it with a heating pad underneath. He loves
it these chilly nights, and it's reassuring to see him disappear into
it after he's eaten one of his many daily meals. Here's a photo of
"The "MoochHouse" as it's called!

http://twitpic.com/l3t0n

That's great! He must love it.

Unfortunately, I don't have an electric socket (for the heating pad)
near where I might place a sheltered cat bed. But fortunately, it
doesn't get too cold here in the winter. I am worried about where
Smudge will sleep once it gets colder, so I'm trying to plan ahead.

Joyce

--
With enemies like Dilbert, giant corporations need no friends.
- Norman Solomon

wrote:
Unfortunately, I don't have an electric socket (for the heating pad)
near where I might place a sheltered cat bed. But fortunately, it
doesn't get too cold here in the winter. I am worried about where
Smudge will sleep once it gets colder, so I'm trying to plan ahead.

So she doesn't come inside at all any more? That must be so worrying.
Maybe she'll return to the fold when it gets colder?

--
Marina, Miranda and Caliban.
In loving memory of Frank and Nikki.

Marina wrote:

wrote:

Unfortunately, I don't have an electric socket (for the heating pad)
near where I might place a sheltered cat bed. But fortunately, it
doesn't get too cold here in the winter. I am worried about where
Smudge will sleep once it gets colder, so I'm trying to plan ahead.

So she doesn't come inside at all any more? That must be so worrying.
Maybe she'll return to the fold when it gets colder?

She comes in if I carry her in - she does allow that. I was bringing
her in every three days to give her aspirin (Fancy Feast with the aspirin
mixed in, that is). However, over the past month or so, she's been more
and more agitated about this. The minute she's finished with the food,
she starts pacing and growling to be let out. Not meowing, but *growling*.
That high-pitched, sustained growl, you know the one I mean? It's a very
hostile sound. If I try to pick her up in that state (to carry her to
the front door), she hisses and swats at me.

So lately I've been giving her the aspirin-laced Fancy Feast outside.
That's worked fine. And I've been leaving dry food for her under the
outside stairwell in front of my apartment building. That gets eaten, I
hope mostly by Smudge.

It's possible that she will want to come in when it's cold and rainy.
Or maybe not. I'm worried that she won't want to, and will stay out
getting cold and wet. I'm thinking of asking one of my neighbors if
he'd be willing to let her sleep in his house at night. Maybe he'd even
be willing to adopt her, but I won't ask for that. I just want to know
that she's warm and dry on those cold, wet winter nights.

Joyce

--
"Ignorance is bliss - alas, only for the ignoramus."
-- sign on www.sorryeverybody.com/gallery/1/

wrote:

It's possible that she will want to come in when it's cold and rainy.
Or maybe not. I'm worried that she won't want to, and will stay out
getting cold and wet. I'm thinking of asking one of my neighbors if
he'd be willing to let her sleep in his house at night. Maybe he'd even
be willing to adopt her, but I won't ask for that. I just want to know
that she's warm and dry on those cold, wet winter nights.

Purrs for both of you on the way. Is she open to bribery? Any special
treats she likes? What a difficult situation.

--
Marina, Miranda and Caliban.
In loving memory of Frank and Nikki.

Marina wrote:

wrote:

It's possible that she will want to come in when it's cold and rainy.
Or maybe not. I'm worried that she won't want to, and will stay out
getting cold and wet. I'm thinking of asking one of my neighbors if
he'd be willing to let her sleep in his house at night. Maybe he'd even
be willing to adopt her, but I won't ask for that. I just want to know
that she's warm and dry on those cold, wet winter nights.

Purrs for both of you on the way. Is she open to bribery? Any special
treats she likes? What a difficult situation.

There's a big storm coming in that's supposed to hit the California
coast, including where I live, with lots of wind and rain tonight. I'm
thinking I should set up a box (on its side) as a shelter, with a fleece
blanket in it, so she'll have somewhere dry to sleep if she's willing
to stay here. There's an area under the stairwell where I also put out
food and water for her (though I suspect other neighborhood cats are
partaking), and maybe she'll curl up there to sleep and keep dry.

I've tried giving her various treats and foods she likes, but she's
really uneasy near my house. I suspect another cat has decided he owns
the area that includes my building. I'm not even talking about my
indoor cats here, I mean one of the neighborhood cats.

I don't know, should I find another home for her? Someone who would
let her go in and out, but not have any other cats inside, so she'd be
comfortable going in at night or during bad weather. Yowie, any of
your other neighbors want a cat?

Joyce

--
The Internet is on computers now! -- Homer Simpson