No Air Con, Suggestons Plz

diego

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I think its time to ask about keeping my babies cool this summer. At the moment we are in rainy season which is right before summer, its like what creates the humidity and its still hot. Right now we are experiencing 30+oC temps with around 85% humidity, we are in an oldish house which has no air conditioning and we aren't going to be here long term maybe just another couple months, so we cannot justify the expenditure of $1000's.
I'm wondering what we can do to keep our babies cool in summer (summer is 40+oC with 90-93% humidity) I have noticed yesterday and today Diego and Neko's nose are quite hot, as with their ears and paws.
There probably isn't much we can do for Neko coz he's an outdoor cat but Diego is an indoor cat.

Oh we are picking up a fan today but I don't know if that will be enough. Can anyone offer some advice?


Cheers
 

arlyn

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Ice cubes in their water.
You can also place pans of ice in front of your fans.
Window fans blowing out during the day and in at night.
 

arlyn

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I don't think Lion Cuts would help, I believe they are short haired?
 

stacyd1987

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Put a pan of water/ice behind a fan for them to sit in front of? That's what the first concept of an AC was.
 
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diego

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Originally Posted by SwampWitch

Ooops, just saw this. Here's a link:

http://www.kittydoctor.com/lioncut.html
Good Lord that cat looks ridiculous and I bet he feels it too. But I guess if it works.

Arlyn: Diego is short haired but Neko is more medium I would guess. Not as long as the cat that was in the above link.
 

catlover19

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I got my air conditioner from a junkyard for free. It was still in the box and it worked perfectly. Maybe try to find a cheap one at a yard sale or something?
 

natalie_ca

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I don't have AC either and our summers are very hot sometimes too. High 30's and sometimes even low 40's with really high humidity.

I am fortunate that my windows face North and I only get the direct sun starting in the mid afternoon.

I keep my blinds closed so that the sun doesn't heat up my apartment. I keep the lights off during the day and I have a stand up fan that I keep on. We still get hot, but not as bad as it could be if I kept the blinds open. Also, when it's a really hot day I tend to have cold meals or left overs heated up in the microwave (unfortunately mine broke
).

I also replenish their water several times per day so that it's nice and cold, or put ice cubes in it.
 

gemlady

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During last year's heat wave in Britain, one member got marble cutting boards, refrigerated them, and would set them out for the kitties to lay on or near. Others have mentioned freezing bottles of water.
 

gemlady

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Originally Posted by DIEGO

Thanks for all your suggestions.
Marble cutting boards sound good but our freezer is tiny
Can you put them in the fridge to get them cold?
 
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diego

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Originally Posted by gemlady

Can you put them in the fridge to get them cold?
Not without taking food out, plus I wouldn't know where to purchase marble over here. Of course I can ask around. Im guessing I could just put ice on them til it melts. We got plenty of Ice.
 

gemlady

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Well, you can always make up a bag of ice for them. (Unless you need it for those hangovers.
)
 

zissou'smom

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If you have tile/marble/etc floors anywhere, remove all the rugs from that room, cover the windows, and try to keep it dark. The kitties will sprawl out on the floor all day. Do you have a basement? If so, it'll be much cooler so having access to the basement will help.

What about a window unit A/C? Those are only like 200$ and you can take it with you when you move. That way you could pick one room and keep it comfortable.
 

chichismom

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Is the house brick? If so, you can spray the sides down with the water hose- that used to make a BIG difference for us when we did'nt have AC! Any windows that the sun hits, put dark coverings over them-leaving just enough room at the bottom to crack the window.Try to keep it dark as possible inside- the darker it is, the cooler it will be. Windows fans are great too
 

kathryn41

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I used to live in an upstairs half of a house without air conditioning and it held in the heat when it got hot and humid. There were few windows to get a breeze so fans definitely helped. What I did for the cats, though, was to take towels, wet them down, wring them out and keep them in the fridge. Every few hours I would take out three towels (I had 6 cats at the time) and put them down on the floor. The cats would immediately come and lie down on the cold wet towels. I just made sure I had replacements waiting in the fridge and replaced them as often as necessary. It made a difference for them. You may have to place your kitty on the towel the first few times until he catches on that the towel feels cool and comfortable on his feet and body.
 

gailc

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My house does not have A/C but we do have tile floors and the cats do lay on them or the basement floor too. I shut the blinds on the east side of the house in the morning and open when sun is high and shut the west ones early afternoon. My cats are indoor/outdoor and they like sleeping/laying under shade trees when its hot. You may notice that the cats won't eat as much when it gets really hot too. If you feed moist food refrigerate promptly too.

We have lived 20 years in our house without A/C!! Lots of fans too-the cats like laying in front of them!!
 
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