Outdoor cats - Preparing for winter - A collection of ideas - Page 2

Oh those heated water bowls are THE BEST. The raccoons make a mess in them, and cleaning them every day in the freezing cold is not fun or easy, but to have non-frozen water available all the time is just one less thing to worry about. Thankfully, we have plenty of outdoor outlets.

You got it . We need alot of "one less thing to worry about", don't we??? I have one outlet out back. One plug for the heated pad and this year, one plug for the heated water bowl. I just hope the raccoons can't get into the Feral Villa?? Is it raccoon proof?

Sadly there is not much of such things, here feral kitty is thing that officially should not exist, every feral should be taken in and put into shelter for 15 days, if new owner is not found during that time, they usually terminate kitty's life. Every party seem to have opinion that kitty should not be allowed to live free especially not during the winter.

Also this is country of hunting at forests, so majority of stuff is for dogs.

One good shelter is styrofoam box, fish market is place where one can find large boxes, just get two and use expanding polyurethane foam to 'glue' both sides together, then punch hole to one half and there is good box, add one polyurethane insulation sheet under the box and it is insulated from the ground too. Some straw or such can be placed inside, but styrofoam itself is quite warm against cat's belly.

We have dog house warmers on sale here, such can be used in a cat shelter too, but it is always bit of risk. I have used pillow warmer under soft bathroom mat, it is important that mat is not fully closed, it has to have holes so that heat can escape from pillow warmer, or otherwise warmer can overheat.

One can also build the box from polyurethane insulation sheets, 50mm or more thickness, glue sides together with expanding foam, easy to make shelves inside too, so cold from access hole is not directly upon kitty, maybe making even two floors would be not too much of an issue.

For similar level insulation that is in our houses you would need to use 2x 50mm thick polyurethane sheet and 2x 100mm thick rockwool between polyurethane sheets, that way heating costs should not be too great for limited budgets, however building requires then bit of planning and it will be rather large shelter.

Anyway hardware store is best place to start looking for materials, ready made shelters are not perhaps quite enough for our conditions. Good part is that such well insulated shelter will not be very hot during the heatwave, also it is possible to add water to rockwool (water needs holes to outer shell where it would evaporate) at summer which would then evaporate and cause inner shell to cool, that is shelter with A/C and you can't buy such anywhere

I just ordered a Feral Villa this morning. I thought about making a shelter, but I really can't take on another project at this point in time.

I'm wondering about the heating, though. I can place the shelter on the south side of my unheated garage. And I'll put straw in it. Does anyone think one of those self heating cat beds would help? There are the ones with the "space blanket" like foil inside, and also Purr Pads. Both of these my indoor cats love.

Otherwise, I'll bite the bullet and get an outdoor heating pad and cut a hole in the garage (just boards - 85 year old garage) for the cord to go through. Then I can attach it to an extension cord in the garage. But I'm not crazy about the whole idea of the electricity.

Would placing the Feral Villa on a platform of cinder blocks be a good idea? To keep it above the snow, I'm thinking. Would adding plywood over the cinder blocks, and maybe a layer of insulation to this flooring help keep it warmer?

Once it freezes, I have a heated, on the ground, bird bath that is also by the garage on the driveway. It's well used by many creatures. I have to fill it daily. I have a family of messy raccoons.

It gets very cold here in northeastern Illinois. I have a feral resident in my yard, for the last couple of months, named "Grenval" The name I made up. It means "green veil" as she (not sure if a "she") comes out and fades back into the evergreens at the back of my garden. She is a brown/black/gray/white tabby. A "plain old tabby," I suppose. But I love her. I think she is very adorable. She has a left tipped ear, meaning she's been spayed or neutered. My inside cats watch her through the windows and don't get upset about her at all.

Across the street is a black stray with a white dot on the chest. He/her hasn't yet ventured over to my side of the street yet, but it may. I put out food twice a day for Grenval.

I realize that this shelter I'm buying may not be used by Grenval. But I have to give it a shot. I do have many raccoons, skunks, and possums about. I hope they don't move into it.

Robin

The feral villas really don't need electric warmers in them. They're split level, so wind doesn't affect the area where they'd be sleeping. They're insulated with the reflecting material, and the top just lifts off (but fits snugly on there), so it's easy to put in and replace the straw. The kitties generate heat, and the straw and insulation of the villas keep them plenty warm. Anything with a cord would most likely discourage them from using it - you either have to snake it up through the holes to get it in there, or you'd have to compromise the integrity of the snug fitting top to get the cord in there.

The most important thing in getting a cat to use a feral villa is placement. There is so much natural cover or other options around here we've had no cats use them. I'm pretty sure skunks and raccoons wouldn't... but again, that could be because we've got good natural places they prefer.

I am planning on ordering my Feral Villa this weekend too. I saw on their website about adding a heating pad but, Laurie, you are right, the cord would have to go down through the hole and out the front entrance of the villa which might be a deterrent at first for the cats. But, we do get extremely cold and I am hoping the cats will realize the cord means them no harm. I really don't think a heating pad is necessary though. It looks well insulated and with straw added and body heat, it will be nice and cozy. My concern is that the three cats I have don't hang with eachother anymore. I rarely see them together. I doubt they will all use the shelter together like last year. Dixie and Freddie maybe. Not Wilma. So who will get it. I am not buying one for each. And I have to wonder if it will get used too. But I want to offer some sort of comfort, it will make me feel good that it is out there.

Robin, I am going to do the same thing, raising it up on cinder blocks a bit. Then use plywood with glued insulation on that for the floor. Will work just
perfect. I will be putting bowls on the first floor. And either straw OR the heating pad on the second floor. I already purchased an outdoor heating pad last year and will certainly use it again. It was pricey, about $65.00. But last year I didn't have the villa. I made my own shelter. I think the villa will be warmer than what I had last year even without the heating pad. I would not
spend the money if I were you. Just get some bales of straw ( I would get them now as straw was hard for me to find last November ) for the second floor. Keep the bale or two in the garage and you can replace the straw if it gets dirty. I am more worried about the raccoons. I will only feed in the morning and mid-afternoon this winter. All food will be taken up before dark this year. The cats learn very quickly the feeding schedule in the winter months. Last year the raccoons trashed my shelter time and time again. I really hope the cats use the cozy villas we are buying for them this year . I was much more freaked out last year because of the kittens. I was so worried they would freeze to death before I could trap them. The whole family used the warming shelter I made for them last year . And last year was just brutal.

Put wireless weatherstation's outdoor temp sensor to where cats are to see what kind of temperatures there really are. No wires or holes required, but range might be reduced a bit.

Too much warm is not good either, that is going to make them feel really cold when getting outside again, so some temp is good and with good ventilation is better as they can dry their feet after walking on snow.

Same basic principles apply as with house building, so putting some heater to where cold air enters the shelter makes all air warm, air should have exit hole high up and size of hole(s) will determine how much air is changing. Our building rules had statement of changing indoor air being somewhere around 2.5 times in 24 hours, which of course is not constant with gravity based air circulation, greater the temperature difference, greater will be rate of air flow.

Problem with cat shelters is water content in air, humidity, exhaling mammal produces quite bit of water at every breath, cats being evolved in desert are better in this, they would not survive at desert if they would blow as much water out as humans do, but they still do quite a bit.

My ferals experienced this as my shelter had poor air circulation, flap which acted as door tended to freeze shut and it got easily 1/2" layer of ice on it (in a day) as water vapour in air freezed to cold surface (the flap), of course part was because snow and ice they brought in at their feet, but it was really good example what will happen when there is only one entrance covered with flap, even that flap had holes in it, it did not helped too much.

Of course it was an issue at colder times, not so much at warmer times, we had almost -40C for a coldest week, yet at times cats decided to sit on top of shelter instead being inside, that was because humidity was too great inside, at least that is what I could point being a reason as when I put my hand in it was quite damp in there, air was like if it would been possible to fill a glass of water from it.

Straw etc has abitily to take in water, but where that water goes then? Replacing straw would solve that, but without replacing water has to go somewhere or it will stay in straw, which is bad as things start soon to grow in it.

Feral Villa's manufacturer web site says that heater is not needed unless most severe conditions, when I checked data from Illinois weather, coldest day was -21C in data, so we can assume that is what manufacturer means by most severe weather as there are other remarks on site that state manufacturer's point of view is Illinois weather and conditions, if one lives at warmer area need of warming is probably less and if at colder area need of warming is probably greater.
Claims made are often quite subjective and knowing bit background helps to put claims to proper perspective to one's situation.

Luckily cats are quite adaptable and if they can find some shelter from weather they will do fine, wind and rain are worst, then wet ground is quite horrible enemy, but temperatures themself are not very big issue for cats used to live outside.

I have to design shelters here for double as cold weather what is in Illinois, sadly I could not find any usable data about Feral Villa's insulation, thickness and material would be needed to do any kind of estimation how well it will handle the cold, so there can't really say much about it.

Temperature losses are however two kinds, one is with changing air and other is transmitting trough/via materials, job of insulation is to prevent these, radiative losses are quite small, so I would not put too much weight on reflective insulation, it is bit different when heating, scale is quite lot different. Most of insulations are utilizing technique where air is not allowed to move at insulation material, there are also NASA developed insulation that has vacuum in it, vacuum stops heat from escaping because there is nothing to transmit heat.

Salesman of course sales things, but it helps to know some basics so one is not so easily fooled, but as there is no enough data can't say it would be case with Feral Villa, also many kitties seem to live fine in it so that product probably works well enough, but there are many others where situation is not so good.

Oh and about the cord, they really seem not to mind about that one at least not my three, but then again my three is quite ignorant of many other things too which often are told to be sensitive things for kitties, they love if I grab them from tail for example

THANKS JT for all of your good points. I do agree that the FeralVilla probably won't need the heater. It will be so much more insulated than the shelter I made for the cats last season. If I do put in the heater, (on the coldest days ) I will run the cord down the hole inside and tamp it on the underside of the second story shelf and run it down the back wall and under the shelter. There is no floor on the FeralVilla so I can just run the cord out behind the Villa. I will also have a cord for the heated water bowl I just got. The cord didn't bother them last year in the other shelter.

The straw will only get wet from the cats coming in and out of the shelter and tracking wet snow up to the sleeping area. That is where the heating pad also comes into play (if you use straw with the heating pad). The heating pad will draw out the little bit of moisture in that straw along with body heat. Still, you have to replace the straw every so often and keep a check on that. Other then the cats dragging in snow on their coats and paws, I don't think the Villa's leak or have any other way for water to seep in.

5% water vapour content in exhale of human, cat has similar basic structure of lungs, exhaling volume is of course less than with humans, but content % might be similar, could not quickly find what is volume of domestic cat's lungs, but it should be rather easy to calculate how much relative humidity changes in hour at certain temperature.

Remember that heat is not removing humidity, only warmer air can contain more vater vapour, air does not feel so wet also, but water is not going anywhere, problems start when temperature decreases so that air cannot hold amount of water it has, then everything becomes wet.

Sorry, I just have this engineer type of brain, so I like numbers and finding root of subject and cause, yes I did (do) dismantle everything when I was (am) a kid (of rather large sort)

edit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breathing