Heating pad

Hello all,

With winter coming up on us, I was wondering about an electric heating pad.
I currently have a hole cut in my shed and I feed about 3 cats constant supply of dry food and I put out two cans of wet food in a bowl. If it is really cold I put two cans of wet food twice a day. I also give them fresh water every day.

I have a dog house that is filled with hay/straw that I notice a cat has been inside.

I was thinking about either lining the walls of the dog house with a heating pad, or putting something in the shed for them. I was also thinking about enclosing a heating pad in a box, and putting the wet food bowl on that, so that it would not freeze over when it gets really cold.

Now they don't sleep in my yard, The are all male cats and come and go.

I just hate thinking that they are cold outside, and I want to try and help as much as possible.

I have a heated outdoor pet bed, and it's nice so far (this is the first winter I've had it). The problem is, all of them say they are not to be used with an extension cord, so you have to put it near an outlet.

I did invest in a heated water bowl, however again you have to have it near an outlet. As an alternative water source, since one place I needed water last winter was *not* near an outlet, I got this birdbath heater to use in their water bowl & it worked quite well!

I was also give two Snuggle Safes, which the kitties really liked. They knew exactly when I was bringing them out every day.

There are also self warming pet beds, which IMO may help in the right situation, however there is the same concern there as with using blankets. If they get wet they'll freeze, being more a hindrance than a help. Mine look like this, however this link shows the "innards" of the bed.

This year I'm going to try something new - I picked up a few of these emergency/mylar blankets. I'm thinking of lining some of the cat houses to see if it helps or not, or if I cannot tell at all. I have two insulated dog houses they use, but also have 2 plastic dog houses & other shelters.

If you Google "cat heating pad", you can find tons of info about them. But one thing you must be careful about, especially if you plan to use this in an area exposed to the elements, is, well...exposure to the elements. Not every cat heating pad is designed for outdoor use, and you could be risking electric shock if an indoor pad gets wet.

If you put a big fluffy pile of blankets loosely in the dog house, the cats should be able to nestle down in that to keep warm.
If you are really super-concerned, you could just line the dog house with something like styrofoam (sheets you can get from the hardware store), and run a wire and properly mount a small lightbulb inside the top of the dog house. Unless the weather gets brutally cold, the heat from the bulb in the enclosed space will keep off the chill.

Have you considered the styrofoam insulation?

You can find it at any home improvement store.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about:
http://univfoam.com/products/styrofoam

We made a box with this stuff, cut entry door(s) - altho' we used it to help keep the cats cool (we're in the desert heat) I'm sure it would be helpful keeping them warm, and anything that you might add - like a heating pad, or water - would be more effective keeping them (and their water) at a more comfortable temp.

The styrofoam come in various thicknesses, easy to cut - and we used duct tape to secure the ends.

I found some inexpensive plastic tubs that I could put bedding in and then put inside the "box".

I saw a website (or maybe one of the members here had a thread) where they bought two sizes - so one tub could fit inside the other, but have enough room to put straw in between the two tubs. They cut a small opening in the tubs and covered them with the lids that the tubs came with.

I hope I'm not off topic too much, but I guess using anything electric kinda scares me that's why I would favor other remedies, if possible.

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

here's some interesting ideas: http://www.mdfelinesociety.org/docs/...er_Options.pdf

Originally Posted by WendyAlly

If you put a big fluffy pile of blankets loosely in the dog house, the cats should be able to nestle down in that to keep warm.

Click to expand...

Actually it is generally advised against using blankets in outdoor shelters, but rather use straw. The reason is that blankets will absorb moisture/get wet, then freeze.

Here is a very good article out outdoor shelters, feeding stations, bedding, etc. They even have some mention of heated pet beds & bowls.