Should I swap out shelters when it's dangerously cold out?

Hello all,

I’m a new member, and am hoping to get your guidance. There’s a sweet little gray feral cat we’ve been feeding for over a year, and right now she’s sleeping in a very makeshift shelter I’ve made for her in a sheltered area by our garage. It’s basically a cardboard box with straw in it, lined with mylar emergency blanket and half-buried in a pile of more straw.

I created this "shelter" when it was cold out but not bitterly cold, but over the next couple of days the weather is supposed to be dangerously cold (in the negative 20s F). There’s an larger-than-ideal opening at the top, and this box is not adequate protection. On Monday I ordered a Styrofoam cooler online and it should be here tomorrow night.  

My question for you is: should I replace the “shelter” that she’s used to with the new shelter I create out of the cooler tomorrow night? I don’t get off work till late, and it will probably be 10 o’clock by the time I’m able to switch out the shelters, at which point she is usually hunkered down in her shelter. My SO thinks that we should place the new shelter outside next to her current one, and this seems to be the best plan for me now.

I might be overthinking this, but the fact is that the cat is *very* skittish—we’ve been feeding her for ages and she won’t let us get within 10 feet of her. I'd love to try to get her in the garage somehow, but even so much as walk towards her shelter and she goes sprinting off into the night. I’m worried that by messing with the arrangement she's used to when we’re in the middle of this dangerous cold snap, I might frighten her away from staying even in her existing, inadequate shelter. (Adding the new shelter will involve rearranging some wood and the straw pile.)

Help!?

If you make a new shelter, leave the old one there so if he chooses not to use the new one, he still has a shelter.  Last winter I panicked when the weather turned brutal and wanted something warmer for my ferals.  DH and Ds built a heated cat house.  The cats freaked out.  I still kept their old shelters out and that is where they slept for the first cold snap.  Yet, 2 weeks later they were inside the new shelter warm and cozy. 

ShadowsREscue is 100% right on (per usual). We learned this the hard way - - replaced an old, not-very-well-insulated shelter with a well-insulated one with a heating pad, and the feral avoided us completely for ages. I put the old one back up, and she eventually transitioned over. But definitely leave the old one up - the extra work "wood arranging' will be worth it in your peace of mind

Thanks, ShadowsRescue and kitty chick--the cooler actually arrived early so I was able to get the new shelter set up during the day today. I put it next to her current shelter (separated by some wood) so hopefully she will use it, or at the least not be frightened away from her old shelter by it!

Thanks again.

It's been so cold- is the kitty using her new shelter?

interesting...kittychick, your ferals stayed away until you put the old shelter back up? Did the new one go in the old one's spot? ShadowsRescue did you end up putting your new shelter in a different area or together with the old?

Putting my new heated one next to my house, and the old one is 1/4 acre away...need to be near the house for the plug.

Hoping all kitties stay warm tonight!

Ours did....they went back to old one after weeks. Ferals are unpredictable, particularly in deep winter. And now they go in & out ( sometimes gone for a week) of both ( although both are heated & insulated -AND we're leaving our garage door cracked about 8 inches, & 2 insulated, wrapped boxes filled with straw are in there....never set foot in....2 of 3 are choosing during this howling wind, subzero temps, & blackout snow).....they're basically huddling under a neighbors deck instead. We don't have much room under there, but made a cozy bed ----we slid a sheet of insulation under there, weighted down (so they don't sit on cold ground), topped with as much straw as can be put under there. One is using it, but not the third?!?! Unpredictable I tell you.

Keep working so hard to keep kitty warm!!

I put my new one right next to the old one.  It took about 10-14 days for them to acclimate.  Once they discovered it was heated there was no turning back!!  Yet during the transition period they needed their familiar  shelter. 

I have many shelters around my property.  Some get used and some rarely get used.  I keep them out during the winter. 

Interesting. Kittychick...the whole thing does seems so unpredictable, I don't know what to do.

I just got my heated A frame from K and H. I will be setting it up tomorrow, but torn if I should put it next to the old makeshift shelter. (I found out today that at least one is going in, yay!) It's behind some pines in an obscure area of my yard, a really great spot for privacy.

The new heated one, while I would like to put it next to the old shelter, is far back in my yard, so I would need a very long extension cord, or several. I don't know if the extension cord needs to be wrapped in anything, since it will be laying in the snow at times, and will extend my whole yard. The other option is to put it right outside of my sliding glass door entrance that I don't use other than to put food for them on the stoop. The A frame house would be right against my house where there is a plug. I'm not sure they will stay in it if it is just to the left of my door and not in a private area. Although, at least it would be noticed by them since they will be eating right by it...any thoughts? Should I put the new food inside, and is that a good way for them to get used to it? I hear ferals do not like to have food where the sleep.

Also, ShadowsRescue, you said that once your ferals knew it was heated there was no going back...how is yours heated, since yours love it so much? I was told today by K and H when I called about the one I bought that only the cushion gets warm, and that it does not heat the air inside at all. Very disappointing...is there a reasonable way to ensure the air is heated also?

Does anyone know of any non electrical lights or other non electrical sources of heat to use in a shelter? I wish I didn't live in such a cold area, so any suggestions on this would be great!

DJ

My shelter is heated with a hound heater.  When My DH and DS first built it we used a red reptile 75 w bulb with a paint can over it.  The paint can was painted black and had holes poked all over.  It worked very well.  I was just worried about the light bulb burning out.  We went with the hound heater and it is amazing.  It has been so very cold here too. The lowest it got in my shelter was 32.  It was -11 with windchill -27. 

The only non electrical heat source is the microwave discs you heat.  Yet in the extreme cold they don't last too long.  Most people use lots of straw and a reflective cat mat.  All nonelectrical. 

The microwaveable discs you mention, can they be used with straw? If not, what other kinds of material can be used with the discs to keep them without creating a hazard and without retaining humidity?

Also, does anyone take down their shelters after winter is over, and would this highly perturb the cats?

Yes, the microwave discs can be used with straw.  Here is a link from Amazon   I find they work well as long as the temps don't get much lower than the teens. 

I do take my shelter down in the spring, but I am sure that they have a place to go to get out of the rain.  On my deck, I have a retractable awning that keeps most of the rain off.  I do keep out or place out the rubbermaid containers if I know there is going to be a storm.  Yet usually my boys prefer to go under the deck.  The shelters I do keep out still have the insulation, but I don't have any heat source.  I just put a blanket down that I check on to be sure it's not wet.

I'm glad to hear it. I've read on the internet several varying opinions, some saying it's dangerous to use with straw. All I could think was, it's not like a spark is created or anything. However, last week I talked to K and H, makers of my heated house. I wanted to buy the microwavables but they said it would be dangerous. Of my searches, I've not read any cat houses catching on fire, so I am going to go ahead. 

Only trouble there, the teens and below are the times I would want to use them. I will check them out and put them outside in those temps to see how long they last. And there is also the thought that if someone uses them with ferals, they could take off when they're put in there and then not go back to it out of fear.

I probably won't be satisfied until I can build a house and put real heat in it, not just on a mat either. ;0

We leave our shelters out all year long. They're relatively unobtrusive - they're all 3 in our back yard, 2 are under trees and the last one is actually behind our detached garage. So someone really has to be looking to see them. You CAN see the feeding station (another rubbermaid - clear - with a lid we weight down with a brick, we cut about a 1 foot by 1 1/2 or 2 foot tall opening in the short side, and then put it slightly off the ground by putting a layer of bricks underneath it. 

As far as leaving them out year round, I figure that way they have something safe and familiar to a) run to when they feel like prey  b) use as shelter from rain/sleet etc,   c) stay a little cooler in the heat since the sun's not beating directly on them and there's a lot of insulation.....and d) get better sleep in general since they're pretty protected. We DO unplug the heating mats (indoor/outdoor ones) once the weather seems to be on a steady trend of upwards. 

We also do  - from all three - -  pull out all the straw, wash the pad cover, and disinfect (with VERRRRRYYYYY watered down bleach - check reputable on-line animal sources for amounts)  the whole thing one once emptied plus the feeding station and heated water bowl (geez, we sound like nuts when I type this out?!?!?). But I reserve a tad bit of the straw from each one and put it back in to keep a bit of the familiar smell. I also buy cheap new catnip mice each time I clean the cheaters, and put a mouse at the front of each one. Could be my imagination - or wishful thinking - but we've seen them enjoying those cheap mice like crazy and they carry them everywhere!

I've tried about every type of non-electric heat source - and don't want to put them down since lots of people on this site love them. As a freelance designer, I'm home during the day a lot - so have a lot of time to go get them and reheat them. But I find that - particularly when they need them the most (i.e., when it's coldest) they barely hold heat any length of time at all. And I feel like it defeats the purpose of making them feel like their shelters are safe places if I go disturb them often to get the darn discs to reheat. But that's just me. Other people swear by them!

None of the cushions (that I know of) will heat the air at all - they just heat where the cat is curled up. It's their body heat that will heat it up (although you'll find on this site other options for bulbs that heat)....I put loads of insulation inside my shelters too - straw up the sides, etc. In fact - in our dogloo (not a shape I'd recommend, but we had one from when our malamute passed away), my husband attached 2 solid layers of insulation on the inside of it - which both made the inside of it smaller/shorter - so less space to heat, but he also drilled two holes at the top of the opening of the dogloo, then 2 holes in a piece of plexiglass, and ran zipties through them so that the plexi was attached at the top (and sat at an angle) to the dogloo so the kittie could see out, but we could also easily flip it up when we want to clean, etc. We always leave it a little angled so that she can slip in whenever she wants, but it does seem to deter other "critters". I think she like having a "picture window" too!

Keep us posted how it all goes through all of this - as you can tell - lots of us have been through it!