Building a Winter Shelter for an Outdoor Cat
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 23 ก.ย. 2024
- Time to upgrade Snickers house for the winter. She’ll be super comfy this year.
Snickers is a feral cat who adopted us about a year ago. We give her food, basic off-the-shelf meds and plenty of attention. She’s a sweet lady.
Thank you for caring. I have a "small" colony of 11. It's a long story but I love them all. I was finally able to neuter all except two newest babies. Hard to do on fixed income. I tried to get TNR people to help me but I've had no luck. Great to know that other people also care for these poor creatures that didn't ask to be homeless.
In my county the Humane Society helps pay for spay and neutering all dogs and cats if they are strays or if you have a low income
Make a smaller opening - 6” round - it’ll keep the heat in better and keep other critters from entering the shelter box
Great job by a clever, kind human! Only thing I'd add is a bit of flapper effect for doorway to lower amt of cold air entry.
Nice job. I think you need mow straw inside so kitty can make a nice nest.
nice work. You could add an old towel as a front door if the cat is clever enough to still find her way in.
Hi thank you for sharing. The videos that I have seen about cat shelters so far, they all recommend to make the door not so wide and 7 to 8 inches high due of rain, snow getting in. Just trying to help too. 🙏💖
she is beautiful
Yes its freezing here in London too, I am just going to make one of these too, I have ordered a self heating pad for inside and have a ton of polystyrene, big plastic boxes and plastic crates, I have two uncatchable outside cats Greedy and Grady who have their own hidey holes but want to give them both insulated boxes that are off the cold ground by a couple of inches (I think that's how I will use the crates, as an interior, insulated platform and basket. I hope you can cut the self heating mat because I got a big one for a good price. You need to either insulate the floor or raise it a couple of inches. If its on your porch of course, it won't need it like if it was on the ground.
Styrofoam cooler inside plastic tote. Stuff straw between them for extra insulation. Cut entrance hole up high so as to not get covered with snow. Stuff inside with straw to make a cozy nest. Set it somewhere out of wind and weather best you can. I have 2.
Plywood has some weight, be just in case of super windy gusts, id put some cheap hook and eye closures to keep the lid secure. If the wind kicks up it will be a sail. You never know.
I love it this is amazing she's gna be toasty warm cuddleing up in the straw and nice and warm thank uuuuu❤❤❤❤❤❤she thanks u
You can also put a styrofoam cooler inside your green tote and put straw around the sides between the two containers! Cut the entrance hole in the styrofoam container and put tape around the entrance.( Or you can cut your entrance hole the size of the bottom a 6" plastic flower pot. Cut the bottom off the flowerpot and put the pot into the entrance hole, bottom first. Just keeps the wind, rain and snow from easily blowing in! Tape in place. Just a thought! God Bless you for thinking of the animals!
What about some layered plastic strips to keep wind , moisture out ?
I would suggest adding another door..... most cats won't enter an area that doesn't have an alternate escape route
I know he said my girl Snickers. 😂
A feral cat brought us her kittens and my wife named one of the female kittens "Snickers"
I guess it was a more popular name than we realized.
Thanks for the video
Gotta go get started building that shelter
Gonna need about 7 or 8 of them !!!
I made one last week when it got to 29 degrees. It's a wood box, wrapped in leftover fiberglass in plastic bags. There's Styrofoam on the inside of the wood box. I covered the entire thing in a plastic shower curtain and lined the inside with a down blanket. I think it's warm enough, at least I hope so! Miss Kitty seems to like it.
You will need to change out the blanket frequently, especially if she gets wet and lays on it, or launder about once a week. I use rugs, towels, etc for mine as I don't have access to straw. Flaps on the entry help to keep body heat inside.
Blankets aren't optimal since they absorb moisture and can freeze. Use straw (not hay). It's cheap, extremely warm and won't absorb moisture.
Anywhere that freezes please don’t use any blankets or materials….only straw. What happens is the cats track in water if it’s been raining and soaks the bedding and when temperatures drop below freezing the cats can freeze to death because the bedding is wet. When using straw, be very generous! Fill the bin pretty full so it can surround them.
Looks great and I'm sure it works fine as long as your cat doesn't smoke. 😉 Thanks for sharing.
Good job. That's one lucky kitty cat.
scraps of carpet make great insulation, too, and it doesn't matter what it looks like.
Home Depot & Lowes often have a free scrap bin in their stores.
Unfortunately if you use anything that can get wet and retain moisture you can make the cat extremely sick. Its recommended to use straw only
@@redoksunflower good point, thanks! :)
Hey guys, I just wanna say thanks to everyone that helps out with the stray animals outside. I do my part as well and I just put two boxes outside last night for my kids. Yes I do call them kids😆 . God bless.🦋😘
Same ! I cant have cats but i make beds and feed the strays that hang around . But they know home !
❤ you both
I have 12 cats in my house already. Anyone from my yard who decides they want to come in is welcome. We have a cathouse that has its own covered porch and deck. (Yes, it's a nicer set up than what we have.) We use a canopy to provide shade/rain shelter over the deck. There is heavy duty bedding in the house. The box beds on the porch gets straw. Then we have a barn that only a few sleep in. They have individual beds with straw and heavy bedding as well. We feed everyone , even 9 racoons that think they are cats. We spay and neuter whoever we can catch. We really try to get the girls as the priority if money is tight. I am luck the colony is in my yard so I don't have to travel to care for them.
@@cerscilwell done! I get a cleanup crew that eats the leftovers. Raccoon, opossum, and a skunk. We also have bobcats and occasionally coyotes in the area due to being close to a lake, but my backyard is fenced, so helps protect them.
@@donnaleveron5711 that's awesome. We do not have to worry about large predators. We are on long island so the largest thing we get are foxes and they are rare in residential areas.
Be sure to cover the opening with a flap to help keep out wind and rain, and keep body heat inside. Straw needs to be 6 to 8 inches or more so she can burrow into it for warmth. Plenty of food, staying warm burns extra calories.
Looks like the hole is pretty big- can dogs or coyotes get far enough in to attack the cat? Is there foam insulation on the floor of either of the wood box or the green storage container - or both?
Great idea - thank you!
Wonderful! Loves it :) Great idea to just continue to use the bin but insulate it better. Cute kitty kitty!
Why would you keep your cat outside in the first place? Heat????????????
She's not his cat. She's an outdoor stray. He's provided her a warm, safe place to stay and eat. If a cat has lived outdoors all their lives they often want to keep that freedom to come and go.
She thinks it's fabulous 🤩
if she is not fixed contact your local shelter and ask them for TNR. its cheaper and she can get fixed with her shots . and thankyou for the video. I'm currently doing the same thing with my outside cats and I trap cats to be fixed and I release them . (TNR) behind my sisters apartments. these cats have no shelter besides an old truck. so I am making houses for them. again thankyou for the info on building a better winter home.
I used a huge igloo cooler and cut hole in side. Filled with stray and the stray cats we feed on our front porch will not go in it. Disappointed. We do catch them and get them fixed (expensive) and release them back. Of course we have kept several for indoor cats. Have 7 kittens in large catio in back yard. We know we can't keep all of them. Haha.
Maybe idea to use escape hole on other side you can get some plexiglass to help have room with view up top or on sidethey will be critters checking it out make escape route you can place rug or installation foam under neath thought have great time exploring help for our fur babies.
I did this for a feral tom that took up with us. Next thing we noticed is he moved his girlfriend in and soon we had kitties. Next thing I did took them to the spay and neuter clinic.
Hello I'm in md also, I converted an old trash can storage bin to do the same thing. Used a lot of straw and a heat lamp. Sad thing is I am down to 2 cats from 7.
Lucky cat.
Water is gonna get in there from the top.
i am making a cat box today, all plywood but 2 ft x 4 ft and 3 ft high. big because theres several cats. my top has a red chicken warmer bulb in a 10 inch cookie tin. maybe add a thermo stat later
nice project but opening is too close to the ground. Rain, snow water gets in too easy. Maybe up 6 inches from the bottom would be better?
Where do I find hay? I looked at several pet stores- no hay.
Don't use blankets in case it rains or snows. The blankets can stick to the cat and it can freeze to death.
I made them but they wouldn't go in it I was told they have to be higher up off the ground ?
Isn’t the hole rather large and wouldn’t it be wiser to not have it cut so low? You wouldn’t need much snow fall for it to be inside the box?
You can go to a secondhand store and pick up some ugly wool sweaters to put on top of the straw. Change them out now and then.
you didnt insulate the top 💀🤣🤣
Needs insulation on top.
Why don't you heat it with a pad or heated flooring?
Problem is getting them to use it
Got a sub out of me and I'm a dog person.
Why don’t you just adopt her and let her live in the house?
Can I use pine needles?
Pine needles ? Why on earth would you use pine needles ? Straw only.
Fiberglass insulation is a bad idea. Glad you didn't use it.
I commented too soon. You did use it.
I used fiberglass on my feral cat house, but I wrapped it in plastic. Is that ok?
Not worth filming or watching. Do us all a favor and take it down.