# Keeping an old barn cat warm in winter?



## fireweed farm (Dec 31, 2010)

I was given an old nasty cat for my barn (10 +/-)that wasn't going to get a good home. I've put her out there with feed/water and a little bed which she rarely leaves, unless she's up all night.
It get's very cold here in winter. I know cats are tough but as an old one- any suggestions? It's also slightly drafty.
I was thinking placing a battery warmer under her bed, but that's just a warm belly. Better than nothing?
Any other ideas would be appreciated, thanks.


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## akane (Jul 19, 2011)

We use boxes stuffed full of old towels and rags. Just pull one flap off or cut a hole. Depending what her bed is you could shove it in there. It will hold in some heat versus the open air.


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## Ross (May 9, 2002)

Cats do seem to like boxes or at least ours do.


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## Classof66 (Jul 9, 2011)

I know someone who took a lidded litter box and wrapped it in blankets and put warm things inside. She lives in town and it was warm shelter for several neighborhood strays.


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## Wolf Flower (Dec 21, 2005)

Straw holds body heat very well. I'd get a good-sized rubbermaid or even a sturdy cardboard box, cut a little door in it, fill it with straw, and put it in a protected area where it won't get wet. A battery-powered warmer sure wouldn't hurt either--sounds like barn cat heaven, actually. Cats are pretty hardy, especially if well-fed, and 10 years isn't that old for a cat. 

I have a housecat who escaped early one spring, I think he was 11 or 12 at the time, and didn't return for three weeks. The weather was wet and stormy and miserable during that time. We looked for him everywhere, with no luck. I was sure he was a goner, I even got another cat to replace him, and wouldn't you know--within 48 hours of getting another cat, there he was meowing at the door to be let in. 

He looked fabulous--he'd lost some weight (he was a bit fat to begin with), but he was clean, fit, bright and shiny. I have no idea where he'd been camping out all that time, but he looked like he'd just returned from 3 weeks at a health spa.  And this was a cat that hadn't been outside since kittenhood!

So yeah, cats are hardy, and have a knack for finding comfortable spaces.


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## dragonjaze (Sep 8, 2010)

some ideas
Feral Cat Shelters


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## Ardie/WI (May 10, 2002)

dragonjaze said:


> some ideas
> Feral Cat Shelters


DH made two similar to those for our outside cats. They are in our attached garage, each has a warmer in it. The garage door is cracked 24/7 so they can come and go as they wish.


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## BackfourtyMI. (Sep 3, 2007)

Our 2 barn cats each have a crate in the bar with straw on the bottom then an old towel & on top of the towel for winter I put these kitty mat's I ordered from Jeffers Livestock. 
They are called Mysterious Purr Pad, they are $9.99 for a set of 2 & it says they absorb the cats body heat & reflects it back to them while they lay on it.

Another one, costs a little more but from Petedge.com for $13.99 does the same thing. The one from petedge is the one a gal at our vets office uses for her old barn cat. She is 20 years old.


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## earthkitty (Mar 3, 2011)

We use an electric blanket.


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## chickenista (Mar 24, 2007)

We use an old cooler for our indoor/outdoor cat.
We laid it on it's side and opened just one of the lid flaps.
We keep an old feather pillow inside.

The feathers and the insulating protection of the cooler keep her toasty warm.


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## RedDirt Cowgirl (Sep 21, 2010)

The feral cat shelter site has great ideas, and Chickenista, I think you've got the best ready-to-go insulated box plan. 

Petco sells huge covered litter boxes with a translucent swinging door that makes a good "Cat Pod" for me. I just lined it top and bottom with an emergency space blanket, padding in the bottom, and I figured a top layer from an old microfleece jacket would do the same warm-when-wet and wicking job it does for me. Cat loves it and the door keeps out drafts.



chickenista said:


> We use an old cooler for our indoor/outdoor cat. We laid it on it's side and opened just one of the lid flaps.
> We keep an old feather pillow inside. The feathers and the insulating protection of the cooler keep her toasty warm.


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