# outside winter housing for feral & barn cats?



## cathleenc (Aug 16, 2007)

any good ideas on how to keep outdoor cats well-housed for winter?

It gets mighty cold in wisconsin - think 30-40 consecutive days that are below zero at the warmest, maybe -30 without the wind chill at the coldest.

We have an average 4-8 cats on the farm at any time, depends who has 'dumped' another cat in the area.

I could use ideas for a couple of different houses/shelters for them - some fight with each other.

Also, I have a bag of wool scraps from shearing - any great ideas for using the wool for insulation or padding? The wool is disgusting at the moment (was poopy - now slightly mildewy and poopy) but I could run it through the washer and air dry till it becomes serviceable.

thanks
Cathy

edited to add: the cats usually stay in the barn in the winter. I am only willing to 'service' the lower level of the barn and last year the cats tended to stick inside the feed room, where I feed them. We took a wood crate and surrounded it with small hay bales (for insulation) and put some blankets in the inside. Significantly more cats on the premise this year. ALL cats are fixed.


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## Willow101 (Feb 20, 2008)

I would suggest the hay bale huts that you have already indicated you used last year. Make sure the floor is also one level of hay bales and provide a short hallway to the main sleeping area....like igloos have. The thick hay floor will insulate the floor as blankets tend to hold in the damp and the hall will prevent body heat from the cats to escape. In the real cold weather you can take milk containers and fill with hot water and place inside the hay huts. The heat from the bottles, combined with the body heat of the cats, should make it cozy in the hay huts.

Willow101


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## Minelson (Oct 16, 2007)

Willow101 said:


> I would suggest the hay bale huts that you have already indicated you used last year. Make sure the floor is also one level of hay bales and provide a short hallway to the main sleeping area....like igloos have. The thick hay floor will insulate the floor as blankets tend to hold in the damp and the hall will prevent body heat from the cats to escape. In the real cold weather you can take milk containers and fill with hot water and place inside the hay huts. The heat from the bottles, combined with the body heat of the cats, should make it cozy in the hay huts.
> 
> Willow101


That sounds so cozy it made me feel like taking a nap! Great idea using hay bales. You can also turn those rubbermaid type plastic containers upside down and cut a little opening for them to crawl into and bury it in hay.


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## JasoninMN (Feb 24, 2006)

I hang a red heat lamp in my garage, but I only have two cats. They love it, and curl up under it to keep warm. I also had a heated pet mat, which they never really used.


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## Willow101 (Feb 20, 2008)

Minelson said:


> You can also turn those rubbermaid type plastic containers upside down and cut a little opening for them to crawl into and bury it in hay.


Great idea!!! Hadn't thought of that and it would provide more stability. I'll have to keep that one in mind for my barn cats....although they have access to the house.

Willow101


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## michael h (Sep 28, 2007)

Our neighbor put heeting pads under towels in their garage for the neighborhood cats. They keep their 15 cats in the house. Needless to say everyones cats stayed in their garage in the winter including my own. One of my cats even stayed after we moved. He was so spoiled by them he wouldn't come home any more.


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## deetu (Dec 19, 2004)

Hunter pads! The ones that hunters use in the field to keep their bums warm. I got a couple in Walmart for a few dollars and my cat loves it. I got a plastic container, lined it with carpet, put a pillow on the bottom with the hunter pillow in the back, nestled in between the hay bales and he is great. If it is really cold, I will cover the front with a towel to keep the heat in even more. He will move it aside to get in and out.


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## RiverPines (Dec 12, 2006)

Here in Green county Wi, its not that cold.
Must be the air.

Our cats do fine curling up in just the hay storage.

Ont he average cold winter day, around 20, they are out hunting and lurking as they do all year.

Those extreme, short lived, cold spells in January and February, where the actual temps, not wind chill, get to -20 at 'night' for like a week before it warms up again, they are fine in hay.

Hay is a great insulator. It traps animals body heat...goats, sheep, dogs and cats.

And wind chill temps wont do much in a building thats blocking the wind, especially with hay to bed it.


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## Willow101 (Feb 20, 2008)

While I agree that most animals do fine in the hay it is a fact that cold weather adds stress to the lives of the animals that must cope. The stress may not be noticable to us however it is there. They need extra calories to keep warm. Animals living in a barn or field can survive nicely if the caretaker understands the unique needs of winter management. Shelter from draft, a dry place to go to and extra calories to allow them to keep a nice layer of fat for insulation. 

Many barn cats don't get that extra boost from added calories as farmers feel that feeding them means they won't hunt. It takes added calories to keep warm just as it does to hunt. They will hunt and they will hunt with much more vigor if their nutritional and environmental needs are being supplimented during cold weather. So I agree that a hay mow is a perfect place to live in the winter however the ability to improve upon the hay mow will only reduce the stresses of winter and allow the mousers in the barn to use their energy hunting instead of dividing the energy needs between keeping warm and eating.

One hint that your cats need more warmth is how many seek the warmth of a car engine. Obviously, once in a while even those that are provided with the basic needs will climb into a warm engine however I have found that, without exception, providing a warm place to sleep drastically improves the chances of not being killed in the motor of a car or truck.

Willow101


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## Itsme (Jan 12, 2008)

We use heat lamps with a red bulb. I have one set up in the garage and one set up out in the shed.


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