Heat Index Of 110

Ideas (besides lots of water bowls) for these cats that Mom will not let inside house or garage (and she can see if I sneak in). I don't believe it was this hot last year. The heat begins on Wednesday and lasting all the way through to Sunday. Some of you know my situation from previous posts. Thanks.

Do you have a shady place with sand/dirt they can lay in? The sand is usually nice and cool inthe shade. my girl honeybee likes to curl up in the sand under the deck when it's hot out-she just prefers to sleep outside...

Do you have one of those tables with the umbrella to set up to form shade? A black/dark colored tarp propped up by holding it over areas to form shade could work too.

There's concrete and bricks right under the sunroom and just outside the basement door that's shady. They've been there all day due to the rain but we are in for some scorchers.

foxxycat said:

Do you have a shady place with sand/dirt they can lay in? The sand is usually nice and cool inthe shade. my girl honeybee likes to curl up in the sand under the deck when it's hot out-she just prefers to sleep outside...

Do you have one of those tables with the umbrella to set up to form shade? A black/dark colored tarp propped up by holding it over areas to form shade could work too.

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No time to get the sand though. Hope the area they have is enough for them.

grass is cool to lay on in the shade too. Or get some straw and lay some down. The trick is to make shade-move objects to form a shadow. Use an old blanket if it's not raining but straw is better because it doesn't get moldy like a blanket would if it rains.

Sadly I can't be getting straw or Mom will throw fits. LIke I said most people know my situation from prior posts on here.

MoonstoneWolf said:

Ideas (besides lots of water bowls) for these cats that Mom will not let inside house or garage (and she can see if I sneak in). I don't believe it was this hot last year. The heat begins on Wednesday and lasting all the way through to Sunday. Some of you know my situation from previous posts. Thanks.

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Even though that IS very hot, cats can withstand heat fairly well, as their genetic roots are in the desert, originally from West Asia/North Africa. They are also good at seeking out shady places in extreme heat, like lions under baobab trees.
There are lots of shelters one can build, including:
Feral Cat Shelter Options

but it depends upon your family and financial options. We put in a mister in the Mojave in our cat compound (you may know of these from restaurants where people have outside dining options) and bought a portable swamp cooler for inside the barn (refillable water tanks must be refilled or it'll break down, of course). Any kind of cooler will be a big draw on electricity. Unfortunately, there really aren't a lot of options that I know of. We have HVAC but I can't afford to use it; so I do use ceiling and table fans when necessary. I've wet down my cats with a cloth soaked in cool water and rung out; this temporarily cools them. And providing cool water to drink is very important if at all possible.

Thanks for all you're doing for the cats. Not sure if there's anything different from what has already been posted, but here's the TCS article 9 Ways To Help Feral Cats During Hot Summer Months which may be helpful.

rubysmama said:

Thanks for all you're doing for the cats. Not sure if there's anything different from what has already been posted, but here's the TCS article 9 Ways To Help Feral Cats During Hot Summer Months which may be helpful.

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TYSM rubysmama ! and MoonstoneWolf , to that article, I added: Never leave a cat in a trap under ANY conditions. We had the tragic experience of trapping a cat who must have had a heart attack as soon as (s)he was trapped, and immediately passed on from the stress. When possible, have someone sit on the trap. You want to get the trap covered and the cat to safety right away.
Also, feeding at scheduled times every day ensures the cats will become accustomed to getting food at those times (cats being crepuscular, as close to dawn and dusk as possible is optimal).

I put ice in zip lock bags and tarp something over them for shade. You could put the zip lock bags under sand or under the lid of a styrofoam ice chest or just under a pillowcase or towel. Ice in their water bowl helps too. Try to shade the bowls. There are double walled water bowls of metal that keep water cooler. Any form of shade will help. Anything you can rig up that still let’s air flow through. If you have a Rubbermaid type of bin/ tote box you can place the ice bag under it. Turn it on the side and the cats will be likely to go inside. The ice bags can be put under the bin. I used this method during a really bad heat wave here. My ferals did take advantage of the bags. I also used small battery operated fans that blew over cold water bowls. Home Depot has these. If you have electric available. Maybe this could be helpful. I used one under a patio table but made sure the cats could not tip it over. The same effect can be had by blowing air over a bowl of ice water.
Sorry I am late to reply. I actually started this reply hours ago but we had a little cat emergency here. I hope the links given will help.

I live in Houston so it can get hot. I had towels over the concrete and boxes. I had the vet check the kittens claws, almost 4 weeks old. They were fine. Stray cats but the mama cat trusted me enough to take her kittens to the vet. Very loving,devoted mama