Diy: Build A Super Feral Shelter For $45.65

[Q2U]

Materials Required:

• Igloo 48-Qt Island Breeze Cooler: $18.97*
• Cat Mate 4 Way Locking Cat Flap with Door Liner: $19.99**
• GE GE500 Silicone Outdoor Caulk: $6.69
• Straw

*I chose the Igloo 48-Qt Island Breeze Cooler because (1) it had good vertical sides to accommodate the Cate Mate swinging door, (2) it was inexpensive, and (3) it has a "ridge and groove" (as shown in the pictures below) so that water will not enter the cooler when it rains on the lid, or when snow melts.

**Be careful when purchasing this "Cate Mate" swinging door on Amazon as there are many Chinese-knockoffs being sold on Amazon which purport to be "Cate Mate" and/or look like Cat Mate but are not of very good quality and don't close well like the true "Cat Mate" brand door. You are looking for the "Cate Mate" brand model numbers 235B (Brown) or 235W (White). In addition, these "Cate Mate" doors vary in price: I have paid as little as $19.99 and as much as $31.99 for these doors on Amazon.

Tools Required:

• Cordless drill
• 1/2" drill bit
• Razor-blade knife
  
• Handheld power jigsaw

Steps:

1. Start by (CAREFULLY) cutting off one of the cooler handles with a saw or with the razor-blade knife...be careful...it is very easy to cut yourself when using a razor-blade knife!
2. After the handle has been removed, place the (included) Cate Mate template on the end of the cooler (the end you cut the handle off of).
3. Trace a line around the template with a permanent magic marker.
4. Drill a 1/2" hole through the end of the cooler (I drilled the hole in the upper right corner of the template trace line).
5. Insert the jigsaw into the 1/2" hole you drilled and carefully cut through the end of the cooler carefully following the template trace line.
6. Liberally apply silicone sealer in the inside and outside of the cooler (this will seal and glue the Cate Mate door to the inside and outside of the cooler). Wear gloves...the silicone will get everywhere and have plenty of paper towels available to clean up.
7. Insert the inner and outer sections of the Cate Mate door and secure it to the inside and outside of the cooler with the included screws.
8. Clean off excess silicone and let the silicone dry for an hour.
9. Place straw inside the cooler and invite a feral kitty cat to be warm and cozy this winter!

 

[tabbytom]

That's pretty impressive work Q2U . Thumbs up to you

One suggestion, it's better to have two swinging doors, one on either side instead of just one door. Reason is the cat won't be trapped inside if there's an intruder and it'll have a escape route through the other door.

Hope many caretakers will start this project soon as winter is just round the corner.

 

[kittychick]

Q2U --- Thanks for taking so much time to post the directions AND the pics for the many kitties and their caretakers who will be needing a warm place to settle in (and that time's coming up sooner than any of us like to think!). So thanks for posting this ahead of when many caretakers aren't thinking about the cold yet!

And as far as the two doors vs one - - it's funny. We've had some ferals who hate feeling "cornered" with only one door (which makes complete sense!) but we've had kitties who won't even go into a shelter with 2 doors!

My advice - if you've got more than one feral kitty, maybe offer at least one of each (you can always go back and add a second door if no one digs the one door option!)l

 

[Q2U]

...maybe offer at least one of each (you can always go back and add a second door if no one digs the one door option!)l

I was thinking of installing a tunnel between two of of my “Feral CatQooler” units which — as each CatQooler unit would have its own door — might satisfy the “2-door” suggestion.

 

[kittychick]

Ooh - interesting! I'd love to see if that works for them! Keep us posted!

 

[Q2U]

HOLD YOUR HORSES: I would not recommend that anyone build this CatQooler project. Although I used this particular cooler because it was inexpensive and has a groove in the lid (and ridge in the body to prevent water intrusion) the cooler allows water to enter. I opened it up after a heavy rain several days ago and it had a 1/4" of water in it (and the straw was wet). I need to determine if anything can be done to prevent water from entering.

My sincere apology for not doing a better job testing this cooler before posting this topic.

 

[tabbytom]

Can you like use some stiffer but bendable plastic sheets and stick it to the bottom of the lid and when the lid is closed, the plastic sheets stick out say somewhere around 2 1/2 ins all round forming something that resembles a shelter or extended roof.

This way, when the lid is closed and if rains, the water is collected onto the plastic 'shelter' instead of flowing in and at the same time it prevents the water or rain from seeping in.

Or, get a fairly thick plexiglass that's larger than the cover by 3ins and stick it onto the outside top of cover. With the extended oversized top, it maybe able to survive the rain. Don't forget to round off the corners of the plexiglass so that no one can get hurt with the sharp corners. Think this is better than sticking plastic sheets. Or even plywood may do do the job.

It's not foolproof but this is what I can think of at the moment.

I don't think mounting rubber weather shield around will work as the lid cannot be closed properly.

 

[orange&white]

That's disappointing that a cooler would let rain seep in like that. It's a beautiful shelter.

I agree with TabbyTom about attaching a roof to the top that overhangs a few inches.

Don't know about cost of different types of materials, but one of these underbed box lids might work. Or you might be able to simply slip the entire bottom of the box over the top of the cooler lid, covering the opening. I think these boxes cost about the same as your cooler though, increasing your cost quite a bit.

Plexiglass might be cheaper but more work(?)...I don't know what that costs.

You might even be able to simply source a 1-2" thick piece of Styrofoam at no expense by asking around a bit.

Anyway, you're obviously very creative and handy! Looking forward to seeing how you solve this!

 

[tabbytom]

piece of Styrofoam

Styrofoam will not last and breaks easily and messy when broken and they are light and may be blown away by the wind.
Also if it's broken in pieces, the cats might accidentally ingest it while eating their food as small pieces of foam may be stuck to the food and also get stuck on their fur and bad for grooming.

 

[orange&white]

Yes, you're right. I was trying to think of something lightweight and not weigh the shelter down too much if it needed to be moved. I guess it depends on placement.

You could always throw a tarp over the top and anchor the ends to the ground. May not be terribly attractive, but it would repel rain.

 

[shadowsrescue]

I have used under the bed totes to make little roofs for my shelters. Some of them I used zip ties to attach after drilling a few holes that I then plugged up. Some I attached with bungie cords and then a brick on top. Here is a picture.

 

[kittypa]

Is it possible that the water came in through the pet door ?

 

[Q2U]

So thanks for the ideas to use a "over-lay" roof" to fix the problem with the cooler top leaking water. It seems to have worked well. I ended up using a large concrete mixing tub I purchased at home depot to remediate this issue...