Feral Cat Shelter

CatladyJan

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So I have a once feral cat that is now my friend. I’m unable to bring him into the house for integration at this time for several reasons. I have a small outbuilding with a sliding side door, but he didn’t want to be there as he likes being in front of my house.
Well my husband and I got some pallet wood for .25 a plank and then bought some 2x2”s. It took a lot of planning looking at different designs online and we finally accomplished building him, Sidekick, a house. We used styrofoam lined with emergency blankets, already had some shingles. It took a lot of work and tear down and rebuild but we did it. The entrance faces the house and it has a side exit.
Any water coming off the roof should go down the back. We have it perched on another pallet. We went from 70 degrees to 30 and snow in one day and were not able to finish painting it (hunter green). We will be putting awnings over the entrances when weather allows
 

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CatladyJan

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Congratulations! That’s a lot of work! Keep us posted! What a great name for a cat!
Thanks. LOL I believe he is one of the cats I first captured at my place of work 4 years ago. At that time I had just started my job and I saw these 2 black kittens and their momma running around. The first kitten is my cat Snowball he was the friendly one and when he would come up to me I would ask him, "Where is your sidekick?" That is how the name originated. Sad part is I did catch him and brought him home, had him in my outbuilding and he managed to escape that night. Spent months searching for him and I would see a black cat near my home always watching me. 3-4 years later he started showing up for food and the rest is history.
 

di and bob

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Absolutely beautiful! One more thing you could do to keep him warm is to put in an outdoor cat heated pad for him. My cats absolutely love theirs. they have lasted almost ten years now, so are a deal. i use an outdoor extension cord on mine, have 5 of them. They only use as much electricity as a 40 watt bulb. i get the K&H ones on Walmart and Amazon. He would love it for Christmas!
 

Antonio65

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put in an outdoor cat heated pad for him. My cats absolutely love theirs. they have lasted almost ten years now, so are a deal
I had a heated pad for my outdoor cats and they loved it, but it didn't last that long, I think it fell apart after three years, and I understood it was way too dangerous for cats. Hadn't I noticed the rip in the outer surface, one of the cat could have been electrocuted.
I always wanted to buy another heated pad, but one that works on a low voltage, like 12V or 24V, much safer in the case of material failure. So far I haven't found anything that had some good reviews.
 

di and bob

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I dont know how that rip happened, the K&H ones are SUPER tough. In the ten years i have had them i have never had one rip, nor the sheep skin cover. The cord has a metal coil around it to keep it chew proof and they have a place to put air in them too. They are all exterior pads, the inside ones are much thinner and more flimsy. I have ten of them right now, many like i said almost ten years old. Of course they are just used during the winter, from Oct. Thru March.
 
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CatladyJan

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Absolutely beautiful! One more thing you could do to keep him warm is to put in an outdoor cat heated pad for him. My cats absolutely love theirs. they have lasted almost ten years now, so are a deal. i use an outdoor extension cord on mine, have 5 of them. They only use as much electricity as a 40 watt bulb. i get the K&H ones on Walmart and Amazon. He would love it for Christmas!
Are they safe with straw, rain and snow? The house is just under the slight overhang of our house because that is where he likes to be.
 

di and bob

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They only get warm enough to match a cats body temp. 100 degrees. Not even close to hot enough to ignite anything. They are sealed in a tough waterproof lining, so are safe for wet feet/cat from snow and rain. They should NOT be immersed in water, but if that happens the cat wouldn't go near a pool of water anyway. If your shelter is raised you should be fine. Ive had snow blow in and cover them and they were fine, in fact the gentle heat dries it up. If you get one make sure it is for outdoors not indoors.
 
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CatladyJan

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They only get warm enough to match a cats body temp. 100 degrees. Not even close to hot enough to ignite anything. They are sealed in a tough waterproof lining, so are safe for wet feet/cat from snow and rain. They should NOT be immersed in water, but if that happens the cat wouldn't go near a pool of water anyway. If your shelter is raised you should be fine. Ive had snow blow in and cover them and they were fine, in fact the gentle heat dries it up. If you get one make sure it is for outdoors not indoors.
Ok, the only way I have to plug it in through the lightbulb socket I have outside as we don't have any outlets in the front of the house.
 

di and bob

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You can get a screw in adaptor that changes a light socket into an outlet. Then use an outdoor extension cord to run to the heat pad. Your cat will love it, mine are using theirs inside their huts right now! We are getting down to single digits tonight!
 
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CatladyJan

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I'm looking at them now, do I need the cover?
 

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Most of them come with a cover. I have used them without and wrapped them in a small fleece blankets that are only a few dollars. in fact around Black Friday they often have them for 2.99. The problem is the cats bunch them up and uncover the pad at times, you would have to check. The fleece covers stay on. The initial price seems a little much, but for piece of mind they are priceless.
 
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CatladyJan

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Most of them come with a cover. I have used them without and wrapped them in a small fleece blankets that are only a few dollars. in fact around Black Friday they often have them for 2.99. The problem is the cats bunch them up and uncover the pad at times, you would have to check. The fleece covers stay on. The initial price seems a little much, but for piece of mind they are priceless.
Yes, $8.00 just for a cover - hurry up black friday!
 
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