Self-warming beds/mats

[Wheekie]

My ferals have a house on my porch (out of the elements)...lots of blankets in there; but it makes me laugh and feel sad at the same time...they seem to prefer the open tub ( again, lots of blankets) that I also have on my porch.

I'm thinking of getting a few of those self-warming pads to put in the tub, the house. I'm just wondering...do they help? Anybody have any experience with them?

 

[vyger]

Yes, I have several and they do work. One of my cats pretty much lives in a shop building that is only heated when it is being worked in, which this winter has been not very much. There is no furnace so the heat comes from a propane torpedo heater which you can't leave running without someone being there. Anyway, he has a big fluffy bed with high sides and it has a heat pad added to the bottom of it. When it gets cold my cat spends most of the time in the bed. I can reach down under him and he is nice and toasty. He also has a heated water dish and a larger heat pad made mostly for dogs that I put his food on so it keeps the food warm and keeps his feet warm when he eats. The building is not drafty so his heated spot tends to be warmer than the area around it. He likes it there and other than going out on sunny days he is camping out there usually. He has his own door. A few times when he has been visited by ferals they eat all the food and he comes looking for me for a refill. It's pretty funny to walk in the door and see a feral cat hunkered down in his bed. They find it pretty fast. One can almost imagine the conversation--- "Dude, that's my spot" "wow you really got it made here, when do we get more food?" " You go stand over there by the dish and it will appear, now just stay there for a while so I can keep the bed warm."

The pads are relatively low wattage and run off of 12 volts adapters so they are not a shock hazard or fire hazard. Everything together uses less power than a standard light bulb.

 

[kittychick]

It's like when you buy a gift they've begged Santa to bring all year - - -and then Christmas morning they spend the whole time playing with the box the toy came in!

We TNR'd a fairly large neighborhood colony (mostly feral) - - and about 5 ended up calling our yard and garage "home," so we've done lots of research and had LOTS of trial and error (more error then trial it often seemed!). Here are a few tips for what we found out generally worked best for "our guys." I've got lots more in depth info I can give you on types of shelters we built/bought if you're interested - - -but for now (since sleep seems imminent here!) I'll just address the warming pad question.

The porch is a good place since you've already got some built-in protection. We have several outside, in areas protected by large trees, other garages, etc. If you've got access to electricity that's a BIG help. Most of ours are now in the garage - - - which helps ALOT!

We use either styrofoam insulation w/the mylar on one side (we face the mylar into the inside on walls, etc. One large one we actually used human building insulation attached to the "ceiling" inside that we then covered with the mylar (I wouldn't recommend that - - -it was alot of work - - and through it did help keep it warmer, I always worried about the fiberglass even though it was covered - - so poor hubby had to take it back out for me - -such a saint!).

The ones with access to electricity, we use the outdoor-rated pet heating mats (never human heating pads though- - - they get too hot, even on "low"). I keep an eye out for sales since they can be pretty expensive, but prices vary wildly when sales pop up. The one in the first link below is a good example of the kind we usually get (altho we get them cheaper!). We like these more flexible, soft ones ("Cozy Winters" also carries these, in addition to Amazon) - - but I will say the ones that are stiffer actually get warmer.

K & H outdoor rated pad

K & H outdoor_rated plastic pad

In the beginning - when we had more outside vs in the garage (so no access to electricity) we used multiples of those "Snuggle Safe" disks you heat in the microwave. They're supposed to stay at least warm for up to 10 hours - - we never got warmth past 2-3 hours tops. And they're hard, so we felt like they needed to go against a wall instead of underneath them. We also learned that - for us at least (I have heard of lots of people who use and like them) - the cats got so nervous about us getting into their shelters to grab the disks to rewarm them that it just wasn't worth it. Having them in a less warm shelter without the discs beat having them in no shelter at all..

We also tuck straw in many of them (particularly in the corners, etc.) for even more insulation (never use hay - - which you may know already). Hay stays wet once it gets wet and molds easily. Since the ones in the garage don't get wet, we actually also wrap them in big quilted blankets/ etc. - - adding to the "heat retention" factor. We always put them up off the garage floor (or above the ground on ones outside). We put bricks or wooden palettes beneath, so that the ground/concrete garage floor doesn't suck the heat out of the base of the shelter. We also put acrylic "doors" on the front of ours - - especially the ones outdoors. We have the cut large enough so that the sheet of acrylic leans up (kind of like an A frame) against the entry, and drill holes in the acetate, and zip tie the top of the acrylic to the edge of the shelter. The acrylic then serves as a windbreak, keeps out any snow/rain/etc, while giving the kitties a "window" to the world!

Hubby surprised me with two of these, thinking they'd LOVE them! We added more insulation inside, and mylar sheets over the insulation. We also put straw (never hay - - which you may know already) inside. The cats just HATED them. We still have them in the garage, but I think they've used them a total of maybe 6 times in 3 or 4 years!

Did any of that help? Any questions - -just ask! We've done tons of these - - you name it, we've probably tried it! So don't hesitate to ask if you've got a question I didn't cover!

K&H prebuilt heated cat house

 

[kittychick]

We use the heated water bowl too - - that's a BIG hit!!!!!!! I'm watching sales now for the side by side heated food and water dish to keep soft food warm out there for a bit.