Shed Heater, Litter Box, Tote Shelter

[tom87]

I have 3 stray cats that live outside here in west Tennessee. I’m concerned about the winter cold. My thought is to put in a commercial flap door in an 8’x8’ wood shed so they can come and go as they please. Right now they have (2) 50 gallon Sterlite plastic totes outside that I’m lining with 3/4 “ Styrofoam as well as adding a few inches of straw in case there is a problem with the shed idea. The totes have 6” diameter entry and escape holes.


(1) I thought I’d run an extension cord from the house to the shed and put in some type of electric heater. Maybe someone could suggest a safe heater – I have visions of them knocking the heater over or burning their paws etc.

(2) One of the cats will use a litter box in the shed, another just digs in it so that the litter winds up on the shed floor and I’ve never seen the third one in the box. When winter comes and they’re all together in the shed at night is there a way I can train them to use the litter box correctly?

(3) If it turns out that one or all three don’t want to deal with the new flap door or otherwise just don’t want to sleep in the shed I thought I’d try to add more insulation to the totes in addition to the Styrofoam and straw I have now. Maybe a blanket or sleeping bag draped over the top or somehow affix straw to the outside of the totes or maybe someone could suggest another way.

(4) I bought the extra large 50 gallon totes at Walmart thinking the cats would like plenty of room but now I’m thinking maybe I should have gotten smaller ones (30 gallon or less) so that the cat’s body heat would be more concentrated. Mother and daughter sleep in one and the other cat sleeps in the other. Do you think the 50 gallon totes the way I have them insulated (all interior surfaces have Styrofoam and there is straw on the bottom)) would retain the cat’ body heat effectively or should I get smaller totes?

I’d be grateful for any help!

Tom

 

[krisrath11]

I would just make sure the heater has a tilt shut off and test it. I use them to heat my house and never have a problem.

I would do some large, and some small totes. I would put out what u have, and then add a couple little ones as well. The straw sounds like a good idea as well.

I got a mom who was a stray and was going outside the abandoned house her babies were in to potty. Since she has been here and I trapped the babies, I use pine pellets as litter and have not had a single accident out of any of them. I think they know how naturally, and they may still go outside since it isn' in their area at all.

I hope this helps and thank u for helping out the homeless kitties!

 

[shadowsrescue]

I use hound heaters for my cats heated winter shelter. I have some info about it with links and pictures on my blog
Shelters

I have used the hound heaters for 4 years now. They keep the space warm as long as it is insulated. I do have outside electric available, but I do use extension cords.

 

[Sarthur2]

I like the heated shed idea! I would leave the totes out too though.

Ceramic type heaters that blow warm air out (and oscillate) are safer than regular electric heaters. Try mounting it on the wall above the floor so there's no chance of fire.

I would guess the cats would all learn to use the litter box if they do not want to go outside. You could provide a box with litter and a box with dirt.

Thanks for caring about these cats!

 

[kittychick]

One thing I can definitely tell you is that you can NEVER know what they're going to like/prefer/etc. Gambling on what our ferals will find comfiest and coziest is a bet I think I'd lose 90% of the time! We've got a couple of funny examples - - - and some advice in there somewhere

A bit of background on how we do things. We live in Ohio where winters get VERY nasty with lots of snow. I'll put a pic below showing Flick, one of the many cats we TNR'd from our neighborhood colony (who is now an extremely pampered, beloved indoor furry lap lump) from her first winter here (my husband shoveled her a path - you can see the snow was as high as she was (albeit she's tiny - about 6 lbs). Flick eventually came into the house - - and now we have 4 (5 until one passed away this spring) TNR'd sweeties that call our house "home" about 90% of the day. We put out several of the "double rubbermaid bins" shelters out (my hubby put angled acrylic sheets in front of the entrance to block wind and other elements.) We used the 'standard' insulators of straw & styrofoam between the inner and outer bins, put them off the ground with bricks, and added outdoor-rated heated pet pads. Several we had were the smaller "one cat" variety you were talking about - - several were the "2 cat" (which - as you note - should be warmer bc of the body heat factor). We also had an old Dogloo - - we added multiple layers of insulation to the inside of it all around, and on the bottom, raising it from the ground by bricks also, and also added the front acrylic "door" and heated pet pads with straw. By far this should be the least warm of all of them - because even with the layers of insulation - there's still alot of excess "headroom" but since we had it, we thought we'd put out. One of the first REALLY cold days here - - my husband yells "you've got to see this!" As he headed out to feed them - it was like a clown car! All four came tumbling over each other - getting out of the dogloo!!!! All of the other far warner options - - - and they go with that. But it was hysterical.

We decided to put all but 2 of the shelters in our detached garage -- it's still cold, but at least no wind, and we keep the main garage door cracked about 6 or so inches all of the time so that large predators (and people!) can't get in. AND my hubby bought two of the "K&H Outdoor Heated Cat Houses" to put in there, and added more insulation and an extra "electric outdoor cat heated mat" to each. And then.... we moved all of our patio furniture into the garage for the winter. Do they chose the $100 each K&H Heated Houses? (and we're self-employed - - -that was a big expense for us!) Of course not! Or maybe the insulated and heated rubbermaid shelters? Why would they do that? You guessed it - instead, all four picked spots on cushions on the stacked patio furniture! I thought my husband was going to scream! This year we compromised with them - we cut pieces of insulation to fit into the stacked chairs, added heated mats, and wrapped the chairs in insulation and blankets. All four are very happy in the garage now - - but they still argue over who gets the (as my husband calls them) the janky ghetto chair set up over the expensive, nice houses. But eventually everyone gets somewhere that's insulated -- - - so I'm happy.

And literally hours before I saw your note I was saying to my husband I wish we'd done some type of (very small) shed and put it in our garage - instead of all of these various scattered houses in the garage. I have to believe that the shed would provide yet another barrier layer against the cold, and they'd be warmer. But after all I've put him through - - I'm not asking

I will say though - - I'd be worried about using a heater (except the hound heater - our neighbor has one for her part of "our colony" and it works well and seems very safe). Others seem to have had good luck with them - - and I've also heard people who have had luck with other, nontippable heaters. My two reasons for concern - - one is an old memory -- - my grandparents had a farm with a small wood barn/outbuilding for the sows with piglets, and for our very small flock of sheep. One night a lamb somehow knocked something into the heater and short version - the barn went up in flames. Only a few sows survived. It was awful - the only time I ever saw my very hard-weathered farmer grandfather cry. The firemen told him it was a complete fluke - he'd done nothing wrong - but that story has stuck with me so I'm wary of heaters. But it sounds like many on here with TONS of experience advise using them - - - so I'm sure they know what they're talking about!

And my only other word of caution - - we used space heaters to keep a litter of kittens and their mom extra warm one weekend last winter. It was extremely cold, and although they and their mom were in a warm bedroom in our finished basement, I worried about them getting chilled. So we ran the space heater for about 3 days. When our electric bill came - it had basically doubled our electric bill!!!!!! Running that space heater for just over 3 days caused our bill to go up over $100!!!! Just something to check out. We were SO stunned!!!!!

I did see recently how someone heated their feral cat house with rope lighting - that it generated enough heat to really keep the temp up - really immensely ---but my hubby and I got to talking about how bizarre it might be for the kitties to have 24 hours of very bright lighting on - - -isn't that how people sometimes torture criminals? Anyway -- if I can find the link to how that was done - - - it'd be another option! I also saw a great video on how a guy did a wooden box with a detachable roof with a smaller kitty home inside that used a single bulb (he put a barrier up so that the cat wouldn't burn itself). I'll post that if I can find it also.

So since it sounds like you've got room - I'd continue to provide them with options. (Maybe they want to switch up roommates at times?!? Don't we all!?!?!)

Keep us posted on how you end up doing things - and how all the furry ones take to things!

(Flick and her outdoor shelter - - -snow had melted considerably, but we got more the next day. You couldn't even see her over the snow most places!) I think she's a little happier now inside, don't you think?

 

[tom87]

Thanks to all. I bought a Cat Mate flap door that they all eventually learned to use. Also a Snuggle Safe microwaveable pad for one of them that I slip under some straw - not sure how effective it is. Finally a small ceramic heater that automatically turns off if knocked over. For whatever reason the litter box is no longer being played with which is a good thing.

 

[Sarthur2]

It sounds like it's going well for the kitties! Thank you!