Summer-izing Feral Cat Shelter - Questions

[aztrish]

Hi all! First time in 11 years, I was able to get my feral girl (I TNR'd her and her siblings 11 years ago, she's the last that still comes around) to use a winter shelter. I have been thrilled with that. As the weather started to turn a bit here, in the Phoenix area, in early March, she stopped using it at night, and now no longer uses it in the day. For winter, I had placed another smaller, fabric-style shelter inside of the wood house, and added a self-warming pad, blankets, etc. to make it warmer. She used it quite a lot from about November to the end of February. Now that we are having 90+ days, and nights in the upper 60s, she never goes in. Should I pull all of her winter shelter gear (interior house, etc.) out? I took most of the blankets out and laid a cooler pad in the interior, but she doesn't go in it at all. Or should I leave it alone, as she may not want to use it at all during the hot weather? I don't want to mess with her shelter too much, I worry that too much change will put her off of the shelter for good, but if "summer-izing" it might help her use it at night, etc. I would like to do that. I've attached photos of what it looks like set up for winter. One is of the interior taken from above (the roof opens up on a hinge) and the other is taken from the front, looking straight through, and one is just a cute one of her in her house, lol. Is it normal for a cat to abandon a shelter completely for the summer, even though, for AZ, our evenings are still quite cool?

 

[Lennybells]

I think it would be fine. As long as it has her scent maybe she’ll be chill with it.

 

[tabbytom]

For winter, I had placed another smaller, fabric-style shelter inside of the wood house, and added a self-warming pad, blankets, etc. to make it warmer. She used it quite a lot from about November to the end of February. Now that we are having 90+ days, and nights in the upper 60s, she never goes in. Should I pull all of her winter shelter gear (interior house, etc.) out? I took most of the blankets out and laid a cooler pad in the interior, but she doesn't go in it at all. Or should I leave it alone, as she may not want to use it at all during the hot weather? I don't want to mess with her shelter too much, I worry that too much change will put her off of the shelter for good, but if "summer-izing" it might help her use it at night, etc. I would like to do that. I've attached photos of what it looks like set up for winter. One is of the interior taken from above (the roof opens up on a hinge) and the other is taken from the front, looking straight through, and one is just a cute one of her in her house, lol. Is it normal for a cat to abandon a shelter completely for the summer, even though, for AZ, our evenings are still quite cool?

I think you can remove the thick liners for the winter and place some cool mats in it or just a mat with her scents on it so that she still have her familiar scents and probably she'll still use it, but she could also be finding some other place to roost while the weather is getting hot to cool down as the shelter does not have ventilations and it may get very warm or hot during the summer.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

They actually make cooling mats for pets now, and I see that there are a LOT of places offering them. They seem to last for varying times, so you'd need to do some exploring on that. Have a way to cool down, especially during the hottest part of the day, may be the draw you need. And/or, you could set up an open-sided tarp of some sort to provide shade during the hot months, while allowing lots of air circulation.

 

[aztrish]

They actually make cooling mats for pets now, and I see that there are a LOT of places offering them. They seem to last for varying times, so you'd need to do some exploring on that. Have a way to cool down, especially during the hottest part of the day, may be the draw you need. And/or, you could set up an open-sided tarp of some sort to provide shade during the hot months, while allowing lots of air circulation.

Thank you! I did get a "cooling" mat that is a cool fabric. I wasn't sure how she might take to the "gel" type mats...We have her "area" shaded, and there is a gap between our wall and the neighbors fence that she uses during certain parts of the day that stays shaded most of the time. She's still using some of the little cat beds I have placed for her around her area. As our summer heats up, I freeze water in her water bowls then fill them, swapping them out morning and evening for fresh ones, and I wet down areas that she likes to lie in, including behind our neighbors' oleander bushes in front of their house...lol. I don't know that they even know I'm doing it, I just do it surreptitiously because when it gets really hot she likes to lay behind them. I've attached a photo of what her area looks like taken from our "Spooky Cam" yesterday...She has a cot that she often lays on, and there is another house we set up at the end of this winter to try and give her "options" - she's never gone into the little square house in the right of the photo nearest the gate, but it's there if she wants it. I didn't add any bedding to that one, just some light cotton pillow cases, to keep it cooler feeling. I'll definitely remove the interior house from the wooden one she used all winter and just leave the cooling mat inside and her "babies". I have been saving bits of her fur in a zip lock bag for when I need to add her scent to new bedding, so I'll be sure and add some more to her house after I remove the rest of the winter items.

LOL, wow, I sound like a bit like a mad woman!

 

[DeesCats]

Maybe you can prop the roof of her winter house up an inch or so with a piece of wood or similar that would be secure, not fall in or out of the house and it would provide some ventilation for the heat to escape?

Just a suggestion as I only have experience with 1 outdoor cat that took well to his new winter cat house that had no ventilation other than the door opening but he has since moved indoors.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Venting the roof is an excellent idea. Also, if you have time, dropping an ice cube in her water bowl every couple of hours can do a world of good.

 

[DeesCats]

aztrish how is your feral girl doing? Any changes you made to her shelter to cope with the hot weather?

 

[tabbytom]

aztrish

Any updates?

 

[aztrish]

aztrish how is your feral girl doing? Any changes you made to her shelter to cope with the hot weather?

She's coping - I took out all the bedding leaving only a "cooling" cotton mat, and she went in a few times before we started hitting the 90s and triple digits. Now, she goes UNDER the house in the morning (sometimes she will lay on her cot in front of the house for a bit), and then comes out about noon and moves to front of our house, as the shade hits it (it's north facing). While she's under her house and before she makes her move to the front of our house, I go into her area and wet down a couple of areas she likes to lay in - they get shade in the latter part of the day, and I had pushed out a bunch of the gravel so that she had dirt to lay in, which she naturally prefers in hot weather. Once that area is in full shade (usually by around 3 or so) she moves back to her area and lays in the dirt spots that I poured the water on (I give it good soaking). Then at night after I feed her, I spray down all of our front bushes heavily, wet down the dirt patches in her area, and some other spots, and she goes wherever I have cooled areas down for her. I freeze water in her bowls and set them out. It's so right now, so I'm just really trying to make as much "cool down" areas for her as I can. We are having a realllllly hot spell right now, so I'm running the sprinklers in the backyard in the middle of night, hoping that she'll come into the yard and cool off (she generally won't go into our yard because of our dog, but Cassie doesn't have a doggie door and is inside all night). Whew!

 

[aztrish]

aztrish

Any updates?

We've kind of got a routine going! She's coping - I took out all the bedding leaving only a "cooling" cotton mat, and she went in a few times before we started hitting the 90s and triple digits. Now, she goes UNDER the house in the morning (sometimes she will lay on her cot in front of the house for a bit), and then comes out about noon and moves to front of our house, as the shade hits it (it's north facing). While she's under her house and before she makes her move to the front of our house, I go into her area and wet down a couple of areas she likes to lay in - they get shade in the latter part of the day, and I had pushed out a bunch of the gravel so that she had dirt to lay in, which she naturally prefers in hot weather. Once that area is in full shade (usually by around 3 or so) she moves back to her area and lays in the dirt spots that I poured the water on (I give it good soaking). Then at night after I feed her, I spray down all of our front bushes heavily, wet down the dirt patches in her area, and some other spots, and she goes wherever I have cooled areas down for her. I freeze water in her bowls and set them out. It's so right now, so I'm just really trying to make as much "cool down" areas for her as I can. We are having a realllllly hot spell right now, so I'm running the sprinklers in the backyard in the middle of night, hoping that she'll come into the yard and cool off (she generally won't go into our yard because of our dog, but Cassie doesn't have a doggie door and is inside all night). Whew!

 

[aztrish]

This is her just the other day, laying under her chair. I wet down the area under that chair and to the left of it, against the wall - she lays in those spots all the time, where I pushed out the gravel so it's dirt.

 

[tabbytom]

We've kind of got a routine going! She's coping - I took out all the bedding leaving only a "cooling" cotton mat, and she went in a few times before we started hitting the 90s and triple digits. Now, she goes UNDER the house in the morning (sometimes she will lay on her cot in front of the house for a bit), and then comes out about noon and moves to front of our house, as the shade hits it (it's north facing). While she's under her house and before she makes her move to the front of our house, I go into her area and wet down a couple of areas she likes to lay in - they get shade in the latter part of the day, and I had pushed out a bunch of the gravel so that she had dirt to lay in, which she naturally prefers in hot weather. Once that area is in full shade (usually by around 3 or so) she moves back to her area and lays in the dirt spots that I poured the water on (I give it good soaking). Then at night after I feed her, I spray down all of our front bushes heavily, wet down the dirt patches in her area, and some other spots, and she goes wherever I have cooled areas down for her. I freeze water in her bowls and set them out. It's so right now, so I'm just really trying to make as much "cool down" areas for her as I can. We are having a realllllly hot spell right now, so I'm running the sprinklers in the backyard in the middle of night, hoping that she'll come into the yard and cool off (she generally won't go into our yard because of our dog, but Cassie doesn't have a doggie door and is inside all night). Whew!

This is her just the other day, laying under her chair. I wet down the area under that chair and to the left of it, against the wall - she lays in those spots all the time, where I pushed out the gravel so it's dirt.

Just a word of caution, don't let her fur get wet as body heat can't dissipate from wet fur and so heat will be trapped beneath the wet fur making her more hot.

Have a tub fill with ice for her and let her lick off the water and when the ice melts, it'll still be cold and that will help cool her down.

 

[DeesCats]

Thanks for the update and glad she is taking advantage of all your efforts to provide cooler spots to use.