Timothy

[price053]

Hey every one...
I am still taking care of Timothy, and he is just the sweetest. I am trying to come up with ideas of houses I can put in the back part of my house I can cool in the summer. I want to start now so he will get use to that one so when the time comes he can use it and stay cool, it gets beyond hot in GA and I don't want him to where he is too hot. What I am looking for is some ideas of maybe already built enclosures that have a platform for him to be fed off of so he can get use to it. I want to be able to maybe cool it with either cooling pads, or one of those portable non electric air conditioners. I am kind of just shooting off right now but this is kind of where my head and thought process is, I need it up off the ground to that way I can plant snake deterrent plants around it and keep him safe. If anyone has any ideas or pictures that they can share that would be great. Where I would have to put it is not much shade so that is why I was thinking the air-conditioning thing.

 

[di and bob]

Yeah, off the ground would be good for breezes too. Some kind of bigger enclosure with a roof/cover and then his resting box inside would be best. The sun beating down on just a cat box would be extra hot. My cats head for the lilacs in the summer. Natural shade is good, like a big clump of bushes. It has cool earth to lay on too. One thing I can think of is one of those 'chicken coops' you can buy online or at farm supply stores like Tractor Supply. They all have boxes built up off the ground in an enclosure which you could even cover for more shade. you could leave the front wire off the front or prop the door open so he could go in and out. you could also get a small dog house and put it up on a homemade wooden table underneath a bigger 4-posted 'roof'. My cats easily jump onto a table I have in the garage for them. Google it and get ideas, that is where I get mine. I am sure there are many cat lovers here who have built something, hopefully, they will come on! good luck! PS Cats are very able to handle a lot more heat than you think. they are, after all, desert creatures. They need plenty of water available though.

 

[price053]

Yeah, off the ground would be good for breezes too. Some kind of bigger enclosure with a roof/cover and then his resting box inside would be best. The sun beating down on just a cat box would be extra hot. My cats head for the lilacs in the summer. Natural shade is good, like a big clump of bushes. It has cool earth to lay on too. One thing I can think of is one of those 'chicken coops' you can buy online or at farm supply stores like Tractor Supply. They all have boxes built up off the ground in an enclosure which you could even cover for more shade. you could leave the front wire off the front or prop the door open so he could go in and out. you could also get a small dog house and put it up on a homemade wooden table underneath a bigger 4-posted 'roof'. My cats easily jump onto a table I have in the garage for them. Google it and get ideas, that is where I get mine. I am sure there are many cat lovers here who have built something, hopefully, they will come on! good luck! PS Cats are very able to handle a lot more heat than you think. they are, after all, desert creatures. They need plenty of water available though.

Agreed, yet for me he is my outside baby so I want to do for him as much as I can. I like the idea of the chicken coop. Just have to find a way to make it water proof. I have no power tools so limited on what I can do.

Thank you for your ideas

 

[price053]

Yeah, off the ground would be good for breezes too. Some kind of bigger enclosure with a roof/cover and then his resting box inside would be best. The sun beating down on just a cat box would be extra hot. My cats head for the lilacs in the summer. Natural shade is good, like a big clump of bushes. It has cool earth to lay on too. One thing I can think of is one of those 'chicken coops' you can buy online or at farm supply stores like Tractor Supply. They all have boxes built up off the ground in an enclosure which you could even cover for more shade. you could leave the front wire off the front or prop the door open so he could go in and out. you could also get a small dog house and put it up on a homemade wooden table underneath a bigger 4-posted 'roof'. My cats easily jump onto a table I have in the garage for them. Google it and get ideas, that is where I get mine. I am sure there are many cat lovers here who have built something, hopefully, they will come on! good luck! PS Cats are very able to handle a lot more heat than you think. they are, after all, desert creatures. They need plenty of water available though.

What do you think about this one ?

https://www.chewy.com/frisco-wooden-outdoor-chicken-coop/dp/330363

 

[poolcat]

That looks pretty good if you want it to be a shelter in the winter, too. Though you'd probably need to add some insulation to the upper part for cold weather. And a sheet of rigid, reflective insulation for two sides of the lower area, which could face the southwest, for summer use... until your shrubs get big enough to provide shade. (Then you could reuse the insulation under the roof.) With a cooling pad, Timothy should be all set!

My experience with outdoor cats (here in TX where it's horribly hot and humid) is that they like being in cool shade, but not in anything enclosed. Our home is up on piers so they'd all go under the house.

 

[price053]

That looks pretty good if you want it to be a shelter in the winter, too. Though you'd probably need to add some insulation to the upper part for cold weather. And a sheet of rigid, reflective insulation for two sides of the lower area, which could face the southwest, for summer use... until your shrubs get big enough to provide shade. (Then you could reuse the insulation under the roof.) With a cooling pad, Timothy should be all set!

My experience with outdoor cats (here in TX where it's horribly hot and humid) is that they like being in cool shade, but not in anything enclosed. Our home is up on piers so they'd all go under the house.

He has a place I made for him under the house but I don't want to go under there in the summer because of snakes. I use straw and a warming pad right now. I thought it was good because he would be off the ground

 

[poolcat]

Don't cats usually frighten snakes away? Other than little garden snakes, I don't see many around our house... and I crawl around under the house occasionally. But I don't know if it's because of the cats or maybe because we're in town.

I assume you'd have to assemble that coop. Maybe you could come up with a way to make a couple of the upper walls removable. Cross ventilation would be nice.

 

[price053]

That looks pretty good if you want it to be a shelter in the winter, too. Though you'd probably need to add some insulation to the upper part for cold weather. And a sheet of rigid, reflective insulation for two sides of the lower area, which could face the southwest, for summer use... until your shrubs get big enough to provide shade. (Then you could reuse the insulation under the roof.) With a cooling pad, Timothy should be all set!

My experience with outdoor cats (here in TX where it's horribly hot and humid) is that they like being in cool shade, but not in anything enclosed. Our home is up on piers so they'd all go under the house.

I think this is the one that I am going to get to go through the rest of the winter and then modify it for summer. I think I can get him in this one if I feed him on it.
Outdoor Cat House with 100% Insulated Liner Weatherproof Feral Kitty Shelter for Winter,Large Opening Roof Amazon.com