Water bowls in winter?

poolcat

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I feed a feral cat who lives under an unoccupied house (no electricity available) and have noticed that he drinks from his water bowl regularly. I take food to him twice a day. Don't mind making an extra trip or two with warm water, but it's supposed to get really cold later this week. Any ideas for keeping water at a drinkable temperature on very cold days? I found a recommendation for a microwavable product called Snuggle Safe, but there are enough scary reviews to convince me that it isn't reliably safe.
 

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LTS3

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I found a recommendation for a microwavable product called Snuggle Safe, but there are enough scary reviews to convince me that it isn't reliably safe.
I use the SnuggleSafe pad for my cats. They like to lie on it to keep warm. I tuck the pad under a blanket to prevent burns. If you follow the instructions printed on the pad for heating times based on the microwave wattage and other safety instructions, the pad is safe to use. Sure, maybe someone had a pad explode in the microwave or the pet got badly burned but you don't know if they followed the heating instructions correctly or just let their pet sit directly on the uncovered hot pad since that bit of info is never in the review.

I don't think the pad would work very well to keep a bowl of water kept outside in winter weather from freezing. The pad would just cool down very quickly.

Water that is constantly moving doesn't freeze. Maybe you can figure out a way to keep the water moving somehow (battery operated wind chime or something dangling in the water?)

I'm sure the feral can find other sources of water if needed.
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poolcat

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Thank you all for the links and info. My search didn't bring any of those sites up--they look like good ones. I'll look at the products later today. May find something that plugs in for my own outdoor kitties, too.
 

fionasmom

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Clearly, water is not freezing here in LA, but I have used Snuggle Safe with many ferals over the years. They are very safe; I melted one in the microwave once, but it was entirely my fault. Used according to directions they are just fine.
 
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