Wintering feral in Minnesota

[Timewarpcat]

I set up the A frame with the heated pad in the granary and put a lot of catnip by the door and some in the A frame shelter, and there is no evidence of a cat. I set up a trail camera near the raccoon feeding area last night (rehabbed raccoons) and no cat. I plan to set the camera up by the granary entrance now that I know it works.

I think the cat left. I will keep my setup for a while.

 

[suh]

Sorry to butt in, should the shelter be raised in case of snow? We don't get a lot of snow where we live, and when it does snow, we get 5-6" or less. I think our strays have a hiding place somewhere in the neighborhood, likely the abandoned house nearby, but I want to get them some shelter just in case. Not sure what is the best way to set up for snow days?

 

[CatladyJan]

You can get the mylar emergency blankets at Walmart for under $3.00. These attached to styrofoam help reflect the cats own body heat. Straw on top of that.

 

[CatladyJan]

Sorry to butt in, should the shelter be raised in case of snow? We don't get a lot of snow where we live, and when it does snow, we get 5-6" or less. I think our strays have a hiding place somewhere in the neighborhood, likely the abandoned house nearby, but I want to get them some shelter just in case. Not sure what is the best way to set up for snow days?

Yes it's best if the shelter can be raised, a pallet is one way to do this.

 

[suh]

Yes it's best if the shelter can be raised, a pallet is one way to do this.

Got it. I'm going to go on a search for free pallets. I'm also thinking about using cinder/concrete blocks since they are pretty affordable at home depot, and maybe adding a strap to secure the shelter from strong wind.

 

[CatladyJan]

Got it. I'm going to go on a search for free pallets. I'm also thinking about using cinder/concrete blocks since they are pretty affordable at home depot, and maybe adding a strap to secure the shelter from strong wind.

My concern with the cinder blocks is the cold they will retain and possibly make the bottom of the shelter colder.

 

[Timewarpcat]

I think it will be ok as long as there is a good thickness of Styrofoam or similar on the bottom of the shelter and all around, being sure to deal with any gaps as best you can. I'm not sure what sort of shelter this will be.

The air moving through the space beneath the shelter (e.g. through a pallet) will cause more heat loss than contact with concrete (convection moves heat much faster than conduction).

 

[suh]

I think it will be ok as long as there is a good thickness of Styrofoam or similar on the bottom of the shelter and all around, being sure to deal with any gaps as best you can. I'm not sure what sort of shelter this will be.

The air moving through the space beneath the shelter (e.g. through a pallet) will cause more heat loss than contact with concrete (convection moves heat much faster than conduction).

I'll be getting a cooler shelter for the girl(aka socks) and setting it against a fence. Not sure about the chunky boy(aka chunky boy) yet. He measures around 22-23" from head to butt, and has the biggest head I've ever come across. I'm still trying to find a shelter that will fit him comfortably.

I see the concerns. I'll block out the bottom with styrofoam whichever way I go with. If I can't find a pallet, I think I can get some planks of wood to layer over styrofoam and set between the shelter and the cinder blocks. May work?

 

[di and bob]

Would work fine!

 

[Timewarpcat]

I think so. The main thing is for the shelter itself to be well-insulated and without many gaps for air to move through. (I'm a science nerd).
So far as the filling, others have always said straw is best. I can't comment on that, other than to say that a raccoon I rehabbed and ended up having to overwinter him due to a serious injury did like the straw I had in a wooden box with a lid. I let him go years ago. Other animals have used the box as a shelter during snow storms including cats and opossums. I change out the straw from time to time. It's been a pain finding straw ever since the pandemic started, though.

The reason I asked for help on this site is because my wood box isn't insulated very much and not good enough for a cat in bitter cold weather in Minnesota. I find it amazing animals can handle that kind of cold.

 

[danteshuman]

I think you can buy an outdoor cat house for extreme winter weather and put straw in it. Some even have heaters in them. They have how to build it videos on YouTube.

 

[piano cat]

If you are your husband are handy, you can build an insulated cat house quite easily. My DH built 3 of them. We then installed a Hound Heater along with 2 of the K&H heated pads. When it was below 0 outside, the heated houses were around 40. I had multiple cats using them. I used wireless thermometers to keep tabs on the temps. I also used wireless ip cameras to keep tabs on them cats.

If you have electricity I would really recommended an insulated house with a Hound heater. Then put a wireless thermometer in there to keep tabs on the temp. I did this for many many years with my feral boys. I worried and worried, but they always survived.

I moved 5 years ago, retrapped the feral cats and they all now live inside. Outside life is hard. Yet you have a very kind heart and want to do the best. The kitty will be ok with your help.

Do you have a heated water bowl to keep fresh water during the winter? Also can you feed wet food? It is so much easier for a feral cat to digest as it takes little energy. Dry food is ok, but it takes more calories to digest.

As far as attracting the cat to the shelter space, you can try catnip. Food is not a good idea as it attracts other critters.

Can you give a link to this Hound Heater? Google is not coming up with it for me. I have a feral in the garage. She is terrified in the house so has a nice warm, insulated house in the garage and a space heater. I am nervous of the space heater and must manually turn it on and off. A thermostat would be nice. I am in the garage every day to provide food and water but must often go back a couple of times to turn the space heater on or off. Plus now I am heating the whole garage when only the cat house needs to be heated.

 

[Timewarpcat]

Can you give a link to this Hound Heater? Google is not coming up with it for me. I have a feral in the garage. She is terrified in the house so has a nice warm, insulated house in the garage and a space heater. I am nervous of the space heater and must manually turn it on and off. A thermostat would be nice. I am in the garage every day to provide food and water but must often go back a couple of times to turn the space heater on or off. Plus now I am heating the whole garage when only the cat house needs to be heated.

I'm not the one who posted about it, but here's the basic one

Hound Heater Classic

The Hound Heater Classic features two great changes! It now has a four-sided ventilation system that will effectively heat up to 16 cubic feet. The new unit is powered by a 50,000 hr., 100 watts, wire resistance element. (Replaceable) The same element that has made the Hound Heater Furnace a...

www.lcsupply.com

I use the K & H outdoor heated cat pads, those work very well. I'm in MN, and I don't think the K & H pads are quite enough for this climate. It was comfy enough for stray kitty down to IDK, 15 F.

 

[shadowsrescue]

This is the one I used. I had the classic for a small insulated house. I preferred the deluxe as it had high med low settings and produced more heat. The one caveat is that the house you put it in must be insulated.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00II71C72/?tag=thecatsite