Comments on: Building a Winter Cat Shelter

By: Kat

Kat — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 06:02:17 +0000

Thank u so much for posting thus!! I lost my job & my apartment & have to move back in w/my parents…as if thats not bad enough my kitties arent allowed inside & i havent been able to find them homes…but thanks to YOU i built them each their own “Hello kitty” insulated/heated winter houses…((i used hello kitty duct tape for the entrance & to tape it shut)) thank u – u may very well have saved 3 precious lives that mean everything to me…THANK U!!! <3

By: Jaime

Jaime — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 16:11:07 +0000

Reading the comments I think people need to note something. There is a difference between a feral cat who is outdoors reproducing and wreaking havoc, and a feral cat who has somewhat accepted a home, still can’t be handled too much, and is cared for by a responsible pet owner who had them spayed or neutered. The fact that it is not a cuddly indoor cat, does not make it a menace. There is a grey area. It seems like this is a mostly indoor cat, who is skittish and doesn’t like to be handled, but knows he has a good place to come to to keep warm. In fact he probably stays there most of the time seeing as he is old, visiting the outside world less and less frequently.

That being said I’d like to address safety, seeing as that seems to be the primary response from people. The insulation can’t be chewed on, thats why the expanding insulation went around the door. If it STILL worried you, put a layer of duct tape ON TOP of that.

The cord seems more like a bunny issue to me than a cat issue. I’m not saying cats don’t chew cords, but seeing as my heating pads are cheap I tend not to tape them down unless I have to, that way I can move them if needed.

My main concern is the pad-on-plastic idea. When I was a kid my parents did this for some puppies in our bedroom. The pad burned THROUGH the plastic bottom, THROUGH the carpet, THROUGH the pad and everything else, all the way to concrete. Nothing ignited but the carbon monoxide was AWFUL. My fix: go to Home Depot or Lowes or your home hardware store, and ask for or buy some tile samples. Put this on the inside of the inner container on the bottom. Then the heating pad, then any blankets if you so desire. Watch it carefully. I don’t like the idea of the pad between the layers of the containers because you can’t watch it as closely.

In the future when I have a barn and horses again, I will probably be using this idea for whatever “barn cats” decide to help me keep down mice/pests. As of now, I think I’ll modify it and use it for my bunny. Thanks for the idea!

By: onefeather

onefeather — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 07:23:03 +0000

What a cool ideal, I have stray cats that i feed, this would be great for them in winter [without the heating pad] just put a lot of warm blankets in.

By: Sally Blake1

Sally Blake1 — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 04:18:02 +0000

I made something similar to this a while back. I was fortunate enough to find a foam cooler that fit between the two totes I had. I had to cut the foam for the lids. I didn’t have anyone to show me this and I had a bunch of feral cats living in my falling down garage. I had no money, so I had to use whatever I had at home, and this was it.

By: Mrs. Mecomber

Mrs. Mecomber — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 19:11:09 +0000

Cool!! Thanks for your encouraging comments.