We’ve adopted a few feral cats who have homes outdoors. Well, not exactly outdoors– one sleeps in the attached garage and one sleeps in the basement (we have small hatches for both areas). Both areas are warmer than the cruel outdoors, but Upstate New York winters can be pretty rough on a critter. My feral cat, Milo, an orange tabby, is an old geriatric at 12 years old, and we had to ditch his comfy but dirty old stuffed chair last year. I did some searching, and came up with a terrific idea for a winter cat shelter. I got the basics of the idea here, at a terrific website that gives lots of ideas and tips for sheltering kitties during the winter. I decided to make the simple plastic container shelter for Milo, with a few adjustments. I post what we did, here, in case anyone searching for ideas can use it.
This is a very inexpensive shelter, and it’s easy to build. The most difficult part of the construction is cutting the plastic holes, a task we found arduous. I read one tip (after the fact, ugh) that suggested heating the plastic buckets with a hairdryer to soften the plastic, and thus make the cutting of the holes easier. I wish I’d known that beforehand!
- Supplies you’ll need:
- a 28 gallon plastic tub with lid (it cost me $12 at WalMart)
- an 18 gallon plastic tub with lid (I had one on hand already; I think they are about $8 at WalMart)
- a roll of fiberglass insulation or a sheet of rigid 1″ foam board insulation/polystyrene (I had my fiberglass insulation on hand, and it cost me $15 two years ago; a rigid 1″ foam board at Lowe’s was selling for $20 at my local Lowe’s)
- duct tape
- A box cutter or heavy-duty carpet scissors to cut the plastic
- a bottle of Great Stuff (or whatever brand) expanding foam
We cut a generously large hole, because Milo is a little skittish. A small hole with no other opening might have spooked him. Cutting the plastic was hard. By the time we made a second, bigger shelter for the dog, we were pros. But the first time was kind of tough.
I taped the hole edges with duct tape, because the edges were a little rough. [...]
December 22, 2009
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