I have a very cool kitten who has taken to staying in my yard. Out of pity for it, we have been feeding it. It has made its “home” in our carport, which is like a garage without a door.
We simply cannot take the cat inside. We have a dog and two cats already in the house (and a flock of kids). We have tried to find a “no-kill” shelter, but they are all full.
This weekend the temps will be in the 20s. How can I help kitty keep warm?
Put a box with an old towel under the carport, maybe put a droplight in the box.
Put some newspapers between the floor and the box as insulation, probably no little than half an inch. A concrete floor will suck the heat out of a pet inside the box in nothing flat and newspaper is a good insulator. Make sure the box has a small door, preferably off to one side and not cut out of the middle. That will allow the little one to curl up in a dark corner of the box.
When you put the old towel inside the box don’t flatten it inside the box. If it has lots of folds in it, the munchkin can bury itself in the towel.
As suggested, a droplight would really help.
But if the box is big enough, dump one of the kids into it and bring the cat inside. 
I like the droplight idea. I’m thinking that without the droplight, this cat is a goner, as cats are not very well adapted to cold weather.
So I’m trying my best to come up with something. Here’s what I got so far:
A) Start with a box that’s just a wee bit bigger than the size of the cat, so that the cat’s own bodyheat can keep the box warm, just the same way that your own body heat keeps the air inside of your casket warm after… uh, wait, never mind. Anyway, small box.
The box will need a swinging door. This should be easy to do, just cut the door out of the side of the box, then make a “hinge” out of duct tape, or maybe poke two holes in the top of the door, two holes in the box just above the door, and use some wire ties to hang the door. The heavier the door, the better.
Now, insulate. Get a roll of R-19 insulation, cover the box on all six sides with the insulation, and then put the insulated box inside of a larger box. Raising the box above the ground, by keeping it atop another box, shoudl help a good bit.
B) Go to the plumbing supply store and get a length of 8-inch diameter PVC pipe, six feet in length. Extend the pipe into the small cat-sized box, in lieu of a door. Wrap the whole thing in insulation, or put it into a cold-weather sleeping bag with just the pipe sticking out of the bag. Again, keep it off of the ground.
Droplight…you mean one of those lights on a cord that is sort of wrapped in its own little cage? Couldn’t this be a fire hazzard?
I like these ideas…and I will keep you posted.
Thekitty is polydactyl so he looks like he has boxing gloves on. We call him Tyson.
Get a box with one side cut open, a heating pad and a bunch of old towels, t-shirts, a sweater - whatever. Put the heating pad in the box, cover it with soft stuff and kitty should be okay. Heating pad shouldn’t drive up your electric bill too much.
Tyson’s a fine-looking cat. When I was a kid, we had a fierce poly cat that used to bully the all the dogs in the neighborhood.
I’m worried about the fire hazard also. Maybe if you put a drop light in a box below the box with the bedding, so the heat would rise into the cat’s “house?” Although at an ambient 20 degrees, this may not amount to much.
If you go with the pipe idea, you can install a “door” on the pipe by duct-taping a round piece of cardboard over the end of the pipe, then cutting a ‘starfish’ into the cardboard.
A heating pad instead of a droplight is a good idea. Less chance of starting a fire; since most heating pads have a cutoff if they get too hot. You might put it on a timer, too, if you want to same on electricity costs.
About the door, in place of (or in addition to) the swinging door, it helps to use a small box to make an entryway, at a right angle to the door. This really cuts down on the wind blowing into the box. Attach the small box to the big box, over the door. Then cut a door into the small box that is at a right angle to the big box entrance.
If you have other wild animals in the vicinity (like raccoons, wild dogs, etc.), you may want to think about a second door, an ‘emergency exit’ on the back side of the box.
Used the heating pad way for two years with one cat. Also put water inside so it won’t freeze.
Also have an area off the heating pad in case you set it too high or the temps change and you don’t readjust in time.
Straw would work well, too, as the floor insulator.
My SIL used this method for years. It works.
Nobody has mentioned it yet, but…good for you. The little fuzzbutt has some people who care about him now, and that is A Good Thing.
Old towels are good, but surplus army blankets are even better. Our adopted outdoor kitties just love the Italian surplus wool blankets we put out for them to sleep on. But in the temperatures you are stating, the heating pad is the way to go. Be sure to place his water inside the box as well, but away from and below the pad, of course.
newcrasher, you know the creation of this thread does require a followup during the weekend and next week!!!
Just keeping Tyson well fed is helping a lot. Animals need bodyfat to survive the cold.
Since it hasn’t been mentioned yet, and boxes are cheap (well, free), be sure to change the box regularly (ie. every few days). Cats go nutso over “new box smell”, and I’ve owned cats that would charge at a new box with such enthusiasm that the box would slide across the floor and hit the wall. On the other hand, once the box has to much of their own smell in it - only a few days - the cat won’t want to use it. The same, of course, goes for the mining, and I’ve found the best lining is to have very liberal amounts of newspaper torn into strips and slightly crumpled, then just scattered into the box loosely, to a depth of several inches.
What’s up with that anyway? My cat, when he was younger, used to try and eat a nice fresh cardboard box. He didn’t play with them nor sit in them. Just eat them. He liked the sticky packaging tape too. Still does.
While I admire your concern, The Kittenator™ had lived outside for several PA winters along with the other woods kitties who call my back porch home, and none are worse for the wear. Kitties, like children, are far more durable than we adults are willing to admit. 
Do they still make glue out of rendered horse bones? :rolleyes:
I’ll move along now.
Geez. Cardboard boxes with newspaper floors? An old towel?
How much are you willing to spend? A simple, small doghouse will do the trick nicely. Here, or here.
You can also get a special pad if you like, heated or not.
When I had outdoor kitties in a cold climate, I found that more kitties = more warmth. A small basket held a lot of warm, happy kitties! You could adopt a friend for your outside kitty.
You did get this ‘adopted’ cat spayed or neutered, right?
Tell you what. Get the OP to put a small doghouse out there and a fresh cardboard box with newspaper next to it, and $50 says the kitten will go for the box. Cardboard boxes and newspaper are a good option simply because cats really like them.
