We have a stray cat as a guest in our garage. It is VERY cold outside right now, and we didn’t want to leave the poor guy out there to freeze. Apparently, his “people” have moved and left him behind :mad:
We have two cats of our own, and cannot bring him inside as I do not know if he has any communicable diseases he could pass on to our cats.
We have him set up with a nice little bed of towels, but it’s still damn cold in the garage. I would feel better if I could leave a heating pad out there for him to help him keep warm.
Does anyone know if we are safe to leave that on “low” all night? Or does this pose a fire risk? (or…any other ideas how we can keep our furry little friend more comfortable?)
It should be ok for a few nights, if you put some towels or something over it to a thickness his claws can’t penetrate. If he’s a rambunctious fellow, he might still be able to get to it so there’s a small risk he could shock himself or something. Cats are pretty hardy critters, though; if it were me, I’d forgo the heating–he can deal with the cold better than you might think. Just provide someplace he can curl up in and he’ll be fine.
A cat (or dog, or person) shouldn’t lie down on a heating pad, as it can cause skin burns, because there’s no guarantee he’ll leave the several wrapped towels in place, and also because it can cause the heating pad to overheat. In my experience heating pads have disclaimers on the tags saying “do not lie on this”. So you’d have to rig up a space heater, but I’d be uncomfortable with leaving a space heater running in a garage unsupervised all night.
If he’s completely out of the wind–sheltered in the garage–and has a nest of towels, I’d assume that he’d be fine. He does have a fur coat, you know. And I doubt whether in Colorado you’re expecting any sub-70-below Antarctic temps tonight.
The reason we thought we should try to get him some heat is that it’s extremely cold…as in below zero at night.
The garage is cold enough that we are using it to chill our beer. We had kitty as a guest last night as well, and the water we put out in a dish for him froze solid (while inside the garage).
I really wish we could bring him inside, but I know we can’t without risking the health of our own two
Maybe get a cat carrier or a box and line the sides and top with something to retain bodyheat so he could have a nice little cave. Heck if you have any plywood or something make a wooden box for him to crawl in.
You may wish to check with a cat oriented forum like cats.about.com, they respond very quickly and have people with all kinds of cat “expertise”.
I would recommend using some boards or a box that can also keep the cat’s body heat from spreading away; i.e. build a little “leanto” in which you put the towels(spelling?).
Eventually, you’ll have to place him with a rescue group of some kind if you don’t wish to adopt him. Stray and feral cats often do not live happy lives.
If you’re not able to leave a heater of some kind, how about a ploofed-up comforter? I have one (in my warm house) all kind of bunched so that there’s a “tunnel” in the middle. Not sure how to explain it: I took the comforter and put it in a corner, folder a couple of times, with the excess kind of fluffed over the top, so there is a good-sized opening to crawl into but once in they are almost totally surrounded by comforter except for the opening, where they can see out easily. It really only fits one cat at a time and their body heat really accumulates in there. My cats love it and when I stick my hand in, it’s very warm. Something that is able to retain heat better would be better than only towels, if you are able to rig something up. Towels in a cold garage is better than nothing though.
I’ve used heating pads for cats but it’s best to be able to check them very regularly. And you’d definitely not want to do it if the towels could be clawed away.
We would certainly adopt him of we could. We first saw him when we came home last night (New Year’s Eve). He was outside mewing pitifully and trying to get into an empty house.
We cat-napped him and got him out of the wind last night, and fed him (man, that was one hungry cat!). Today, another neighbor confirmed that he belonged to some people that have moved. People really suck sometimes.
Tomorrow we will try to see if the cat rescue shelter here can take him. If not, we plan to call our vet and see if they know of anyone who can.
Styrofoam will reflect a lot of heat back at the cat. If you have a cooler on it’s side so the lid won’t shut, then put the towels in it for him to sleep on he should be fine.
Just wanna say that I tried the one for dogs last winter, and discovered that it put out so little heat that I could barely feel it with my hand. I didn’t see how Daisy the Beagle could possibly find it comforting to sleep on, after the small amount of heat it was emitting made its way through the fleece cover.
And it wasn’t defective, either, it’s just designed to put out so little heat so as not to accidentally burn the dog’s belly.
Google “winter cat shelter” for ideas. From what I have read, a well fed cat in a styrofoam cooler with straw or other insulating material will be fine, especially since it is in your garage.
It’s about that cold here in Wisconsin as well, and the barn cats are all fine. They all pile together in the straw in an empty pen in the barn at night, so they have each other’s heat, but there are a couple antisocial ones that don’t join in the kitty pile. They either burrow into the straw or sleep on the extra sweatshirts in the grain room. They’ve made it through lots colder weather than this without any harm. I’d bet anything that your garage is less drafty than our nearly 100-year old barn.
If you’re still not comfortable leaving him without a heat source, you can fill up a hot water bottle and slip it into his nest. That will lend some additional heat at first, and the fabric will hold onto it for a while. If you don’t have a hot water bottle, you can fill up a soda bottle or a Mason jar with hot water and slip it into a sock. It will work about the same.
I suggest a closed cardboard box, with a cat-sized hole cut in one side, with a couple of towels or blankets on the inside bottom, and insulated from the ground by a block of foam, a hay bale, or just an air gap created by a few battens or bricks. Assuming the cat is willing to climb inside, he’ll soon be quite toasty in such a bed.
I have a stray cat living in my garage, he was sleeping on an old dufflecoat on a cabinet in the corner. A while ago I made a cat box for him thinking that would be a bit cosier. We’ve had some really frosty nights in the last few weeks but he seems get by OK with his dufflecoat and cardboard box.
Blakets, sleeping bags, etc. are a bad idea if the cat can get out and get wet. Once the cloth is wet, it’s worse than no bedding at all. Use straw, hay, sawdust, or wood shavings, and lay it down thick.
I’m in a similar situation - 3 cats and a dog inside a small house, with a cat that obviously was a pet outside and wanting to come in. I got some hay bales and made a small den for him under my shed, with 2" blueboard under the bedding. It was below 0F last night, and he survived just fine.
Still looking for a home for him if anyone in the area is interested.
And I doubt whether in Colorado you’re expecting any sub-70-below Antarctic temps tonight.