It’s not really their cat anymore as they’ve basically abandoned him and I now provide all of his care, including food, shelter, water, toys and everything except being inside. I would bring him in in a heartbeat except that I have a large dog who hates him and I also have budgies.
Anyway we are in the grips of a severe cold front. It’s -8 right now and -14 with the windchill. I brought him inside last night and set him up in my bathroom because it’s just too cold for him to be out there. I have to go to work this afternoon and I’m not sure if I should let him out and then bring him back in for the night or if I should just leave him in my bathroom for the day as well. By the time I get home tonight it will be -10 not including the windchill factor.
He’s a bit unhappy in the bathroom when he’s alone in there and meows and meows but when I’m in there he’s the happiest guy in the world.
He has plenty of beds and shelters on my covered deck so I don’t think he would be in danger of dying while I’m at work.
Probably not something you could put in place today, but a heated kennel mat in a shelter on your deck would keep him safe and warm outside all the time.
I used a heating pad on “low” in a fleecey cocoon-like covered cat bed nestled up in a corner against my house under the back porch. (I would have used a heated kennel mat if I’d known about them.) I had an additional layer of fleece or toweling over the heating pad. The cat loved it and lived in it throughout fall and winter. (I had made the cat an insulated home out of a Styrofoam cooler, but he wouldn’t take to it.)
I guess I worry about a heating pad being outside unattended. Maybe I’ll go pick one up today before work. It would be nice for him during the day when he’s outside. I know feral cats survive outside in colder weather than we’re having right now but this is very cold for where I am (Vancouver Island) and outdoor cats here aren’t used to such cold temperatures.
I have a heat lamp set up for the hummingbirds which keeps them warm and keeps their feeder from freezing.
Get the heat mat from a pet store, they have ones that are specifically meant to be used outdoors with heavy duty cords wrapped in wire to keep critters from chewing on them. The ones I got only work when there’s weight on them and they only get to normal dog temperature, which is like 102F so they won’t cook the kitteh. That being said, I’d bring the little bugger inside and make him a nice indoor cat but that’s how I roll.
They have them at my local Buckerfield’s, so I’m going to go pick one up if they have any left. And I’d love nothing more than to have him inside with me but I just can’t because of my dog and budgies.
Here’s my little buddy Raymond with his new self-heating bed that I got him in the fall:
Yeah, this is not your neighbors’ outdoor cat; this is your outdoor cat.
Is there any plausible way to divide your house up so as to provide him a section larger than the bathroom in which the dog can’t get at him and he can’t get at the budgies?
If not, is it plausible to enclose all or part of the covered deck and give that an entrance to the inside, thereby producing such a part of the house? (Obviously, you couldn’t do that all in one day.)
And yeah, if you get him a heat mat, make sure it’s one designed for the purpose. You don’t want either an electrocuted cat or a burned down house.
But good on you for sheltering a cat abandoned by the neighbors! – he does look pretty comfy in that cat bed.
Have you spoken to your neighbours about the cat at all? Or called something like the ASPCA or a local cat charity? The cat charity might be able to check he’s neutered, inoculated, de-flead and wormed, which would be better for him and your home and pets. He’s not your cat, so you shouldn’t have to pay for that directly and take responsibility for him, but you could pay by a donation instead.
I know you can’t take him into your home permanently, but he’s a friendly cat - someone else would adopt him to a better home than his official owners, and more secure than what you can provide.
Aww, he’s so adorbs, who could resist that flooftyface? And I’ve had dogs, cats and birds all at the same time, it’s not impossible to have a harmonious house full of critters all getting along. Just sayin’!
It’s certainly possible for all three species to live together, and for that matter to make friends. But it’s also not impossible for one of them to eat the others. It depends on whether they were raised with members of the other species, and on individual natures.
If your dog won’t tolerate the cat then you pretty much have to decide which you prefer, the dog or the cat. As I’m thinking you’re not likely to sacrifice the dog about your only choice is to create the independent shelter (cat house) another poster suggested or give the cat to the humane society seeing as the neighbour won’t look after it properly.
He’s back in the bathroom tonight. He seems way less anxious and much less meowing. He’s just laying in his bed, purring away. My plan is to try to get the dog used to him and have them peacefully cohabitate. The dog has actually come quite far. She tolerates Raymond being on the deck when before she’d go crazy if she even saw him in the driveway.
Every time I drive by the spot I feel bad.
