Does anyone know of a safe way to heat a small wood outside house for a feral cat? I can't bring him inside.

Question

The house is similar to dog house but smaller made of cedar it is about 2 ft. by 2ft.6in. by 2ft. 6in. Electricity is easily accessible. We live on Long Island N.Y. it gets quite wet and cold here

Answer 1

You can order small heaters for dog houses

Answer 2

I would line the house with bubble wrap and some discarded carpet.

Then I would place a cushion, loosely filled with expanded polystyrene beads in the bottom. (one of these cheap comfort cushions fit the bill!)

The door, I would hang with overlapping strips of felt, encapsulated in heat-sealed plastic sheet. The felt is quite cheaply bought from your local craft shop (over here it is about $2.50 per dozen page-sized sheets) A double screen, one pinned inside and one outside, should make the house draught proof, but with sufficient air circulation. Belt and braces could be effected by hanging a curtain behind the entrance strips.

This should provide a very cosy den for the moggie.

I keep my grand childrens' guineapigs outside. I have rigged an efficient heating system on the side of their hutch.

First, drill a series of 4mm holes in the side of the house, extending, say, 150mm up x 50mm. accross. Make sure the house lining is cut back from the holes.

Construct an aluminium rectangular open sided enclosure with an internal dimension slightly greater than 150mm x 50mm. Make sure you include fixing flanges on the open side, to screw the enclosure to the house, over the holes.

Before fixing the enclosure to the house, source a brass light fitting, sufficient for a 5-10 watt light bulb and fix it inside the enclosure. run your power cable through a grommet in the base of the enclosure. NOW you can screw the whole thing to the house.

Pin a piece of heavy duty plastic membrane over the enclosure, to keep out the rain and snow. The enclosure will not heat enough to melt the plastic.

If you have a time switch available, you can put the whole heating system on a timer. I'd suggest 15 minutes in the hour, during hours of darkness. These low wattage bulbs have only about 1000 hours' life, so it will need to be checked at least once a week, however, the Mog is unlikely to be too uncomfortable with, or without the heating unit!

Answer 3

I wouldn't recommend using anything like blankets or such, because they can become damp. Check out various types of bedding materials at your local pet store that you can use as insulation.

You can also make your own wheat filled heat pads. These can be heated in a microwave or a conventional oven and should stay warm for a couple of hours. The link below explains how to do this.

http://www.messybeast.com/heatpad.htm

Unless he's already begun using the house as a shelter, I wouldn't rush to install a fixed heating system. I only say this because I bought a dog house for a local feral cat and he doesn't use it. He prefers to wander off and find his own spot somewhere else when the weather is bad.

Thank you for taking the time to do something kind for a feral cat, it's good to know there are people like you out there.

EDIT: I just remembered that there are special blankets you can buy that reflect the cat's body heat back at them, and in my search to find an example, I came across this article which has lots of advice on winter shelters for outdoor cats that might help you.

http://www.neighborhoodcats.org/info/wintershelter.htm

Answer 4

if the cat is truly feral, i don't think you'd be able to go near him/her but maybe with time, you might. yes. i'm familiar with long island and yes, the ny area gets quite cold and sometimes very damp. the cat has a fur coat so with the cedar house, you could line the inside with rugs, place covers inside and feed your furry friend. in time, with food and water, on a consistent basis, the cat will get healthy. remember, animals are meant to be outside and not really meant to be inside. i know how you feel as i have brought in strays and have had them become part of my furry family. i've never ever regretted my decision to help and i am glad to hear others do the same. i know the bitter cold nights, the snow up the wazoo but if you make a safe and reasonably comfortable place for the fuzzy friend, it will be ok. after all, all animals need the same thing: food, safety and shelter, just not in the same mode. in the spring, you could then bring our friend to the vets and go from there. just get the critter fixed. the world doesn't need any more as we are barely taking care of what we have already, agreed? oh, and one more thing. neutering animals often cost very little or nothing. many animals societies give coupons to vets so the service is free or nominal fee. a neutered animal also lives longer. hum! i wonder if this is also true for us humans? well, too late for me!

Answer 5

As a fellow Long Islander, I know how wet and frigid the winters are. Congratulations on caring for feral cats! It's a huge issue right now.

I think the best and safest way to heat the shelter will be to insulate it. Any sort of heater poses the risk of fire/injury to the cats. Try lining it with fabrics that dry quickly, such as fleece.

Good luck!

Answer 6

If electricity is accessible as you mentioned a heating pad might be a safe way to keep the cat warm. You may also try to position the houses entrance away from where the wind usually blows or perhaps cover it somewhat with an air tight fabric or plastic. The link which I took from someones post above looks really good for your needs as well.
http://www.futurepets.com/Dog_House_Heaters.htm

Answer 7

If it's safer, use something that just reflects body heat. A piece of foam rubber with towels over the top of it works really nicely here (Wisconsin winters). I put folded newspapers under it, too, to help retain heat. The outdoor cats love it. Face the door of the house away from the main wind directions, and keep it near bushes to help block wind. The cats will be fine.

Answer 8

if you have a microwave oven there is an item (I believe Petsmart might have them) It is a round disk thing that if you heat it in a microwave oven, take itand put it in the small wooden house and put a a towel over it, it will stay warm for 7 hours. Petsmart also has round fleece like beds for kitties and that would need a place for it to be plugged in and it is ok for outdoors

Answer 9

Well, first, let me thankyou for taking care of this cat. I think it would be ok to maybe put a small outdoor heater in there. I live on VA and my uncle did that for his dog. But maybe to be sure, you could go to a outdoor store and get advice. But I think a outdoor heater would be just fine.

Answer 10

You could try some of that wiring that is sold for melting ice off of your eaves so the gutters don't get ice-dammed.

Getting it installed to code might be difficult, probabaly not a lot of codes for a structure like that. When you call, just don't refer to it as "my cathouse."