I feel almost guilty for enjoying bright sunny days through most of December, January and now into February with temps in the 70s and 80s while so many of my friends are buried in snow and ice. The outdoor cats in our neighborhood might get a bit chilly overnight when temps dip into the 40s (with an occasion 35), but they quickly warm up during the day. If those were my cats they would not be living out of doors, but some cats do. And this is true of cats even in the horrendously colder climates.
Do the cats in your winter wonderland have shelters? They should and you can make it happen. If you know of a cat that roams free and, consider providing shelter for that cat and his friends. Here’s a great DUI site showing how to create a cozy, insulated shelter for a cat from a heavy plastic storage container. If you don’t use tools or have the strength to do the work, grab a neighbor kid or a grandchild and work on it together. What a satisfying project—it’s called saving cats one cat at a time. https://alleycatadvocates.org/communitycat-care-center/creating-winter-shelters/ Here’s one made from a Styrofoam ice chest: https://www.instructables.com/Easy-Winter-Cat-Shelter/
Of course if you have extra funds, you can buy winter shelters for cats for under $100.
If you have ever provided shelters for cats in winter or summer, I’d love to hear from you.
Our temps hit single digits a couple weeks ago, so Idragged all 3 outside cats in. Two had never been inbefore, and hadwandered up separately two years ago. They seem to have adapted pretty well…and there are tracks indicating that another cat has taken advantage of the now-empty shelters, so I have begun putting out some dry food.
Bless you. Here in Southern CA this winter, we need to put out igloos for the feral cats–it’s been so hot.
Patricia