Bed ideas?

[Jane]

Hi everyone!

Well, for anyone that doesn't know, Meow is a kitty who lives on our allotment, we are the only people that care for her/feed her etc. and we're also the only people she trusts. She has a cat flap in one of our greenhouses and sleeps in there ;)

However, for the summer she has been sleeping on a chair with a sleeping bag on it (she chose to sleep there herself lol and she likes it) but now it is getting too cold for that..last year she had a box tipped on it's side with a sleeping bag inside which she seemed to enjoy.

Tonight we took the box back up there, layed it on its side and have put a sleeping bag and blanket in there. Now..just wondering, is this really enough to keep her warm enough?? Even though it's in the greenhouse it's still reallllllly cold..:?

Any ideas?? Any at all are appreciated :D

Jane

[Fran]

One of our cats - Matilda rarely comes in the house, preferring the safety of our porch when the other cats are not around. At one point we had an old rabbit hutch that we were going to throw away and we found that she liked very much to sleep in there on cold nights. So we put some hay in there for her, left one of the doors of it open and she loved it! A possible consideration?

[Mags]

What sort of box is it Jane..........cardboard, wooden, plastic?

Maybe you could also drape an old coat or blanket over the top of the box so that it partly covers the opening ......... that should help keep out any draughts for her...

Well done you for caring so much about her comfort during the winter months..:)

[Jane]

Thanks guys :D

Fran..we do actually have an old piggy hutch which it not being used, maybe we could take that down there if need be...it does have a hole cut in the floor lol but I'm sure we could patch it up somehow.

Mags, at the moment it is plastic...we decided that cardboard would get icky and well, we don't have a wooden box handy. I think we will drape a blanket or something over the front, thanks for the suggestion :D

[dandysmom]

Carolyn, my friend and neighbor who was looking after Onyx before she moved to Oklahoma, made a sleeping spot under her porch. It was a large cardboard box with newspapers on the bottom for insulation and a warm blanket inside, and she draped another blanket over the top to help retain the heat. Onyx made it thru the Winters of 05-06 and 06-07 OK, and I'm hoping to get her inside this Winter! How cold ddo your Winters get....many days consecutively below freezing?

[yola]

Jane, you and yours are so kind to be caring for this little stray. I would suggest plastic it good (water and rot-proof) but it should be insulated with blankets/duvet on the outside and straw or duvet/blankets on the inside. Do check regularly to ensure that the inner layers are dry as wet is not too good when it's cold.

Other than that - I guess if Meow survived and managed OK last winter than this coming winter she should be OK too. Is she in good health? Spayed? You don't want a pregnant/nursing cat out in the dead of winter's cold.

Any chance she can be socialised and brought indoors???

[Donna]

Do you go to the allotment every day? You could buy a Snugglesafe heat pad - you can buy them for rabbits for cold nights so think it would do the same job for a cat that is outside all winter.

They are warmed in the microwave and last for about 8 hours and can be bought at usual pet stores or online.

[Jane]

Thanks everyone :D

dandysmom - thanks for the idea :D not sure whether it gets below freezing much..not at the moment I don't think so someone else can answer lol

yola - thanks :) we have 2 sleeping bags on the allotment, one is on her chair and one is in the inside of her new bed thingy..will take the one off her chair and put it over the box tomorrow...will also get day to maybe put some straw under the sleeping bag?? She seems in great health, well, nothing wrong with her by watching her and how she behaves etc. We believe she is spayed, one of the people on the comitee (sp?) for the allotment said that they had a group of strays/ferals who live/lived on there spayed/neutered and he says she was one of them :) I don't know what you mean be socialised - she is a very freindly kitty etc and loves us...she can't really be brought indoors though, I doubt Patch would like that..:s

Donna - yep we visit every morning and every evening..will check out the snugglesafe heat pads - have heard people talking about them on piggy forums before ;)

[Jac]

How about trying to insulate whatever you decide to use with some polystyrene sheeting(sp)? Sounds like she's one really lucky kitty to have found your family. Well done.

[Jane]

Hmm...what's polystyrene sheeting? sorry lol..do you mean though like chunks of polystyrene you can get or actual sheets?? i'm confused XD

[Jac]

You can get it in sheets Jane. I dont mean sheets as you would put on your bed:lol: . Like for packing boxes. Squares of the stuff. that might help.

[Jane]

haha I know what you mean now ;) lol I was thinking of a mix between like that plastic sheeting stuff and polystyrene and it just wasn't working ;) Will see if dad can get some for us :D

[Jac]

:smt005 :smt005 :smt005 :smt005 :smt005 @ Jane

[kado]

I think you are great for caring for this cat. Have you tried bubble wrap that is a great insulater i used to use it for my rabbits cages?

jane