The weather is turning very cold for a few days after being mild most of the season. I checked over my plastic tub cat dens, put in some more insulation and added a new one. When I retire a refrigerator, I may make something like VH has for his cats.
I also have two old coolers with a pet bed and heating pad located where I can reach with an extension cord.
That's probably plenty. Most of these cats know where to go and use the benefits my neighbors and I provide. My neighbor to the west told me that Callie and Anita have slept in a heated dog house with their Irish Setter. To the east, my neighbor has set about six soft cat houses on their back porch. Tanya at the neighbor's porch:
These 'ferals' are probably more spoiled than a lot of pets.
In reply to AAZCD-Jon (Forum Supporter) :
They say to use straw for bedding because it is water resistant and the cats will have less chance of getting frozen to the bedding. Plus it seems to make a pretty good insulator.
It got to -20F last night and the freezer was a balmy 40F with the thermostat set at 80 with a 50 watt heating element. Too bad nobody wants to live in the freezer, just come and fill up with water and food and then on their way.
Except for Lucy who moved into the garage and wanted to come inside. She might be about 9 months old so we trapped her in a cat carrier and placed her in the basement under the stairs after I rehung the door I built for the other pregnant one year old kitty who's due date was right during an April blizzard 7 years ago. I hope she's not pregnant already. She is in quarantine until we can get to the vet and have her checked out and vaccinated. Hopefully, my daughter will take her.
Edit: To clarify, Lucy has been living in our garage for the last 2 months in a heated double walled tote with a plug in heating pad from Chewy very similar to this one (under a regular cat bed covered with my old dirty tee shirt). We leave the back door open for the dog to come and go into our fenced in back yard while it was so warm this fall. Lucy can come and go as she pleases and she chose to hang out with me. That makes her cat #6.
Chewy.com: K&H Pet Products Extreme Weather Kitty Pad & Fleece Cover 40 watts $57.53
Rita did well in captivity and was starting to play with our cats through holes in the dog crate.
When the temperature rose to the mid thirties today, I released her by the spring. Her older brother Handsome Dan and mother cat Sasha came down the hill and sniffed her, then four other cats came to check her out. I went to get a camera and she was mostly alone when I came back.
She's a happy healthy cat and I look forward to seeing her at feeding times.
