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Cats Get Cold, Too

Cats Get Cold, Too
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February 13, 2025
in Humane Education Column
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By: Judy Hamontre, AVHS Vice Chair

Daytime temperatures have crept back up to the high 40’s, but forecasts show they will soon drop again. Winter has not yet ended. The strong winds continue to blow, chilling any animal caught in their path. A few weeks ago I wrote about how to protect our dogs from these harsh conditions. Cats get cold, too, and I am certain they would gladly meow their thanks for human help from winter’s brutal elements.

According to the Humane Society of the United States, all felines are susceptible to the cold. These felines may include pet cats that love being outdoors, feral cats and strays. You may see them in your neighborhoods and worry about their comfort and safety. While many outdoor cats are resourceful and have known places to keep warm, additional help to survive winter is always welcomed.

They need shelters from the cold that are warm, dry, well insulated and appropriately sized. With a little time, energy and ingenuity, you can create a suitable shelter. Neighbors might help, and children might find it a fun community service project.

According to alleycatadvocates.org, building winter shelters for outdoor cats can be easy and inexpensive. Their website provides thorough and easy to understand information to guide your construction and is in alignment with what several animal welfare organizations such as HSUS and ASPCA suggest.

Their guidelines cover: easy to find materials, size, insulation, placement, doors, dampness prevention and securing against wind.

If you Google how to build a winter cat shelter, you will also find helpful videos.

If you are willing to spend a little more money, heated shelters can be purchased from places such as Chewy and Amazon.

Two of my friends in Illinois who have cared for neighborhood feral cats and strays for years, redesigned dog houses they found at yard sales.

Alley Cat Allies and other animal welfare organizations also provide helpful ideas on how to provide these outdoor cats food and water, where to place them and how to keep them from freezing.

As you can see, providing winter shelter for outdoor cats is relatively simple to do. If you live in an area where there are no warm retreats for community cats and your wandering neighbors’ cats, and if you, your family and your pets are comfortable having some additional felines around, you can be a hero by offering a warm and safe feline retreat from the cold.

If you have pet cats who insist on having their outdoor time, you might want to consider the following when temperatures plummet, winds blow and snowflakes fly.

If at all possible, try to keep cats inside or limit outdoor time. Providing more active play inside might reduce their desire to frolic outside.

Provide a warm shelter in your own yard.

Dry and warm your cat if wet when returning home.

Try to learn your cat’s roaming routine. If your pet is away too long, you know where to look. My neighbor has introduced herself and her cat, Merlot, to all who live near his haunts and given them her phone number in case there is a problem.

Put a breakaway collar on your cat with ID tags and have your cat microchipped which can be lifesaving if your kitty roams too far and gets lost.

Cats can suffer from winter weather, just as dogs can, but we loving and caring humans can provide shelter, water and food to help them survive.

One more way to help these outdoor cats is to check the cats that you know are feral or strays and see if they have a triangular notch missing from their left ear. This “tipped ear” is the universal sign that the cat has been caught, spayed/neutered and released. If your cats’ ears have not been tipped, contact the Ark-Valley Humane Society at ark-valley.org or call 719-395-2737 to learn how their trap-neuter-return program can help.

 

 

 

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