"John Doe" wrote in message
...
dgk wrote:

John Doe wrote:

I was thinking of ways to keep it warm during the winter. You know, boxes
or whatever. I bought an electric blanket and it hasn't left the area
since
that day. The weather hardly gets below freezing, so I'm hoping for a
cold
night I think it will work at least down to 0°F. One night was about
30°
and it was no problem. Since then, I put it in a larger box that is only
half covered. It's kind of paranoid, like half feral, it cringes when
it's
petted but it enjoys having its head scratched. So if it gets near zero
it
will probably move into that covered half of the box. Still on the
electric
blanket, that should keep it warm and cozy. Since the electric blanket is
folded up, it generates concentrated heat and must be left on the lowest
settings. As with all of their bedding, clean paper towels are used like
sheets.

I made a home out of a styrofoam box with those cheap stick-um tiles
to keep them from scratching through the styrofoam. I also installed a
heated pad designed for outdoor use by cats, something like this:

I was thinking about using Styrofoam, but it's probably not as cold here.

http://www.amazon.com/3093-Extreme-W...ng+pad+outdoor

Thanks, I was wondering about that. I did look briefly before buying an
electric blanket.

Sorry if that URL breaks but just look for "pet heating pad outdoor".
I put lots of straw in the house and change that yearly. I don't
recommend blankets because they get fleas and such. This looks like a
nice way to build a shelter:

You are worried about fleas and you only change the bedding once per
year? I use clean paper towels, changed at least every few days, as a
cover on all of their bedding. The blanket can be folded up in many
different ways, and it is washable. Fleas will always be a concern since
it's an outdoor cat. One marvelous thing about using clean bright white
paper towels is that you know what's going on with the cat. You can see
all of the dirt and any blood. And it helps clean your cat.

Hopefully your outdoor cats are neutered.

Well, let's not get into a p*ssing contest, eh? We are all on the same side
here.

An electric blanket is a good thing for a cat. Boyfie has one under his
duvet. It was once mine.