A small, warm house can save a feral cat's life during the winter cold. Building one is easy - you can use a plastic box or use wood scraps if you have some DIY experience. The version suitable for indoor environments is even easier to make and will be great fun for you and your cat, since you can have a good time watching him play and run around among the various cardboard boxes.
Steps
Method 1 of 2: Outdoor Playhouse
Step 1. Find suitable components
Feral cats need to be protected from wind, rain and cold. Use strong, buildable materials, or use a container you already have. Try these items:
- A plastic container with a capacity of about 130 liters, which you can find at a hardware store (this is the simplest choice).
- An old dog house, which you can request from a friend or a neighbor.
- A panel of plywood or solid wood (about 1, 5 by 3 meters), or some assorted salvaged cuttings.
Step 2. Take steps to achieve a welcoming environment
A cat's body heat can only heat a small space sufficiently. There is no precise rule about this, but consider that the larger models go up to dimensions of approximately 65 x 65 x 80 centimeters. If you want to use a ready-made, but larger container, you can cut and shrink it, or use a plywood divider to reduce the space available.
These instructions also apply to cats, with some changes that you can read further on. Follow the article just indicated if you want to use wood panels
Step 3. Make the roof removable
By doing this you can quickly replace the dirty litter and check the conditions of any injured animal that seeks shelter inside. If you are building a house from scratch, use hinges to secure the roof.
If you want to use a plastic container, use its lid as a roof; once the work is finished, simply place stones or other heavy objects on it to prevent it from moving
Step 4. Keep the house off the ground (if necessary)
The shelter will need to be raised if there is a possibility of flooding or heavy snow in your area. A little more than two spans (about 45 cm) will be sufficient in most cases, but even 30 cm will suffice if you live where the climatic conditions are less problematic. You can adopt several solutions:
- Place the house in a covered, paved courtyard.
- Place it on elevations made with pieces of reclaimed wood, concrete blocks or other similar objects, which must be very flat and resistant. If the risers seem unstable to you, you can also prevent them from falling by placing other heavy materials around them.
- Place the house on a thick plywood panel to which four feet 35mm diameter by 90mm high are fastened using wood screws.
Step 5. Create an entrance and an exit
Cats prefer to have two passages at their disposal, so that they always have an escape route if a predator approaches an opening. Cut out two 15 x 15cm openings on two different sides of the house; if you are using a plastic container, cover the sharp edges with American tape.
- If the shelter is level with the ground, start cutting at a distance of 5cm from the bottom to prevent rain from wetting the interior.
- If the house is raised, it creates the entrance on one side in front of which the plywood or supports protrude a little, so that the cat can jump on this "ledge" before entering; it then cuts the exit where there is no such thing, in order to prevent any predator from finding easy access.
- To keep the room warmer, glue or staple a cloth over each of the two openings.
Step 6. Waterproof the house (if necessary)
Plastic containers are already waterproof, so if you are working with this material you can proceed further; if you use wood, plywood or an old doghouse, sand and paint everything.
For even better protection and insulation, you could cover the top with panels or rolls of roofing material
Step 7. Insulate the walls and roof
A log cabin should be warm enough even without this step, but all other materials must be well insulated. Cover each of the side walls by gluing a 2.5 cm thick insulating foam panel, available in hardware stores; leave 7.5 cm of free space at the top by placing another insulation board over the walls to insulate the roof as well.
- If you live in areas where winters are very cold you could also use reflective sheets, for example Mylar, which will reflect the heat emitted by the cat's body; you can also place them on the floor.
- Reduce the insulation boards to the required size using a utility knife.
Step 8. Fill the house with materials for the animal to dig into
Put a lot of straw, avoiding blocking the passage openings, so that the cats can hide under them and keep warmer. If you don't have straw at your disposal, use pillowcases lightly filled with expanded polystyrene or newspaper shavings.
- Do not use hay, as it absorbs moisture and can cause allergies.
- Do not use sheets, towels or full sheets of newspaper - these absorb body heat and will only cool the needy cat further.
- Some cats may eat expanded polystyrene, causing dangerous intestinal blockages; you can minimize the risk by putting the material inside two pillowcases, one in the other.
Step 9. Provide fresh food and water
You can keep the food in the house but always put the water outside, to prevent it from spilling inside; however, keep the bowl close to the shelter.
When temperatures are below freezing use a heated bowl. If you can't buy one, use a model of ceramic or thick plastic, insulated with styrofoam
Step 10. Attract cats with catnip
Get feral cats closer to your new house by placing some catnip just inside the entrance.
Method 2 of 2: Indoor Playhouse
Step 1. Get some cardboard boxes
For an indoor playhouse, cardboard or polystyrene boxes are optimal and very easy to prepare solutions. You can also build the walls using corrugated cardboard, plastic panels, or any other lightweight material, but a ready-made box will be much stronger. If the ones you have are smaller than 60 x 90 cm, you will need to use more than one to create a fairly spacious house.
Cats may chew cardboard or Styrofoam, so don't use anything you need to reuse later
Step 2. Open a couple of inputs
Use a utility knife to make an opening in one of the cardboard boxes; each opening must be 15 cm high, so that the animal can pass without problems.
- Also create a couple of windows or vertical stripes to watch the cat play inside.
- Glue rags or scraps of fabric over the doors and windows, so that the animal can feel comfortable in its new environment without external disturbances.
Step 3. Secure multiple boxes using masking tape
Add a few more rooms to your cat's new house by using other containers. If you want to create a second floor, open a gap of 15cm per side in the ceiling and put an upside down box on top of it. You should make sure that there is enough space on the sides for the cat to walk smoothly without falling back into the hole.
Use packing tape, American tape, or other similar, strong materials
Step 4. Make the environment welcoming and fun
Add a small sheet or cat bed inside the rooms; moreover, a scratching post or rough cloths will be great for getting your nails done and, of course, which cat won't want a toy?
If you have built a multi-storey house, add a toy that your pet likes to play on the top floor, so that the cat has to work hard to find a way to reach it
Step 5. Keep food, water, and litter out of the house
Placing them inside the new environments will only create problems and disorder, also risking to make the cardboard yield. You can still keep them nearby, but remember to show the cat their new location to prevent it from going back to where it used to go to do its business.
