The little tabby that I found at 10 p.m. sitting in the snow under my lilac bush spent the night in a pet crate in my heated mudroom. This house cat was covered with snow and had
no claws so I suspected he got out and did not know how to go home.
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| Cat walking in snow |
Normally when I find a lost
cat I will post flyers in the neighborhood and put an ad in the classified
section of our paper. But today I did
not have to any of that because a women was on my block looking for her cat.
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| Feral cat in winter snow |
I informed her how I found the cat; sitting under my lilacs
bush when it was snowing, the cat was covered with snow and did not know how to
find shelter on a bitter cold night. She
told me I never should have brought him into my house, that if he got cold enough he would
have gone home. The woman said the cat has fur and can be left outdoors in
winter.
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| Feral cat at feeding station in winter |
Many cat owners assume that because the cat has a thick coat
that they can be left outdoors throughout the winter months and do not need an insulated
shelter. What cat owners do not
realize is that cats are susceptible to frostbite on the tip of their ears,
nose, tail and toes. Cats that are left
out in the extreme cold will suffer from hypothermia and this condition puts
the cat’s life at risk.
 |
| KH outdoor insulated cat house |
I made my recommendation by suggesting a KH insulated
outdoor cat house from Amazon.com to the cat owner or to buy an insulated dog igloo
medium sized from PetSmart or Wal-Mart and provide the cat with self heating pad. So the outdoor cat will have a shelter to go to when there is snow, rain, wind or extreme cold.
***
Here are some cats in snow cards that I designed from my
photographs of feral cats in my care.
All photographs were captured in the Ozark Mountains. Enjoy!
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