This summer the heat has been extreme with creeks and lakes drying up. Due to the water shortages, the neighborhood and feral cats were desperately in need of water.
Normally we have bowls of water for the cats, but the intense heat was causing the water to become very hot and evaporate. I was filling the water bowls several times a day and found that not only cats were drinking the water, but songbirds, groundhogs, raccoons, and deer were also staying hydrated by drinking out of the small animal bowls.
We bought outdoor kiddie pools to provide both cats and wildlife with a reliable water source. Filling the outdoor dog and kiddie pools daily was the best thing that we could do to provide cats and wildlife the water that they needed. We filled daily a hard plastic kiddie pool and an outdoor dog pool by Top-Paw.
All pools were set up under a shade tree. The shade prevented the sun from evaporating the water from the pools and also from the water getting too hot. We would clean the pools daily to prevent bacteria. Once the water was removed we would wash down the pool with dawn dish soap, rinse and refill. Throughout the day the pools would be filled to the top so that they were never empty and cats and smaller animals could drink from them without physically getting into the pool.
The kiddie pools were a great way to provide water to the animals and to keep them hydrated during the extremely hot summer months.
Here are a few of my photos.
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