About Outdoor Cat Hyperthermia

  

Yesterday on my Facebook page there was a discussion and apparently, some people think that during the winter season, snow will keep cats hydrated.  I let them know that snow is toxic to cats and that ingesting snow when the temperature outdoors is below freezing (32 degrees Fahrenheit) puts cats at risk of hyperthermia.

 

It's not safe for your cat to eat snow because of the waste chemicals in the snow.  The other reason is that when a cat eats snow, that snow will lower the cat's core temperature making the cat feel colder and putting the cat at risk of hyperthermia.

When the temperature is below freezing and the cat has no outdoor shelter they are at risk for hyperthermia.

 Hyperthermia is a serious health condition that can become life-threatening if your cat cannot restore its core body temperature this occurs in cold climates, where the outdoor temperature is bitterly cold and temperature is not warming up.  Hyperthermia occurs when your cat's core temperature remains below normal for an extended period.

If you suspect a cat is suffering hypothermia; symptoms to watch for are cold skin, shivering, slow heartbeat, no motion, or pale gums. Many times a cat just sitting in the snow on a bitter cold day is a sign that the cat is suffering hyperthermia and you must take that cat to the veterinarian immediately.  

 

Outdoor Cats Breed Seasonally in Cold Climates

 Many people will tell you that outdoor queen cats breed continuously and that one unaltered stray cat can populate the community with thousands of cats in their lifetime. Know that is not the case for a cat that resides in an area that has a change of seasons. The average queen cat that breeds seasonally has approximately 300 kittens in their lifetime.  

 

 

Cats that  lives outdoors in areas where the temperature is cold the daylight is short and days are dark do not go into a reproductive cycle.  The outdoor feral cat only breeds from spring to fall when the weather is warm, and days are longer.

Our winters are bitter cold and the unaltered stray cats do not go into their reproductive cycle until mid-spring or after the snow has melted and days are warm and becoming longer. 

The queen cats will mate two times during our summer months although some feral queen cats do mate up to three times during the warm season it all depends on if we have an early spring.

.Cats will stop breeding in autumn when the daylight is shorter and the temperature is cooler / cold  Outdoor cats sense when it’s the warm season and time to breed.

* female cats that are not spayed are called queens and male cats that are not neutered are 

Winter Ready Trixie Cat House

  

We bought the Trixie cat house from Chewy.com a few years ago.  We set up by adding a cooling mat and straw on the floor.   A feral cat went into the house and seemed to like it.   When the season started to change, we knew that we had to make this small pine wood house winter-ready.

The house sits off the ground which is good but the floorboards promote air circulation which is bad for our winters.  So we covered the floor walls and interior of the hinged asphalt shingled roof with reflective insulation.  Then we filled it with a hefty layer of wheat straw.

The insulation was fine for the cool days and nights of autumn but when the rain came the overhang did not keep the interior dry and the water seemed to come in the straw and the insulated walls were wet  So, we took the house apart by removing the wet straw and insulation.

The darkness on the back wall is wet from the rain

We brought the house indoors so it could dry out and once it was dry my husband worked to insulate the house for winter and to stop the leaking.  To get the Trixie house ready for winter we added the reflective insulation on all interior walls. To stop the wind and the rain from coming in from the side walls we wrapped the house with bubble wrap.  Wheat straw was added so that the kitty could burrow in the straw and keep warm during the winter months.

Since the house does not have an overhang, and feral cats are afraid of the door flaps we set the house up under our deck to protect it from rain and snow. 

Our winters are bitterly cold and think that this winter-ready Trixie house will now provide a perfect shelter for a stray or feral cat.