Happiness is a Warm...Kitty!

Cold winter days are even reaching down into Florida this year...and it's not technically even winter yet! Keep your cats safe during these freezing winter nights by heeding these tips:

• If the thermometer is dipping below freezing, your cats belong inside with you. Ferals who won't come inside can be cozy with a heated bed, of which we have several options at OldMaidCatLady.com. Just make sure that bed is safe for outdoor use. One cold winter, I even saved a feral with a common cardboard box that had the top cut so it could act as a flap. It sat on my front balcony, which was covered so it didn't get wet. Inside, I put an old wool blanket. That cat lived in that box all winter long! He even stopped by more than a year later, sporting a collar, to thank me and let me know he'd found a home.
  
• Short-haired or hairless cats get cold in winter, so they need a sweater! While there aren't many made specifically for cats (but I'm looking!), you can usually find a dog sweater that will fit your kitty. If yours won't tolerate catwear, at least provide a nice warm blanket into which he can snuggle. Many heated beds are also made for indoor use, as well.
  
• Take care when changing your antifreeze or adding new antifreeze to your car. If you spill any, immediately wipe it up. Antifreeze is deadly to cats; it will shut down their kidneys within hours of being ingested. And yet it smells good to them, so they'll usually try a taste. There is an antidote, but it must be administered within the first 3 hours to avoid "cat-"astrophe. Or you could try one of the pet-safe antifreezes that are sometimes available in your local auto supply store.
• Speaking of cars, their engines can be a tempting warm place for outdoor cats to sleep when it's cold. If you have ferals in your neighborhood, it's a good idea to knock on the hood or honk your horn before starting the car in cold weather to rouse any kitties snoozing in your engine compartment. Sure, it's a rude awakening, but not as much so as having a leg torn off by a suddenly-moving belt! And unplanned trips to the emergency vet can ruin the best of days.
  
• Make sure your kitties have plenty of fresh water available during this dry season. You know how the dry, heated air makes you feel dehydrated? It does the same to your cats. If their water bowl is outside, make sure it won't freeze; cats' tongues can stick to ice in freezing conditions, just like a human's! (Remember the schoolyard scene in the movie A Christmas Story?) A recent story about a kitten rescued after being found frozen to an icy sidewalk points out the danger of cats trying to drink frozen water in winter.
  
• If you're feeding your cats canned food that's been in the fridge, it's much more palatable if it's heated for a few seconds in the microwave. I find that about 10 seconds usually takes off the chill. It helps bring out the aroma of the food for older cats, as well. (Make sure your cat bowls are microwave-safe before using them there.)
  

Next time: dangers of the holiday season.

Cold Weather Cats

This spate of cold weather we've experienced this winter reminds me of another winter, many years ago. I was sitting in my third-floor apartment one chilly evening when I heard the loudest meowing coming from outside my front door! Stepping outside, I saw a large black tomcat, very thin, and also very friendly. He appeared to be hungry, so I went inside and got him some of crunchies out of my cats' bag, for which he was extremely grateful. Cats are always very polite like this, in my experience.

Having two cats already, I certainly couldn't take him in, especially with his being an unneutered male. I could only imagine the spraying that would take place when he encountered my neutered male. Pee-yew! But when the weather report said that temps would be dipping below freezing that night, what was I to do? I couldn't let him freeze with no warm place to sleep.

Fortunately, I'd recently bought something in a box of which the top had been cut around three sides instead of across the middle. That made it like a sort of flap covering the open side of the box. Taking that outside, I added an old wool blanket that had been a hand-me-down I never used. I turned it with the back of the box toward the north wind and the flapped opening toward my front door. The cat was nowhere to be found when I set it outside, and I hoped he'd be back to find it, and understand that he could get inside if he lifted the flap.

My next-door neighbor's door was right next to mine, so I worried about leaving an unsightly cardboard box in front of my door. The next morning, as I started to pick up the box and move it over to the section of walkway by the sliding glass door off my den, it was heavier...and moving! Out came the black cat, who I'd decided to call "Clarence," and he was hungry again. I gave him some more food, and some water, and made sure he knew where I was moving his box. We had a little stretch of freezing temps that winter, and he slept in that box every night. Once the weather was warmer, I tossed the box and washed the blanket for another cold night.

But that wasn't the end to Clarence's story. I didn't see him again for a long time. But the following summer, I heard loud meowing outside my door one evening. It sounded familiar. Sure enough, it was Clarence! This time he was wearing a collar and appeared to be well fed. I offered him some food, but he wasn't interested in it. He'd just come back to thank me for saving his life in the cold winter, and to let me know that he'd found a home and was okay now. As I said, cats are very polite creatures. I never saw Clarence again, but think of him every time the temperatures dip below freezing in winter.