Adopted a kitten, outside cat advice

[KRack]

She seems to have been dumped. Super loving so far, so happy to just be here and get loved on. Will go to the vet tomorrow for all the things. I mostly want to prepare for winter. We live in PA and it gets 10 below or more, pretty often. If I get a cat house to shield her from the elements and keep in on our porch, would that suffice? I also have a heating pad I can put in with her that never turns off.

I don’t want to be negligent, but also want as little work and maintenance as possible. All advice welcome!

 

[Sussex19]

10F isn't to bad, that would be -12C which is what we get down to fairly often.
Once she is fully grown, just a cosy cat house with nice bedding in it should be fine, but until she is a year old an extra source of heat like the heating pad would be good.

I would put a good cat collar on with name/addresses just to keep her that little bit safer.
You could put a bell on as well, in my experience bells don't impact mouse and rat catching ability, but do help to save birds.

And of course make sure she is spayed

 

[KRack]

10F isn't to bad, that would be -12C which is what we get down to fairly often.
Once she is fully grown, just a cosy cat house with nice bedding in it should be fine, but until she is a year old an extra source of heat like the heating pad would be good.

I would put a good cat collar on with name/addresses just to keep her that little bit safer.
You could put a bell on as well, in my experience bells don't impact mouse and rat catching ability, but do help to save birds.

And of course make sure she is spayed

A collar is a great idea, thank you!! Yes, she’ll get spayed next month!

Its actually -10F sometimes, so maybe that’s too cold?

 

[Sussex19]

A collar is a great idea, thank you!! Yes, she’ll get spayed next month!

Its actually -10F sometimes, so maybe that’s too cold?

I have no experience with that cold temps, unfortunately.
Cats are very tough, so as long as the house is insulated and cosy I'm thinking she could well be fine.
You'll have to wait and see what other people think, who have more experience of cold temps.

 

[rural mouse]

Our mostly outdoor kitty handles temps down to -40. He has cat house with an old comforter stuffed inside. The cat house sits in a sheltered corner of the porch with a tarp around the top/outside to keep snow from melting into the wood.

He's napping on top of it. In the winter he slides in between the layers of the comforter to create some extra warmth. He does grow a thick fur coat and we try to limit his indoor winter time to meals only so he doesn't shed it out from being too warm.

For collar, make sure it's a quick release so she can't get tangled up on something via it.

 

[KRack]

Our mostly outdoor kitty handles temps down to -40. He has cat house with an old comforter stuffed inside. The cat house sits in a sheltered corner of the porch with a tarp around the top/outside to keep snow from melting into the wood. View attachment 3579011He's napping on top of it. In the winter he slides in between the layers of the comforter to create some extra warmth. He does grow a thick fur coat and we try to limit his indoor winter time to meals only so he doesn't shed it out from being too warm.

For collar, make sure it's a quick release so she can't get tangled up on something via it.

Awe he’s sweet!! Ok, this is super helpful advice, thank you!

 

[rural mouse]

Awe he’s sweet!! Ok, this is super helpful advice, thank you!

It gets some residual warmth from the house, and the patio is actually the roof of the well house. There's a heat lamp in there to aid in keeping the well from freezing. Bonus: warms the patio a little bit.

The biggest issues outdoor critters have: shelter from the wind, shelter from the weather, and liquid water. You'll provide food so that and the water aren't an issue. Placement of the shelter is the biggest thing. Our kitty was entirely outside.....until the chickens started raiding his food dish... they like sheltering there in the winter too (when they don't hunker down in their coop.

 

[KRack]

Ok! I got a break away collar, gave her a bath, she got flea treatment and dewormed, and I ordered an outdoor cat house/bed. She’s got a crate to sleep in for now with food and water. Her vet appt is next week.

Anything else I need to think about?

 

[rural mouse]

Predators and making sure she knows home.

 

[KRack]

Predators and making sure she knows home.

Idk how to do anything about predators. She has a covered porch to eat/sleep on and so far has only gotten off of it to go to the bathroom.

She’ll free range like our chickens do, so survival during the day will pretty much be on her. I can shut the gate to our porch to keep her better protected, but if something really wanted on there I don’t know how I’d stop it.