Barn cat shelters

[McCulloch610]

We "inherited" two barn cats (one male, one female) with our property-they are feral, but at one point were trapped, neutered/spayed and released. We leave food and water out on the porch for them and they sleep wherever in the barn. They are close to 15 years old by the previous owners' recollection, so obviously they've done OK over the years, but we thought they could use a bit more warmth in these single digit temperatures. Luckily our neighbor had plenty of straw bales to spare, so we built these shelters in the back of the barn which, with a cloth door over the opening, should make for a nice cozy place to sleep. Each shelter took five bales-they're just loosely stacked with two standing on edge on either side, one standing on edge to close off the back end, and two laid flat on top. I used one bale to spread loose straw inside and to pack in the middle between the top bales. Cheap, simple, and easy to make-they're not fastened at all. It's worth nothing that these are inside the barn-if you were to build one of these outside you'd want to cover them with a tarp:

 

[lazy gardener]

Do they use them?

 

[McCulloch610]

Do they use them?

Yep-they seem to like them. Of course anytime I go near the shelters the cats come shooting out of them like cannonballs they're so skittish...

 

[pennyJo1960]

Yep-they seem to like them. Of course anytime I go near the shelters the cats come shooting out of them like cannonballs they're so skittish...

Kudos to you may take time but probably should take the food in at night it can draw predators to them and your chickens ... pat yourself on the back for caring enough to help them...

 

[MrsMistyReal]

Very creative, comfy, & useful for your furry family members ,thank you for sharing. Do you have any other creative ideas? I love the fact it's affordable

 

[Bunnylady]

I love the fact that the cats actually use them. IME, cats are as bad as toddlers about thinking that things they find are "better" than things you give them.

 

[McCulloch610]

Update-not only are the cats using the shelters-they're shacking up! This morning I went out to check their water (heated dog bowl) and the female came flying out first, hightailed it out of the barn and into the woods. As I was pouring the male jumped out of the same one. Despite an overnight low of 3°F and some nasty winds I bet they stayed pretty comfortable!

 

[Penny spender]

Thats a great idea to stack them up like that for the hay/straw bales!

One year we had kittens that refused to go to the barn and made their home on our deck. For the winter I cut a hole in the end of one of those styrofoam coolers and then wrapped it in an old weatherproof horse blanket...all 4 of those young cats would sleep together in that thing (not sure how they all fit - lol) and survived that cold winter.