Tips For Cooling Outdoor Cats In Hot Weather

With the extreme hot weather approaching, many of us colony caretakers are worried about our outdoor colony cats with good reason. The weather this coming Thursday and Friday is supposed to approach 115* with the heat index. This kind of weather can surely cause heat exhaustion/heat stroke. So we wanted to share steps/ways that we are putting into place to try and keep our cats cool.

1. Misters. We have bought a few misters for our backyard. Here is a picture of ours in use yesterday. These run a little over $13.00 each at Home Depot. The mister attaches to the water hose head. A great way to get more than one working is to buy a hose splitter, attach it to the water nozzle, which then will allow you to hook up two water hoses (unless you buy the 4 nozzle). You can then buy (2) two more hose splitters and attach those to each of the water hose heads which will allow you to have 4 misters (or even 8). These really do cool down the area. I placed one of mine over the canoe that my ferals like to go under to hide from the sun. Here is the link to the misters that I bought Click Here
Here is a picture of my feral Dr. Watson enjoying it

2. Get some towels or flat carpet pieces (you can buy these at any Family Dollar store) and soak them with water. The cats will lay on these and will help keep them cool. They will actually stay cooler then the cat cooling mats which only cool for less than an hour. I don’t even think they would last 20 minutes in the extreme heat we will be getting. Not to mention the liquid gel IS in fact toxic. So I would advise that you don't use those at all.

3. Big Frozen Bags of Peas. That’s right! Time to make a Costco run to buy those big bags of peas. Frozen peas contain the cold much better than ice. Not only that, but because peas are so small they can be easily manipulated when the cats lay on them. They will form with their body.

4. Create a place of shade in your yard. Thankfully in my yard, I have a few trees, but I also have a canoe on the side of my garage that my ferals hang out under that allows shade and air flow. They don’t use their feral bins in the summer obviously since they have 6in of insulation in them. A good quick way to create shade if you don’t have any is pallet boards. I also have a pallet board that I have leaning against my garage and sometimes Momma Madelina likes to lay under there. It blocks the sun and allows airflow. You can also lay soaked wet towels on the side of the pallet board. So if there is a breeze a bit of coolness will come from the wet towel. Do not use DARK colored towels, preferably white or cream. You don’t want to attract the sun.

Here's a picture of my feral Momma Madelina cooling herself

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. Lots of ice blocks everywhere for drinking water.

6. Mulch- Trying getting a few bags of mulch and spreading the mulch in shady or hidden areas. Water down the mulch with a hose to soak it. Mulch retains the water and will help keep your ferals cool.

Here is a picture of my feral Mr. Grey cooling himself in the garden in the mulch

7. Canned cat food. Place your canned cat food in the fridge to chill it and then serve in the evening. Any food not eaten be sure to disregard.

Please remember cats can only sweat through their paw pads. If you see any of the following symptoms your feral cats may be showing signs or suffering from heat exhaustion... Rapid breathing or panting, Fast heartbeat, Drooling, Dilated pupils, Vomiting, Lethargy, and Yowling.

Please feel free to also share any steps that you are taking to keep your feral cats cool. Sharing is caring.