How to Build a Cat Shelter
Winter can be a very tough time for outdoor cats of any kind, whether they are your pet or just stray cats that hang around but you don’t necessarily want them to suffer during the harsh winter months. If you would like to provide them with some kind of shelter during those winter months, a large storage bin can provide the safety necessary for them to survive.
Things You’ll Need:
- Large storage bin
- Utility knife
- Styrofoam
- Blanket or shredded up newspaper
- Sharpie pen
- Draw an outline of the door on the front of the bin. Remember that you will want to make it large enough for a bigger cat to fit through the door.
- Cut out the door using the utility knife. Be careful not to cut yourself during this process.
- Take the lid off of the storage bin so that you are looking down into the inside of the bin.
- Cut the Styrofoam to fit down inside the bin and place it in the bottom of the bin. This will give a barrier between the frozen ground and the cats lying inside.
- Place either shredded up newspaper or a soft blanket or towel on top of the styrofoam that you just placed in the bottom of the bin. This will provide some more warmth and something soft to lie on besides the Styrofoam.
- Cut some strips of Styrofoam to fit the width of the storage bin. They will fit snugly as you do not want them to fall as soon as you put the lid on. Once again this will add a barrier between any weather that may accumulate on the cat shelter.
- Snap the lid back on top of the storage container.
- Place the storage shelter for the kitty cats in a place that gets sun but is not out in the open. Stray cats may not use the cat shelter if it is placed too much in the open.