Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/11/16/diy-feral-cat-shelters-from-c.html
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Yay! Kitties inna Kooler!
This will keep them fresh while you fire up the BBQ grill.
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Now you’re in for it.
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I wonder if cats would understand the status of a Yeti cooler.
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It would be easy to add a locking cap to the PVC openings, so you can take the cats in for spaying/neutering
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I really like that design. So simple. All you need is a short length of PVC pipe, an optional divider, some glue, and an old cooler. Plus whatever that hanging stuff is.
Probably takes all of 15 minutes to build and costs only a little more than whatever the cooler costs.
Plus you can just flip the bottom open to clean it, and cleaning is as simple as hosing it out.
One interesting detail is how he puts two doors on it. Will cats reject a house if there is no secondary escape?
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I think not. I have seen some other diy ones where you use 2 storage bins (one just a bit smaller than the other) with hay/newspaper as insulation between them and only one hole cut out in each bin.
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I’ve used a large rubbermaid tub, lined with styrofoam insulation, and foam to fill in the gaps. Not as elegant as this, but warm, and waterproof.
“Cat Man Chris” has a simple variation using an already constructed styrofoam cooler. I think I’d add more insulation though
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We have too many song birds anyway.
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If these shelters double as traps so the cats can be brought in to be spayed/neutered it would be a positive addition.
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Friendly reminder: Stray cats are a destructive invasive species that have been credited with declining populations of many threatened birds, insects, amphibians, and reptiles. Kindness shouldn’t be about making yourself feel warm and fuzzy. It should be about about actually helping.
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So folk please ensure your pets are spayed and keep them indoors at night.
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Also if you’re sheltering strays you should be willing to take them to a spay/neuter program.
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Each divided side has 2 doors – 1 in front, 1 on the side.
If you’re spaying and neutering, though, you’re actually reducing the spread of the invasive species. They’ll crowd out fertile cats and maintain their territories against others, while not increasing the overall population. After all, they don’t have to spend energy on gestation or raising the young.
Spay/neuter, keep current ferals alive.
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Wouldn’t these shelters be readily commandeered by raccoons and the like?
Your argument has 2 adequate openings available to it and you need to consider laughing at my trying to fit the PVC pipes into a concept of a cow or barn cooler that was somehow ubiquitous (instead of being a human insulated box for food called a ‘cooler.’)
Great cats sized coolers only! Wakanda cats For…
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