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Original poster

Anyone with cats here.

45 replies

Dontgiveamonkeys1350 · 27/10/2018 16:25

I have a question. How much cold do they feel.

Let me start by saying. I’m a fairly new cat owner. I didn’t have him originally. He is a cat that decides he likes our house better. And the owner was fine with him living with me as she had got another cat and they didn’t get on. I love him very much.
He is very much an outdoor cat. And no amount of trying to keep him inside is working. He howls and cries and claws at my face. We live in a tiny village with no traffic. So not worried about cars. I’m not happy about this. But it is how he was brought up. So I go with it.

He is however a great one for bringing in life mice at night. I have on occasion been sitting in bed and spotted mice running along the edge of my bedroom.

I have a cat flap that he uses. But it is in the conservatory.

My question is. If I shut the conservatory door at night. He can then come in and not get to the rest of the house and I can contain the mice in there.

But. I have no heating in there. As I don’t have a lot of knowledge on these things. Do u think it would be too cold for him to be in there at night.

OP posts:
Original poster
Dontgiveamonkeys1350 · 27/10/2018 16:26

Meant to say. The howling and clawing is at nighttime. Not during the day

OP posts:
JellieEllie · 27/10/2018 16:27

Most cats usually stay out all night and only come home in the morning for food and sleep so he should be fine being in a conservatory.
Just make sure you leave plenty of snuggly warm fleecy blankets in there that he can nestle down into on really cold nights.

FanSpamTastic · 27/10/2018 16:28

Pop a snug bed in there and he will be fine - something like this.

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Cats
Shinesweetfreedom · 27/10/2018 16:28

Can you change his outdoor times to earlier in the day.

Original poster
Dontgiveamonkeys1350 · 27/10/2018 16:32

Phew. I thought I would get flamed in here for asking the question. Thanks for the replies. I have bought him a snug house thing before. He wouldn’t go in it. Any cat bed or scratch post he will not go near. I just want to do what is best for him. But I really don’t want a house over run by mice.

When I’m in her sits at the window to be let in. But when I out he uses the cat flap. So I can keep the door shut then as well. I just had awful feelings of him shivering and being cold.

OP posts:
Puzzledandpissedoff · 27/10/2018 16:43

They're connoisseurs of comfort, and IME even an "outside cat" will make you pay if left somewhere chilly when the rest of the family's in the warmth Grin How about the kitchen - could you "isolate" that from the rest of the house for him to access?

I'm also a bit surprised about the mice in your bedroom; if he'd brought them in I'd expect him to chase or kill them, rather than leave them to run around?

BTW there's a great section called The Litter Tray on here - it's one of those listed under under "Pets" and might be useful for advice once he's made a complete slave of you!!

Pebblespony · 27/10/2018 16:45

We sometimes lock our guy in a freezing porch. He sleeps soundly.

Original poster
Dontgiveamonkeys1350 · 27/10/2018 16:45

He is rubbish. He gets the mice. And the leaves them. And then.... get this. He is scared of them and runs away. He bought in a half paralysed mouse yesterday. Which tried to run away from him. He then got scared and ran off. It would be easier if he was a normal cat and just killed them. I could cope with that.

OP posts:
SittHakim · 27/10/2018 16:47

We do exactly this and have a heated mat for our feline overlord to sleep on in cold weather- it's not a cat bed so she condescends to use it!

Ohyesiam · 27/10/2018 16:49

Hell be fine with a box and blanket . That changes a bit when they are elderly though, but he’ll tell you what he needs.

Original poster
Dontgiveamonkeys1350 · 27/10/2018 16:51

He does like a cardboard box. So I could do something with that. Thanks everyone

OP posts:
Ecofluffynanny · 27/10/2018 17:06

My beautiful boy will stay out all night in all kinds of weather...I don't have a cat flap unfortunately. If he's not in when I go to bed he stays out 🤷‍♀️. Cats are very resourceful. He's never wet or cold when I let him in, despite the weather, so he's clearly found somewhere warm to go at night (I suspect he sneaks in other peoples flaps 🤭).

SpottingTheZebras · 27/10/2018 17:11

Cats are very resourceful when it comes to finding comfort. You can get a heated blanket for the conservatory for really cold weather but he really will be fine - and he will undoubtably miaow and scrape at your door until you let him if he thinks otherwise.

Icequeen01 · 27/10/2018 17:14

I have two cats and they are always bringing in live mice. They start to play with them and the lucky ones manage to get under a piece of furniture and then my cats get bored. I cannot tell you how many times we have been sitting watching the TV and a mouse runs across the lounge. I'm not frightened of them but my 6'1" DH is petrified!! I have a humane mousetrap and usually manage to catch them overnight so I can return them to the fields.

You might fight that when it gets really cold your cat is more inclined to stay in. I think a snuggly cardboard box with lots of fleecy blankets will be fine.

ratspeaker · 27/10/2018 17:19

I disagree with Jellie, most cats do not stay out all night.

OP you could try putting a fleece blanket down in your conservatory. You can also get microwaveable heat pads that give out heat for 8-10 hours. ( SnuggleSafe are one brand) . Try putting one under the blanket and the cat should be warm for the night

Original poster
Dontgiveamonkeys1350 · 27/10/2018 17:23

I like the idea of the microwave heat thing s thanks I will look into that !!! I don’t like him being out all night. But I got to the point where he wouldn’t let me sleep. It’s hard to sleep when a cat is clawing ur eyes

OP posts:
ratspeaker · 27/10/2018 17:23

You can also buy fleecy igloos and other cat beds.
Though our cat prefers a cardboard box with an old sleeping bag in it. ( he claimed it as we were putting it out to the bin)

Puzzledandpissedoff · 27/10/2018 17:46

He gets the mice. And the leaves them. And then.... get this. He is scared of them and runs away

Love it!! Best hope he doesn't meet too many foxes on his nightly wanderings Wink

PMSwithacockinmydress · 27/10/2018 18:17

Surely most people don't have heating on during the night anyway? Why would it be colder in the conservatory than the rest of the house?
I think it sounds like a good idea, if you're sure there's nothing in there he could wreck out of protest Wink

@ratspeaker - Our dog took a liking to our sleeping bags on camping trips this year and I have a ripped one I was going to throw out. I hadn't even considered giving it to her Blush Thanks for the reminder.

Fluffycloudland77 · 27/10/2018 18:30

Cardboard box on its side, blanket, hot water bottle & a fleece draped over half the front.

They grow thicker coats if their let go get a bit cold in winter.

DisrespectfulAdultFemale · 27/10/2018 18:37

OP, you sound lovely so I would be surprised - and dismayed - if anyone flamed you for your quite reasonable question.

Some good suggestions here.

May your new feline overlord be with you for many years to come.

GarethSouthgatesWaistcoat · 27/10/2018 22:22

I inherited my feline overlord in similar circumstances from a couple of doors down! He'd grown up being allowed out whenever he pleased so no changing that (I tried). They didn't even have a cat flap, seemed to leave a kitchen window open overnight for him?!

I've never allowed my pets the run of the house overnight. This one wakes me up at 2/3/4am by pawing my face. Sorry I'm just not a fan! I'd rather any accidents were confined to the tiled kitchen floor and he has his cat flap, food/water and several beds in there too. The heating is off every night and he copes fine.

Mine has a variety of beds that he favours on a seasonal basis Grin I've had to sacrifice a fuzzy lounge cushion as his transitional bed (spring and autumn). He has a deeper, thicker one for winter (super cute!) and a flatter one for summer Grin
Spoiled!

It's pet week at Aldi at the moment - there's a few bargains on the website plus p&p. This one is similar to the winter bed mine uses:

here

Mine isn't keen on enclosed beds but high sides are tolerated. A cardboard box with a fuzzy insert (cushion, fleece whatever!) would definitely do the job.

Weezol · 27/10/2018 22:28

You'll soon realise that the words 'normal' and 'cat' don't really go together. They're all weird in their own way.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/the_litter_tray

VenusClapTrap · 27/10/2018 22:44

I feel your pain about the live mice thing. Mine does that. We didn’t have a rodent problem till furbrain here started bringing them into our bedroom at 3am and releasing them. I’m too much of a softy to limit her access but I completely understand why you want to do it. Ours has stopped the nocturnal hunting now it’s turned colder, thank god, but I’m sure it’ll start up again in the spring.

RandomMess · 27/10/2018 22:48

The best solution is actually to train him to be out in the day and in all night.

Just have a routine of feeding him his favourite food about 10pm then shut him in a room with a litter tray for the night. It will quickly become his new normal.

Most cats get ran over at night.

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