Kittens, French doors, hot summer

[Imchlibob]

So excited yesterday to have our home visit from our local cat rescue place yesterday. The lady who visited was very positive and said they currently have 3 litters who have been born in the last 3-4 weeks and so we could have kittens in 5-6 weeks time.

We have been sadly without cats for the last couple of years since our last elderly gentleman died, and are so looking forward to having fluffballs causing chaos.

It has just occurred to me though that we are going to have serious problems over the summer. In hot weather this house is like a sauna and you can only survive by having lots and lots of open windows. How can we manage the coming summer with kittens who won't be allowed outside till November?

There will be no way of keeping kittens away from open windows and doors - it's all very open-plan, the only bit they could be shut into would be the downstairs loo which would be crazy.

Someone else must have had this problem before. Any advice or recommendations? Presumably cat-proof barriers exist but in my experience they can get over/under/around pretty much anything!

I’d get a crate and pop them in there to have some open window time during the day but obviously you cant do that all day. Get some fans?

Adopt a slightly older cat?

Why wouldn't they be allowed out until November?

As PP said get a big dog crate.

No solutions but sympathies, we spent a hot summer with a new rescue, it wasn't much fun. Used to leave the patio doors open a crack and she'd stick her nose through as far as it would go! You can buy mesh for windows but we never tried it. I think as they are kittens the idea of a big crate is a good one so you can safely open the doors for a while.

I think a dog crate would be cruel if the house is " like a sauna".
I have two cats and a house that is warm in summer.
They tend to stay indoors when it is really warm, and are especially good at finding places in the house that are cool. They choose certain spots .type of flooring and are good at keeping cool even in hot weather.
To keep a kitten in a crate in a warm house is not ideal.

Do what the Aussies do, all windows shut, vents closed, curtains shut. It keeps the heat out.

If you open the loft hatch it lets heat rise, we do it every summer.

Dh is putting mirror reflective adhesive foil on our back door on the outside of our back door to keep it cool for the cat in summer. I used cardboard one summer and it made a huge difference.

@speakout we will be adopting young kittens only just weaned - they won't be allowed outside till 6 months old - of course I counted 6 months from now so it's actually October as they have already been born. They need to have been neutered and to have had all their vaccinations before going outside - no way can that happen before July/August.

@knockknock Not going to adopt older cats. Have done that the last couple of times. We really want actual kittens this time.

@fluffycloud I guess Australian houses are designed with good insulation against hot weather. This one isn't. Opening the loft hatch doesn't help much - the loft space is even hotter during a heatwave - I literally can't breathe up there it's so hot. Although technically heat rises you can't make heat flow from a colder to a hotter.

Yes we already have fans. Still need all the doors and windows open or we are just blowing warm air around.

No I agree crating an energetic 2-3 month old kitten isn't fair.

Argh I am always irritated by mn threads where someone asks for advice and then is negative about all the responses, and now I'm doing it myself. Sorry! I really do appreciate your taking the time to respond. Even though we don't have a solution yet it is helping me to understand the shape of the problem.

Could you fit mesh screening to a couple of windows?

Oops, already suggested.

Why won't they be allowed out until 6 months old?

This is our solution for our indoor cats - my husband built a cage over the French doors so they can be open and the cats go in and out, but can’t get out of the cage

Wait until the Autumn before getting a kitten.

Why not wait until after the summer? We had the same dilemma but waited until September to get our kittens. It also meant we could have a summer holiday without sorting out care for them.

Wait until the Autumn before getting a kitten.

I agree.
OP your situation is not ideal for a kitten. As much as you would like a " fluffball" this may not be in the animal;'s best interest at this time.

I think you have to wait.

Indoor only cats here. I'm lucky in that I have an "air lock" type system for the doors - have a porch at the front with it's own door, and a conservatory at the back that's accessed via the old back door in the kitchen. I have Flat Cats over a number of windows, and catproof netting across the french doors in the living room, so I get plenty of fresh air & breezes in the house without the cats getting out .

I just googled ‘Cat window guard’ and there seem to be a few mesh type solutions that you can buy.

Also lots of DIY ideas in pet forums
Eg this one (a bit old but still relevant):
www.petforums.co.uk/threads/window-guards.105800/

We had exactly the same issue as we got our cats just before a heatwave last year. They were older but the rescue had messed up their injections so we had to start again.

How about something like this? It has ice packs in it so cools the air rather than just moving it around

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00Q71PSVC/ref=mpssa111?ie=UTF8&qid=1526718192&sr=8-1-spons&pi=ACSX2366SY340QL65&keywords=air+cooler&psc=1

This is why I'm glad we got an autumn kitten a few years ago. By the time he was neutered and ready to go outside, it was spring!

I like the outside 'cage' attachment to the house idea. Those are fantastic!

You can get Flat Cats mesh screens made to measure for your windows. They are recommended for upstairs windows anyway, cats can seriously hurt themselves if they jump or fall from a first floor window.

And yes perhaps building a catio in the garden in front of the French doors would be an option? It's far safer for them to have a contained outdoor area for the first 10 months to a year of their life anyway rather than going out unsupervised.

Be very careful to get them neutered as soon as possible especially if you're getting female kittens; when they go into season for the first time they will do absolutely everything to try and escape.

We had our boy at the end of July, four years ago. We coped with windows open just a couple of inches and obviously keeping a very close eye on him, and fans. Some windows, like in the bathroom, have a push out but that opens at the top so that was fine.
We did let him out before six months, probably at about four months, but the first few weeks he didn’t really go out if the garden.

Out of the garden

they can be neutered below 6 months, phone around to find a vet that will do it.

Get mesh to put over doors and windows - like the fly screens they have in Australia.

I previously lived in a flat with two cats and we just did that. We fitted the mesh so it could be opened/closed like a door so we could open and close the windows easily.

Worked really well but our ginger cat liked to fly hunt and got himself caught in it more than once!