Knowing how to keep outdoor cats warm in winter can make a life-saving difference for feral and stray cats. In an ideal world, all cats would live in a loving, warm, dry home with plenty of food and protection from harm. Unfortunately, the reality is that there are an astounding number of feral cats in the United States.
These cats live outdoors in all weather extremes and must fend for themselves to meet their basic needs. In some locations and seasons, survival can be particularly challenging, and these cats need our help. If you live in an area with a feral cat colony or occasionally see stray cats, this guide will teach you how to keep outdoor cats warm in winter and keep them full and safe all season long.
Helping stray cats endure the winter involves meeting their most basic needs: food, water, and warm, dry shelter.
Providing a food and water source:
Cats have higher energy requirements during the winter to stay warm, so they need more food than in the summer. Although dry food is easy to provide and won’t freeze, it takes more time and energy to digest. The extra calories spent on digestion could instead help keep the cat warm. Wet food is a great alternative—it’s easier to digest, highly palatable, and provides some hydration.
To prevent wet food from freezing:
- Use heated bowls or insulated bowls (you can DIY by spraying foam insulation around a plastic bowl).
- Place bowls on heated mats or in sunny spots.
- Build a feeding station to protect food from the elements. Alley Cat Allies offers detailed instructions for creating one: Build a Feeding Station | Alley Cat Allies.
Similarly, steps should be taken to ensure outdoor cats have access to non-frozen water. Heated or insulated water bowls and sunny placement can help prevent freezing.
Providing warm, dry, and safe shelter:
A warm, dry shelter is essential to keep outdoor cats warm in winter. Here are some key tips to keep in mind when building one:
- Ideally, the shelter should be situated in an area protected from the wind that sees a fair amount of midday sun. Shelters should be located away from major traffic and dogs or predators.
- Cat shelters should be small enough to keep the cat warm using its own body heat.
- Raise the shelter off the ground (on a bed of straw) to help prevent rain and snow from getting into the shelter.
- Anchor the shelter to the ground to prevent the bed from blowing away.
- Straw is the best material for cat shelter bedding. Blankets and paper products are more likely to absorb water, potentially making a frozen mess for the kitties to sleep in.
- Mylar blankets may be used in a shelter to reflect body heat. Mylar will not absorb water.
- If there are large numbers of cats seeking shelter, it is better to make numerous small shelters than one large one, again due to the fact that smaller spaces warm more quickly.
- After a snowstorm, check your shelters to make sure cats are not trapped inside due to the snow.
- Cat shelters do not need to be expensive. DIY shelters can be just as effective as premanufactured shelters.
Alley Cat Allies has some fantastic DIY shelter ideas as well as suggestions for premanufactured units if you prefer: https://www.alleycat.org/resources/feral-cat-shelter-options-gallery/
From all of us at Longwood Veterinary Center, thank you for taking the time and energy to learn how to keep outdoor cats warm in winter. Your local stray and feral cat community will thank you for making their lives a little easier during the harshest months of the year.
Corrina Snook Parsons VMD, DACVIM
