Shelter for Smokey part 2

[ThreeCatzGirl]

Hello,

As you know...i have 2 semi feral cats. Smokey & baby grey.

They come to my house every day for food and water. On my front porch i have a little house for them> http://www.petmate.com/wp-content/up...red_xsmall.jpg I have a bed inside it. Its one of those winter beds that keeps them warm while they sit on it. But since its outside in the cold air....how do i go about keeping it insulated. I want to put something on the roof of the house to keep the cold air off and something on the inside to keep them warm.

Any ideas? In the picture you can see that the top comes off. So it has to be something easy i can put on the top for the winter and take off for the summer time.

I put some hay inside the house for them to lay down in. But i really wonder if its keeping them warm.

Since its on my front porch..in the winter time it doesnt get the morning sun. So its pretty cold then. At night too its really cold. So the roof of the house is cold. I put the cat house on an angle so it kind of faces my house so the wind wont blow inside.

So any ideas to keep the house warm would be great.

Thanks

[BotanyBlack]

what are the dimensions on that? If you can go to walmart or other big store. buy a plastic storage bin a few inches smaller..(or larger if its a small house) and cut a hole in one end for them to be able to enter, nest them together with several inches of straw between. this way you can remove it when the weather is warmer. did a quick search. and found one somewhat like I have seen made with 2 bins.. but gives you the idea.

http://www.spayandstay.org/wintershelter.htm

[tghsmith]

placing the entire unit on a piece of insulation foam(styrafoam,celotex) will help with the conductive loss through the base. covering with carpet , blankets will work.. putting it in a cardboard box a few inches bigger all around (filling the airspace with straw) can work cheaply,, adding a door flap if one isn't there will help,

[Whaler]

i have used a couple of different things for my guys.

i purchased some of the feral villas for option one. they are very nicely constructed and give protection from other animals. the concern i had was that due to the way the cat has to into the second floor i worried that some of my crew might be leery of them.

the second sleeping option i give them is the same idea as the one BotanyBlack linked, the rubbermaid style tub. i used 27 gallon tubs and insulated them with two different types of insulation. the first two layers were rigid foam sheathing

i then used a backpacking sleeping pad as the next layer

i first glued the two layers of sheathing together then glued the pad (metalized side out of course) to the double sheathing. by doing this for all six surfaces (walls, floor and ceiling) it allows me to not have to secure the insulation to the tub. it is a lot easier to clean it come springtime. the sleeping pad is nice and soft for them to sleep on as well. i then stuffed them with straw for even more insulation and softness/comfort. i didn't use the "conduit style" entrance, just a +/- 7" cut out.

i then built 3' x 2' x 2' "cubes" out of plywood to put the tubs in. this way they don't have rain or snow getting in the tubs. i also spaced the "cubes" a couple of feet apart (facing each other) and covered the open gap with pallets and a tarp. this way they have a little area where they can sit up and stretch out without getting wet during rain or snow. additionally i place them on top of pallets so they would have airflow underneath.

my original 2 tub/cube houses

i have since modified the layout by putting the other two "cubes"next to these.