[Straysmommy]

Somehow this topic doesn't seem to fit in the Health and Nutrition forum, as I'm talking more about comfortable feeling than health. My question is: do cats generally feel colder or hotter than us? When I started feeling hot lately, I removed all their fleece blankets and gave them cooler places to sleep. Now I wonder if cats prefer to feel warmer than we do...

 

[KittehLuv'n]

Interesting question. I don't have a clue as to the answer, but I do have one cat that loves to lay on the heat registers or in the sun spot in the living room. It gets pretty hot in those places and he seems to love it.

 

[marie73]

All I know is my cats make me crazy on this subject. In the winter, sometimes they'll choose the coldest place to hang out, and in the summer, they'll lie in some of the warmest places.

 

[catloverami]

I think it depends on their coat. A longhair cat will often get too warm sitting on a lap for a long time whereas my Devons with their very short coat will and especially hairless Sphynx, and seek out heat registers and warmth. A cat's body temp is warmer than ours and they can tolerate more heat than we can. It also depends on the season in temperate climates where cats grow a heavier coat, especially if they are outdoors a lot, but even indoor cats grow a heavier coat in winter than summer. So it just depends.....

 

[Milky's Mammy]

Truely a good question, one I've been wondring about a lot myself.

In the winter, sometimes they'll choose the coldest place to hang out, and in the summer, they'll lie in some of the warmest places.

Milky does the same thing. We have laid out warm fleece blankets and towels for him during winter but he prefered sleeping on the cold window sill or on the floor. now it's getting pretty hot, almost 30 degrees Celcius and he's sleeping on the carpet or in our bed.... So far we've only found him sleeping on the window sill once this past week when it was hot. Cats are the strangest creatures, in a good way!! :razz:

 

[Mhelmandollar]

My long hair cat will sleep right in front of the fire place in the winter, his fur will be very warm (almost hot) to the touch. I'll pick him up and move him and he will go back to the fireplace.

 

[Straysmommy]

F/3, have you watched the Tom and Jerry episode on this? It's the best I've seen! Watch till the end!

 

[Mhelmandollar]

F/3, have you watched the Tom and Jerry episode on this? It's the best I've seen! Watch till the end!

Tom & Jerry heavenly Puss - YouTube

That was cute,

 

[Krista2882]

My Callie prefers it warm. She follows the sun around the house all day, lying in the spot where it's shining through the windows or skylights, and in the winter she sits on this piece of electronic equipment that's always warm.

 

[Goldtanker]

Yesterday it was 41 degrees and sunny. Midnight, the wild cat, leaves his bed in the garage to lay outside on the concrete slab on the South side of the garage to cool off. Go figure.

 

[maggie23]

same story here

Angel sometimes loves to hang out in the fort we made for her right in front of the heat register. just a couple of dining room chairs with pillows on the sides to trap all the heat in there for her and she loves it. other times, if we turn the heat up just 2 degrees, we can "smoke" her out. heh heh.

at night, though, she apparently likes it cooler like us. she might start out on her little heating pad, but she invariably moves off of it within 20 minutes to lay on the cooler part of the blanket.

 

[Nora B]

This is a hard one and believe it or not there has actually been research done in this area. I cannot remember what exactly I was reading but a few facts stick out:
-an adult cat has a normal body temp that is between 100 & 101.5
-heart rates in domesticated cats vary widely , by more than 30 beats per min while resting and the heart rate can have everything to do with a particular cats's behavior, build, dietary needs metabolism, personality etc
- as desert dwellers cats don't typically become uncomfortable with heat until long after we do (long haired purebred cats are surely exceptions
-cats lack circadian rhythyms, they are neither diurnal or nocturnal and as such are equally as tolerant of temp changes at night and day unlike humans
-kittens cannot regulate body temps or tolerate cold at all and I keep orphans in the 90's for the first 2 weeks andd gradually move down to the 70's


so I have no answers but apparently enough people with education and funding are out there doing research that we should be able to figure out the answer.....

 

[dweamgoil]

This is a hard one and believe it or not there has actually been research done in this area. I cannot remember what exactly I was reading but a few facts stick out:
-an adult cat has a normal body temp that is between 100 & 101.5
-heart rates in domesticated cats vary widely , by more than 30 beats per min while resting and the heart rate can have everything to do with a particular cats's behavior, build, dietary needs metabolism, personality etc
- as desert dwellers cats don't typically become uncomfortable with heat until long after we do (long haired purebred cats are surely exceptions
-cats lack circadian rhythyms, they are neither diurnal or nocturnal and as such are equally as tolerant of temp changes at night and day unlike humans
-kittens cannot regulate body temps or tolerate cold at all and I keep orphans in the 90's for the first 2 weeks andd gradually move down to the 70's


so I have no answers but apparently enough people with education and funding are out there doing research that we should be able to figure out the answer.....

I was going to mention some of these, but I think that since cats have been around humans for so many generations and have adapted to the comforts of modern conveniences, and such, they are probably pretty close to being comparable to us. And yes, I do think coat length does factor into this as well. I think at this point, there is no standard for them as there was when they were closer to the wild, but like us, it most likely depends largely on preference.

 

[Goldtanker]

I have a Farm Innovators heating pad in the inside the garage insulated house for Midnight, the wild cat. It is on the bottom of the fleece filled house with a space that allows him to lay directly on it with most of his body. (He has a separate round bed in the garage also for use when it is not so cold) When it is 10 to 30+ below zero outside he lays right on it. Supposedly it is 102 degrees. He loves it. BUT - he still leaves the safety and warmth of the garage in below zero weather and roams the snow covered woods for hours. I'm amazed that a cat could stand that kind of cold.

 

[MowMow]

BUT - he still leaves the safety and warmth of the garage in below zero weather and roams the snow covered woods for hours.

I say a few miles away he has a house and a little girl that belong to him. He leaves you and heads there to snuggle in warm soft beds with his kid and just hangs out at your place with the wildlife acting like a tough guy.

I bet she dresses him in doll clothes too and makes him ride in a baby carriage when he's home.

 

[Goldtanker]

I was trying not to think about that.

 

[sandyrivers]

Cats and temperature

Hi,

From my experience...

Well, I live in Montreal, and winters can get quite cold here, of course, i heat my house, but I try to keep the temperature around 65F (22celcius) in the winter, time at which my cats ALL curl up on my bed in what I call the ''shrimp position'', they lay there in little groups of 3 or 4 and when I get in bed, they come to sleep on me, beside me and anywhere they can find warmth!

In the summer, as I do not have air conditioner, they really like to lay in front of the fan. They will lay there, stretched out all their length and enjoy the fresh wind.
They also seem to find the perfect places in the house where there is a ''draft'', usually the hallway, and will lay there on the hardwood floor quite content!

On really hot days, when we get a ''heatwave'', their favorite place is on some towels that I wet and wring and put in front of the fans. I guess they keep cool that way.

My boy Gino, who is the only long haired cat I have usually gets a shave at the end of May, he likes to lay in the bathtub, as well as the bathroom and kitchen sink, where it's nice and cool.
My girl Airell (Gino's sister),enjoys coming in the bathtub or shower with me in the summer (she never does this at any other time of the year).She simply hops in the tub and swims around for a bit and then goes to lay in front of the fan. Or she will come in the shower with me, sit there and step out when she is done! (of course, I never use soap when she is in there with me). Airell is the only cat I have who truly enjoys water.

So I guess that yes, my cats feel the temperature. But they seem to be bothered more by the hot weather than by the cold weather.

sandyrivers

 

[sandyrivers]

Cats and temperature

Hi,

From my experience...

Well, I live in Montreal, and winters can get quite cold here, of course, i heat my house, but I try to keep the temperature around 70F (20 celcius) in the winter, time at which my cats ALL curl up on my bed in what I call the ''shrimp position'', they lay there in little groups of 3 or 4 and when I get in bed, they come to sleep on me, beside me and anywhere they can find warmth!

In the summer, as I do not have air conditioner, they really like to lay in front of the fan. They will lay there, stretched out all their length and enjoy the fresh wind.
They also seem to find the perfect places in the house where there is a ''draft'', usually the hallway, and will lay there on the hardwood floor quite content!

On really hot days, when we get a ''heatwave'', their favorite place is on some towels that I wet and wring and put in front of the fans. I guess they keep cool that way.

My boy Gino, who is the only long haired cat I have usually gets a shave at the end of May, he likes to lay in the bathtub, as well as the bathroom and kitchen sink, where it's nice and cool.
My girl Airell (Gino's sister),enjoys coming in the bathtub or shower with me in the summer (she never does this at any other time of the year).She simply hops in the tub and swims around for a bit and then goes to lay in front of the fan. Or she will come in the shower with me, sit there and step out when she is done! (of course, I never use soap when she is in there with me). Airell is the only cat I have who truly enjoys water.

So I guess that yes, my cats feel the temperature. But they seem to be bothered more by the hot weather than by the cold weather.

sandyrivers