Another Question About Kittens!

There are little electric heaters that work just fine for keeping small sections of a room warm. The kittens will get closer if they are cold or move farther if they get to hot. You can get them almost anywhere, but then they could stay in the garage.

Cats can adapt to the weather. The garage should be enough shelter in the winter. Just make them a nice warm nest out of rags, etc. They may find their own warm spots, though. Another alternative would be to get them a little house and wire it with a light bulb to give added warmth. Here, again, cats being independant as they are, they might or might not use it!

Good luck with your dilemma and I mean this as no disrespect to you, but to me the main lesson of this story is SPAY AND NEUTER YOUR CATS!!!!! If a family decides to adopt a kitten, go get one at the shelter. It is just irresponsible to allow your cat to have kittens - there are way too many cats with no home and too many getting euthanized. Sorry, it had to be said.

Hi C.,

The most fair thing to the kitties is to find them a new home. Yes, they can adapapt and yes you can make it work, but when cats live outside they tned to wander off and nver come home...in other words they become a meal for a predator...especially living in the foothills. We had a acat that we tried to accomodate for years and I finally got to the point that I knew I had to give her away. She lives with a friend now and LOVES it and they love her. I truly feel this was the best thing to do for our family and the cat. Is a pet really a family pet if it has to live outside and only come in on occasion and then you have to worry about them peeing on things or have your sons allergies flare up. Perhaps someone you know would like to give them a home and then you can still visit them. I sent out a mass email to everyone I knew and that is how we found a home for our cat.

Hope this helps.
R. :-)

I had an indoor/outdoor cat growing up. She did fine in the winters outside in the garage (Michigan winters!). We would let her come in and roam sometimes, but most of the time, she was outside. Those little cat houses are great in the garage and they warm the air with their body heat. She also loved the basement. . . do you have a basement that you could utilize in the winter when it is really cold out?

We've had both indoor and outdoor cats with no problems. As far as allergies go, it is cat saliva that is the biggest problem, which is transferrable. As long as someone is having contact with the cats, your son will be exposed to the allergen. It will help if he bathes any time he, or someone he's come onto contact with, has been with the cats.

My great uncle is a vet & I love cats.(1)Get the kittens neutered.
(2)All kittens are cute --- but they all turn into cats. I would suggest just keeping one kitten and getting rid of the rest.
(3)Animals need protection from the elements. They don't necessarily need to be in the house, but they need to be able to get out of the weather --- whether it be rain, heat, snow, or whatever.
(4)Male cats tend to have better personalities --- but they also piss all over the place. Female cats tend to be more high maintenance in personality --- but cleaner.
(5)The kittens need to be potty trained. Cat urine smell is hard to get out.
You know the best answer for your family.

I'll be the dissenter: disease and predators run rampant outside and you are putting your kitties in serious danger having them live out doors. Coyotes, foxes and other animals love feline for dinner. Last summer when walking along part of the greenbelt we found a fox den and guess what was outside? A collection of the back paws of several kitties. Not kidding. Evidently there isn't much meat on the back paws.

If you can't give the cats a warm, loving family home give them to someone who can.

My in-laws, who live out of city limits by several miles, had an outdoor cat for 14 years. The cat slept in an unheated tack shed and only came to the door when a blizzard was approaching but still had to be coaxed into the house. She also meowed for food during severe droughts, but otherwise she left rodents on the steps routinely and was only seen once a week. Good life to your outside kitties!

Just put a cat door on the back door to the garage. That way they can come and go as they need to. We've had a cat door/small dog door in our house for about 10 years now and love not having to worry about the cats.

First of all, they are just fine outside, as long as you make sure they are vaccinated yearly and dewormed at least every couple of months. If they turn out to be mousers, then they should really be dewormed monthly.
Second, I have been a vet tech for 10 years, and the only "allergy reducing" food I know of doesn't reduce a persons allergy to the cat, it reduces a cat allergic reaction to foods. allergies are to the pet dander, which is created when the cat cleans themself. The saliva dries out the skin, and the skin flakes off, like dandruff.

C.,
During the winter the garage is fine.
But if you have cats who wander your neighborhood, you need to get them their shots and make sure you keep up on that.
There are alot of diseases out there that they can bring back to your family.
We have two indoor cats, and they are fine.
If you brush then regularly it will help with your sons allergies also.
But don't worry about them in the winter, your garage will be fine for them. They will find a warm place to curl up.
If you are too bothered by the thought, put a couple of old blankets out there that they can crawl under, into and whatever.
Good luck

Kitties are very durable. They get really thick coats of fur during the winter time. What we did when we put our cat as an outside kitty was to get him a small dog doghouse, then we put a blanket in the bottom of it. The doghouse in insulated and so it keeps them warm. Our cat does not want to come in and stay in all night so he really likes the outdoor doghouse. Another thing you might do is put a small doggie door in your door from the garage to the house and so they have the option of coming in if they so choose. Good luck. Your kitties will be great!

C.,
Cats handle the outdoors fairly well in the winter. I grew up on a farm and my father didn't allow any animals in the house. The cats did fine outside. As long as they have the garage for a shelter in the winter for like blizards an severe cold they should be just fine.
Good Luck
E.

Growing up we always had outdoor cats because my mother had allergies to them and they never had problems with it. Wyoming winters aren't that mild and sure we lost a few, but we always felt like that was a part of life. If you lose them, your going to have to teach the kids about life and death, but they will die sooner or later. I know that sounds mean, but it is a fact of life. We had a little wood box that had a hole big enough for the cats to get into it and then lined it with a soft blanket. We actually had several sets of kittens in that box too. Cats are animals that tend to want to wander anyway, and I have found if you always have food and water, they will come home. Good luck, but I wouldn't worry about the cats being outside. If you are worried about them having kittens later----have them fixed before sending them out, it won't hurt them.

Cats adjust to their enviroment. If you are concerned about them in the winter. You can keep the same routine just mke sure you shovel the snow to their favorite places. There are pet heating pads you can use to make a warm bed for them in the garage. There is no reason to have to bring them in. Just remember to keep the water from freezing.

You could take your kids in for testing. I had two adorable cats, Mazzie and Grace, and I had to give them up when my son tested positive for being allergic. Both my husband and I cried when we returned them to the pet store. As far as I know they have been adopted. You could buy a hepa filter if you want to keep them. Yes, your children's health is more important than keeping them, but I understand that you don't want to jump to conclusions either. I was allergic to the cats that we had as well and I would cough so hard it sounded like a dog barking!! I think my nose was often stuffy as well; just something to think about.

When we inherited an older, outdoor only kitty because the neighbors passed away, my husband built a foam house with a removable lid. We placed one of the little pet heaters inside it and covered it with an old towel (which we could take out from the top and wash) and that cat loved it for the two years we had him. We live in MT and winters can be harsh, but it was always snug in there. You could keep your kitties in the garage without the foam house if you just had that plug-in heater pad where they could lie on it when they needed to. Get them at the pet store.