We have 2 cats: Zim and Jack Pumpkinhead. Sadly, some of our family developed cat allergies so the kitties got demoted to permanent outside status. Jack doesn’t mind being outside because he’s a former stray who has never been inside although he knows that inside is where the cat food lives. Zim is unhappy about losing her place on the couch.
For winter Ken built them heated condos that work on the EZ Bake Oven theory. The cats step on a false floor, light bulbs come on and the condos heat up. Now that the kitties are older they love the condos and barely even go off the porch.
I love Jack and Zim. I spoil them and I worry about them. Last winter was really cold and I lobbied to bring them inside when the temperature dropped below zero. This was unpopular. There were unhappy family discussions. To satisfy me on a night when it was 15 below, Ken took our weather station gauge and stuck it in a cat filled condo to check the temperature.
We keep our house between 64 and 68 degrees so that was my goal for the kitties. Both cats were in the same condo during this experiment and Ken made sure they weren’t lying on the gauge. In about 5 minutes the gauge hit 65 degrees. Perfect.
I felt better knowing they were as warm as we were. When I checked the gauge a half hour later, the temp was 76 degrees. Wow, toasty kitties. I forgot about this experiment for a while and the next time I looked it was 82 degrees in the condo! It’s like the cats were on the beach in Key West. I went out absolutely sure one of them was on top of the gauge but no. They were snuggled together and I was ready to get in with them.
I checked a few more times and the temp leveled off at around 87 degrees. Jack got out at one point and the temp dropped to 79 but still: a 2 cat night is a warm and wonderful thing.
I don’t worry about the kitties getting cold any more. They’re warm, if sometimes rumpled and sweaty when they get out for dinner. They get lots of water, food, hugs, and snuggles. I’m scheming how to get in with them when the temp drops below zero. Then I can pretend I’m on the beach at Key West too.
I grew up with a variety of cats, dogs, frogs, snakes and hamsters. Loved them all but the cats and dogs were the ones that seemed to love me back. Our pets were always inside critters though except my Dad’s bird dogs. More on that coming up. Our pets say a lot about us and how we see the world. Leave me a comment and let me know about your favorite pet. I love hearing about this stuff from you!
