Two of our cats, Rusty and Dusty, are strictly outdoor cats. They showed up with their mother Chloe not long after we moved in more than eight years ago, but the two of them have probably spent a total of about two minutes in the house since then. They used to stay in the garage, but now when Sylvester and Smokey go out for the night, they chase them out of the garage. When the two kitty terrorists are inside, Rusty and Dusty sometimes come into the garage, especially if we have driven the car somewhere and the engine is still warm. Here’s Rusty soaking up a little warmth Thursday night.
Rusty hangin’ on the hood
The car won’t stay warm long. The big winter storm that’s heading for the East Coast is also going to bring us the coldest weather we’ve had in a long time. It’s supposed to go down to 21 tonight, although Mark says if it’s calm tonight it might not get that cold up here.
Rusty will stay in the cathouse Mark built for them. It’s a pretty nice house. It has two stories with sheltered entrances, and cedar shavings to keep them warm. We have seen both Rusty and Dusty coming out of the house, but we think sometimes Dusty sleeps in a culvert. I hope he doesn’t do that tonight.
UPDATE by Mark — I think Rusty spent the night in the garage in a piece of rolled-up foam rubber. That was probably a good thing, because with the wind, our low was lower than the official for Rome. We saw 13 15 (I rechecked the low) on our outdoor thermometer this morning. It was about 28 in the garage. I’m not sure the thermometer is right. I’m in the process of replacing our old thermometer, and I left the outdoor sensor on the front walk railing, exposed to the night sky. That might have allowed it to cool to a lower temperature than the actual air temperature, although the wind should have ameliorated the radiative cooling effect. I need to put it under the walk where I think it will get a more reliable temperature. On the other hand, even once the sun came up, the temperature seemed to stall at about 17, which is still lower than the official low.
We reached our high for the day at 28.
Hope all the kitty cats stay warm tonight. The cathouse sounds like a wonderful shelter.
Robin Andrea — It’s supposed to be warmer tonight, but even colder early next week. I think Leah will want to let the terrorist twins stay in on the very cold night we’re expecting, so maybe Rusty and Dusty can stay in the garage.
Mark: We have friends who actually have a HEATED cat house for their outdoor cats. If your outdoor cats hear about this, you’ll have a new project on your hands.
Scott — I’ve heard of such a thing, but with the weird ways our cats behave, I’m not sure how they would react to a heated cathouse. Maybe sleep on the roof like Snoopy. On the other hand, with a predicted low of about 7 Monday night, they might figure it out.