This past week most of the country fought freezing temperatures during one of the toughest winter storms in years for those in the south. (Backstory). I live with my sister, and both of us are disabled and barely survive on our income and aren’t qualified for any type of assistance, so our income is just enough to survive and make sure we do not starve. Our home is falling apart, and a lot of the cold air entered our house, but we did have heat, so we were safe. However, We have about 10-15 stray cats around our home, and I had to figure out how to keep them safe with a budget of 0$ and use just what we had around the house and with straw and coolers that were donated. The cats love me to death because I feed them, but only 2 let me pet them when they are in a good mood but I had to keep them safe. So here is what I did, and I am happy to say that they were all safe and warm and very thankful and on top of these shelters I had cut a cat door size hole into the garage and we also helped keep 2 opossums a family of skunk and a armadillo all safe from the weather. I am also thankful to my family and friends who know my heart and find stuff that people are throwing away that I can use for my pets and the strays because without that I would’ve never had the big kennel to keep them safe.
The first thing I did was buy an extreme weather grade Duct Tape and closed off all the air vents around the top and bottom of the dog kennel and then around the sides where the top and bottom connect.
Using a wire cutter, cut a small hole into the door and sanded down the rough edges. Cats are good at squeezing through small spaces, and the door had to be big enough for them to get in but not so big that a lot of cold air could get in.
Then I got a lid from an old storage box and cut a hole to the best of my ability to match the one I cut in the door and sanded down the plastic edges, and then punched holes and secured with zip ties.
I forgot an image of the blocks I used to lift them off the ground because I read that keeps them warmer. I put two old sheets over the kennel and secured them under the shelter.
I added my dog's old bed for the first layer.
Then I added an old comforter.
Finally, I put the straw and lay it at different levels. The kennel was made for extra large dogs so I had plenty of room for several cats.
I added a little dazzle to attract the cats.
I secured a tarp over the entire kennel with a ratchet strap and tied a shoestring from a hole in the front of the tarp, and tied it to the mirror of my cat that I had parked at an angle to block the wind.
I also made two of these shelters from old ice chests that people donated. They were both raised off the ground and given a few layers before adding straw.