Winter 2016 Tags

Here are my 2016 Winter Tags featuring the beautiful artwork of Very Many©

Christmas and Winter Tags 2015 Part 4

Christmas and Winter Tags: Part 3

Featuring the beautiful artwork of Very Many© and Keith Garvey©

Christmas and Winter Tags 2015 Part 2

Here are some Winter and Christmas Tags I made.   Featuring the artwork of Very Many, Soul Designer and Keith Garvey!

Tiny Kitten Seeks Refuge Under Car Hood, Suffers Severe Injuries

While winter weather poses many threats to animals, perhaps one of the most serious dangers occurs when cats and other small animals seek warmth from the engines of parked cars. One such unlucky cat was Flapjack, a tiny kitten found on the side of the road in New York City last December. Fortunately, a Good Samaritan spotted Flapjack and brought him to the ASPCA Animal Hospital.

It was clear that Flapjack had been caught in a car’s engine. He was suffering from multiple serious injuries, including a fractured lower jaw, a severe tongue laceration and other wounds.

ASPCA Veterinarian Dr. Maren Krafchik says the hospital staff performed the first of three surgeries on Flapjack that same day, including using wire to repair his jaw and inserting a feeding tube to help him eat.

This brave little kitten is now happy and healthy with his foster parent, an ASPCA veterinary technician. He had his feeding tube removed and can now eat normally, and the swelling he experienced as a result of his injuries has gone down a great deal.

We’re so relieved that Flapjack has recovered, but his story provides a valuable lesson to anyone who drives during the winter months. According to Dr. Krafchik, there are multiple ways to prevent such injuries, including:

• knocking on the hood of your car
• honking your car’s horn
• checking under your car’s hood to ensure that a small animal is not inside.  If you start your car and hear something unusual, turn off your engine immediately.

To Keep your pets healthy and safe this winter, check out the full list of cold weather pet care tips, just CLICK HERE.

RESOURCE:  http://www.aspca.org/nyc/aspca-animal-hospital

Winter Care and Safety for Feral Cats *PLEASE SHARE ON ALL YOUR SOCIAL NETWORKS*

With much of the East Coast now buried in snow, you may be wondering how outdoor cats are surviving. In fact, even though stray and feral cats are at home outside, they can always use some extra help in cold or severe weather. Here’s what you can do to help them stay safe, warm and healthy during the winter months.

Car Safety: Before starting your car, give the hood a tap and check between the tires — cats will sometimes crawl into the engine or hide underneath the car for warmth. This is also the time of year for antifreeze, which often tastes irresistible to cats and other animals, but is toxic and deadly. Keep it out of reach and clean up any spills!

Shelter: Keep your feral cat colonies comfortable this winter by providing them with a shelter.  Dog houses can also do the trick with a few modifications.

• Whether you’re buying or building, make sure the door is no bigger than 6-8″ wide to keep out other animals. If you’re modifying a dog house, you’ll need to block off part of the door to make it cat-sized. A flap on the door will also keep snow, rain, and wind out.
• Insulate the shelter with straw to repel moisture and keep cats warm and dry (note: Make sure it’s straw, but not hay, because hay absorbs moisture). Blankets may seem like a good idea, but since they are also extremely absorbent, they make bad bedding.
• Cats will huddle together inside for warmth, so provide colonies with multiple shelters that can fit three to five cats each. If you are caring for fewer cats, use a smaller shelter so it takes less body heat to warm up.
• Elevate shelters off the ground and place them in quiet areas away from foot traffic.
• Remember to shovel out the cats when you’re shoveling your own driveway. Cats in shelters can get snowed in, so keep entrances clear and shovel an exit for cats who may be taking refuge under bushes, porches, or other hiding spots.
• Stay away from salt and chemical melting products. These products can be toxic to animals and harmful to their natural snowshoes — paws!

Food and water: When temperatures drop, provide extra food and water, and try to keep it from freezing.

 Other feeding tips:

• Feed the cats on a regular schedule. That way, the cats will know when to come around, and both the food and the cats will spend less time out in the cold.
• Feed wet food — it’s easier to digest, so cats save more energy for keeping warm. Since wet food is also quicker to freeze, make sure you put out dry food too. And feed larger portions than you would in warm weather.
• Spray insulation foam into the underside of plastic feeding dishes to keep wet food from becoming fishcicles! (Or chickencicles, turkeycicles, etc. …)
• Change water bowls twice daily to keep water from freezing. Use deep bowls rather than wide ones, and refill them with hot or warm water. If the colony is close to an outlet, heated electric water bowls will also do the trick.
• Here’s a trade secret: Add a pinch of sugar to the water to keep it from freezing as quickly (and to provide an energy boost for the cats!)

RESOURCE:  

PETFINDER BLOG

Author Becky Robinson is the president and founder of Alley Cat Allies.

Winter Shelters for Outside Pets, Ferals and Strays!

Design Basics

There are many ways to build adequate shelter will all good designs sharing two qualities: strong insulation and minimal air space. The insulation is needed to trap the cats’ body heat, effectively turning the cats into little radiators. Empty air space needs to be eliminated in order to keep the amount of space that needs to be heated to a minimum. A well insulated large dog house will not work because there will be too much air space for the cats to warm. Likewise, a tight fitting space with thin, uninsulated walls won’t work either because the cat’s body heat will pass right through.

Smaller Shelters Provide Warmth – Build More, Smaller Shelters

With these design factors in mind, it is better to build two smaller shelters which will each hold three or four cats than one large shelter to house six to eight felines. With smaller shelters, even if only one or two cats go in, enough heat will be generated. But with the larger shelter, if only a small number of the cats use it at the same time, there will be too much empty air space for them to heat.

Wonderful Shelter Ideas, from Neighborhood Cats in NYC

Visit their website for photos and other ideas!

Winter Cat Shelter Made from Rubbermaid Storage Bin

This shelter was designed by CSM Stray Foundation of Kew Gardens, Queens, New York. Purchase a large Rubbermaid storage bin (a.k.a.  storage tote) with a removable lid. It’s important the brand is Rubbermaid otherwise the plastic walls may crack in frigid temperatures. You’ll also need an eight foot by two foot sheet of one inch thick hard Styrofoam, a yardstick, box cutter, and insulating material such as hay or straw.

To assemble:

1. Cut a doorway six inches by six inches in one of the long sides of the bin towards the corner. Cut the opening so that the bottom of the doorway is several inches above the ground to prevent flooding.
2. Line the floor of the bin with a piece of Styrofoam, using the yardstick and box cutter to cut the piece. It doesn’t have to be an exact fit, but the closer the better.
3. In a similar fashion, line each of the four interior walls of the bin with a piece of the Styrofoam. Again, perfect cuts are not necessary. Leave a cap of three inches between the top of these Styrofoam “wall pieces” and the upper lip of the bin.
4. Cut out a doorway in the Styrofoam interior wall where the doorway has been cut out all ready in the storage bin.
5. Stuff the bottom of the bin with straw or other insulating material (no blankets or towels!) to hold the wall pieces in place.
6. Cut out a Styrofoam “roof” to rest on top of the Styrofoam wall pieces.
7. Cover the bin with its lid.
8. This shelter is easy to clean by taking off the lid and the roof. It is lightweight and may need to be weighed down. A flap over the door way is optional.

Build a Shelter Using a Styrofoam Cooler

An adequate shelter for one cat can be made from a simple Styrofoam cooler available at any hardware store for about $6. Glue the lid onto the cooler, turn it upside down and cut a hole in one side (anywhere but in the middle of one of the long sides). The Styrofoam containers used to ship meat can be turned into shelters in the same way and can, depending on their size, house 3 to 4 cats. If you want to get fancy, get a large Igloo cooler and, with a jigsaw, cut a hole towards the left or right of one of the long sides. The attached lid will allow for easy cleaning.

Interior Insulation  - Insulating Your Cat Shelter

Putting insulating materials inside the shelter will increase the comfort and warmth of the cats. Insulation materials should only be used if the shelter can be periodically checked to see if they have gotten damp or too dirty and need to be replaced. If regular checkups are not possible, leave the interiors bare.

Straw, Hay and Other Good Insulating Materials

Straw and hay are good insulating materials to use. Straw is better than hay because it can absorb more moisture and is less prone to mold or rot.  Shredded newspaper will also work. One innovative idea is offered by Ellen Perry Berkeley in her book, “Maverick Cats.” Loosely fill a cotton pillow case with Styrofoam peanuts, the kind used to pack fragile items during shipping, and tie the pillow case closed. Then put the stuffed pillow case inside the shelter. The pillow case will conform to the cat’s body and wrap her in heat capturing peanuts.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Here is another simple shelter idea from one of our volunteers, thanks Jean!

Need to provide shelter for several cats? Purchase a 54” deck box (used to store deck furniture cushions). Cut a hole in the side for cat access. Then cut a board, fitting down the center, to separate the box into 2 sections.  One section can be filled with bedding, and the other section is used for feeding. Do not place water inside the shelter. Should the water spill the bedding and cats will get wet. When winter arrives, purchase a sheet of insulation board and cut it to fit the entire inside of the box. This shelter is lightweight and will need to be weighed down.

Source:  Alley Cats Advocates

Creating Winter Shelters

Design Basics

There are many ways to build adequate shelter will all good designs sharing two qualities: strong insulation and minimal air space. The insulation is needed to trap the cats’ body heat, effectively turning the cats into little radiators. Empty air space needs to be eliminated in order to keep the amount of space that needs to be heated to a minimum. A well insulated large dog house will not work because there will be too much air space for the cats to warm. Likewise, a tight fitting space with thin, uninsulated walls won’t work either because the cat’s body heat will pass right through.

Smaller Shelters Provide Warmth – Build More, Smaller Shelters

With these design factors in mind, it is better to build two smaller shelters which will each hold three or four cats than one large shelter to house six to eight felines. With smaller shelters, even if only one or two cats go in, enough heat will be generated. But with the larger shelter, if only a small number of the cats use it at the same time, there will be too much empty air space for them to heat.

Wonderful Shelter Ideas, from Neighborhood Cats in NYC

Visit their website for photos and other ideas!

Winter Cat Shelter Made from Rubbermaid Storage Bin

This shelter was designed by CSM Stray Foundation of Kew Gardens, Queens, New York. Purchase a large Rubbermaid storage bin (a.k.a.  storage tote) with a removable lid. It’s important the brand is Rubbermaid otherwise the plastic walls may crack in frigid temperatures. You’ll also need an eight foot by two foot sheet of one inch thick hard Styrofoam, a yardstick, box cutter, and insulating material such as hay or straw.

To assemble:

1. Cut a doorway six inches by six inches in one of the long sides of the bin towards the corner. Cut the opening so that the bottom of the doorway is several inches above the ground to prevent flooding.
2. Line the floor of the bin with a piece of Styrofoam, using the yardstick and box cutter to cut the piece. It doesn’t have to be an exact fit, but the closer the better.
3. In a similar fashion, line each of the four interior walls of the bin with a piece of the Styrofoam. Again, perfect cuts are not necessary. Leave a cap of three inches between the top of these Styrofoam “wall pieces” and the upper lip of the bin.
4. Cut out a doorway in the Styrofoam interior wall where the doorway has been cut out all ready in the storage bin.
5. Stuff the bottom of the bin with straw or other insulating material (no blankets or towels!) to hold the wall pieces in place.
6. Cut out a Styrofoam “roof” to rest on top of the Styrofoam wall pieces.
7. Cover the bin with its lid.
8. This shelter is easy to clean by taking off the lid and the roof. It is lightweight and may need to be weighed down. A flap over the door way is optional.

Build a Shelter Using a Styrofoam Cooler

An adequate shelter for one cat can be made from a simple Styrofoam cooler available at any hardware store for about $6. Glue the lid onto the cooler, turn it upside down and cut a hole in one side (anywhere but in the middle of one of the long sides). The Styrofoam containers used to ship meat can be turned into shelters in the same way and can, depending on their size, house 3 to 4 cats. If you want to get fancy, get a large Igloo cooler and, with a jigsaw, cut a hole towards the left or right of one of the long sides. The attached lid will allow for easy cleaning.

Interior Insulation  - Insulating Your Cat Shelter

Putting insulating materials inside the shelter will increase the comfort and warmth of the cats. Insulation materials should only be used if the shelter can be periodically checked to see if they have gotten damp or too dirty and need to be replaced. If regular checkups are not possible, leave the interiors bare.

Straw, Hay and Other Good Insulating Materials

Straw and hay are good insulating materials to use. Straw is better than hay because it can absorb more moisture and is less prone to mold or rot.  Shredded newspaper will also work. One innovative idea is offered by Ellen Perry Berkeley in her book, “Maverick Cats.” Loosely fill a cotton pillow case with Styrofoam peanuts, the kind used to pack fragile items during shipping, and tie the pillow case closed. Then put the stuffed pillow case inside the shelter. The pillow case will conform to the cat’s body and wrap her in heat capturing peanuts.

Here is another simple shelter idea from one of our volunteers, thanks Jean!

Need to provide shelter for several cats? Purchase a 54” deck box (used to store deck furniture cushions). Cut a hole in the side for cat access. Then cut a board, fitting down the center, to separate the box into 2 sections.  One section can be filled with bedding, and the other section is used for feeding. Do not place water inside the shelter. Should the water spill the bedding and cats will get wet. When winter arrives, purchase a sheet of insulation board and cut it to fit the entire inside of the box. This shelter is lightweight and will need to be weighed down.

Source:  Alley Cats Advocates