[Closed] Cats - housing for outdoors - can anyone recommend or review small hutch types ?

the chances of your cat using one of those are inversley proportional to the amount of money you spend!!

they wont use it, they'll just sit near it, looking at you, then it, then you, accusingly.

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I don't want to spend tons as its temporary and also I know how awkward animals can be over housing, hence asking for your experiences with this sort of hutch.

A stray cat has moved into a bush near the house, trying to keep warm and dry. Obviously though it is dryer than being out in the rain it is also draughty and cold. The cat cant come into the house as our cats wont let it, so it just huddles under the bush. We are trying to trace the owner - the person who is rumoured to have owned it but moved house, in case they gave it to anyone or to find out if anyone else in the area has tried to take it in - it may just have got lost if so.

I figure if I get a cheapish 'cat house' I can always re-use it for another pet at some point or for our own cats.

I like the baskets image. I used to have a rescue pigeon that slept in a cardboard box of old paint cans on a shelf in the garage. Dunno why it chose there, it had plenty of other options!

I bought one of these (when I had more money than sense)
[url= http://www.bitsforpets.com/dog-kennel-small-1042s-p-16.html ]small kennel[/url]
for our cat in our last rented house (no cat flap) in case he was out and didn't want to come in when we needed to go out. Nice bit of shelter I thought. Its very well made and the company are great to deal with. Needless to say he ignored it totally. It's now an expensive home for the postman to leave parcels.

We had a stray cat adopt us a few years ago. I built her many shelters around the garden all of which were only used once or twice. When it got really cold I coaxed her into the house for some food and she gradually (over a few weeks) settled in. Our original cats eventually accepted her and she went on to be "boss".

Skanky stayed with us until she died of old age, but not before presenting us with a solitary kitten to look after, who 4 years later is very much part of the clan!!

The dog kennel looks indeed very nice. Thanks.

SillyH - interesting what you say. We are worried about our own cats feeling put out or worse moving out if they feel overcrowded (v small human house!).

I dont know much about cats getting used to each other, so advice on this welcome - Our orig cat choose his housemate himself.

The new stray is a proper Tom cat, not a neuter like the other 2 so not sure if that has a bearing. At the moment all 3 are stepping very carefully and (literally) slowly around each other.

I was told by someone, don't know if they are correct yet, that the stray was left out in the snow all last winter 24 hours a day. I think he would come in the house but as the cats are not actually fighting at the moment, I dont want to escalate the situation or the stray might end up not able to come for food either.

i have to laugh at this thread and my own madness, i built a cat house with left over decking placed it at the back of the garden, she has never been in it. but prefers to sit under an outdoor garden chair thats about a foot away from the cat house.

before we had the conservatory we had a small porch with external door, we put a nice basket in there for her but she never slept in it beucase there wa sonly one exit point and one night a tom came in and there was a big scrap.

your plyaing with fire feeding the stray, unless you are willing to take it on. just call your local cat protection team.

I prob will call a rehoming centre or rehome it to a friend but I need to make sure it is homeless first (looks very probable it is). I would be pleased to keep the cat, he seems very nice and also very desperate. Its my cats that are the issue. I suppose it could go on living outdoors but that seems a bit lonely for it. Plus cold in winter.

Funny, I had been wondering if it was any cheaper to get some stuff and build something.

Our cat uses the outside cathouse thing that my dad built in about 10mins one day. Sloping roof in a nice sunny position out of the wind with a newspaper on the bottom.

mind you our cat takes dumps in the bog and wee wees on the lino next to the sink too.

http://www.solwayrecycling.co.uk/pet-and-equestian-products/eco-dog-kennels

We used a rabbit hutch, raised about 2 feet off the floor for the 3 cats. They all used it, especially when they were being stubborn and wouldn't come in for the night, some of those nights were very cold and they were very warm when they came in. I put a couple of litter trays with newspaper and a towel so they could snuggle up and be nice n toasty.

Ah, if he's a tom, he'll probably piss up everything in your house if you let him in, and if any of your other cats are male, neutered or not he will probably scrap with them.

But having said that, if you want to keep him and can integrate him, cats will always find their own space. We started off with 1 and have now got 9 and none of them have ever run off (permanently) when we have introduced an addition.

If you do keep him probably worth considering getting him "done"

One of the things they suggest when introducing new cats is completely separate bowls and eating areas to start with. Nothing should be 'shared' until they get used to each other and decide they CAN share.

We've been looking for an outdoor hutch for out cat too, so watching this thread too for ideas.

Pet cemetry!

wheelie bin?

More pictures of cats being angry cats please...

My old cat used to go to the field where the feral cats lived (not sure why there were so many feral cats in Norwich)...sit there staring at them for a while, and beat up any that came near her.

She was vicious mind you...

Have you got a shed? You could always install a cat flap in that and let the stray cat go in there...

And if you're so inclined...get him 'fixed' as other posters have suggested. Even if he doesn't move in, you'll have done the general community a favour by stopping him impregnating local domesticated and feral cats.

Thanks everyone for all the responses and helpful comments. I have found a couple more links to cat houses and will try to post them later this weekend as the page refs are on a different pc to this one, so look again later in the weekend or Monday if you too are looking for cat homes. Will also check out the rabbit hutch option.

Thanks for the link to the recycled houses - particularly liked the site header as it has a nice pig arc on it as well. I really like pigs.

Yes, might be worth getting Tom done, but I would need to be sure for totally certain he is not someone's pet before doing something so irreversible. I guess a rehoming centre would 'do' him anyway.

He does eat in a different area, as he lives in the garden under his bush (which has proved surprisingly rain proof given the weather today) and so I feed him out there. Our 2 cats eat in the (human)house.

I found this link the other day - check it out if you want to see how bright a cat can be, its quite amusing.

http://cats.about.com/od/behaviortraining/a/cattools.htm

I have been thinking about someone above saying it will be the Tom cat starting all the fights, but I watched them for a while last night and this morning and its our younger male neuter that is starting all the aggressive moves. He and our other cat are both able to best the Tom. Our older cat though is not interested in starting issues, just growls if the Tom (or any of the local cats) gets closer to him than he considers acceptable, then carries on as normal.

Mr Tom is consistently doing the 'I am not here, you can't really see me' sort of moves, and will retreat into the safety of his bush if he sees the younger male about.

At one of my old houses we had half a dozen or so cats around us. From buisers to fluffy balls of fur.

Our front garden, for some reason, was the meeting patch, where in the warmer, drier weather, all the cats would sit in a circle around the garden looking at each other. Never fighting or causing each other any bother, just sitting in the shade or in the sun relaxing in their own little car worlds.

All very strange

Yes, Strange indeed! Cat behaviour is hard to follow and fascinating. We started with 1 rescue cat, he moved a friend in. Another one visits and sits with them in the garden. Now this stray. Strange indeed. The more cats that visit, the more curious I get about their social world.

Other links as promised, in case they are useful to other people:

http://www.pet-supply-store.co.uk/products.php?cat=520

http://www.wildstore.co.uk/comfort-outdoor-cat-house-with-cat-flap---uk-made-29-p.asp

http://bradshawtimberanimalhousingspecialists.webs.com/dogcatkennels.htm

http://www.stusanimalhousing.co.uk/cathouse.htm

http://www.happyhutch.com/ListProducts.asp?categoryID=1

http://www.framebow.co.uk/cat_houses_and_runspens.html

http://www.woodenart.org.uk/

http://www.tigersheds.com/product_detail.asp?prod=115

http://www.yorkshirepetshop.co.uk/outdoor-cat-kennels-runs-c-188_219.html

Aparantly these are quite good - testing being carried out below:

😕