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Most cat owners get a house for their pets to keep them warm and safe during changing seasons, such as when it’s too cold or too rainy outside. However, you need to know how to heat a cat house without electricity when the weather outside gets unfavourable for your pet. No matter how independent and resourceful your cat is, they will need a heated house to maintain their normal body temperature, which is around 38 degrees celsius.
In many cases, the natural fur of your cat may not be sufficient enough to protect them from cold in winter. Like humans, your cat can suffer from hypothermia or frostbite too, which can lead to severe conditions. If you have a senior cat, short-haired cat, or kittens at home, keeping their house warm is crucial.
Here, you will get every necessary insight into the best ways to heat your cat house without electricity. So, let’s get started.
Weather-proofing
Whether you have already built your cat house or are planning to buy one online, you must consider it to be weatherproof. If you have already bought the cat house, you can consider doing weatherproof coating on it for the best protection for your cat. If you haven’t bought any cat house, then ensure to pick the one with weatherproofing installation.
With a weatherproof cat house, you can protect your cat from harsh weather conditions, such as rain or snow. This waterproofing technology in your cat house will ensure to block water, frost, or moisture from entering inside the cat house. So, you can relax on the fact that your cat will stay dry and warm inside its kingdom.
Solar Powered Cat House
If you’re planning to build your own cat house, you can consider making a solar-heated cat house. This is a great way to ensure the constant warmth of your cat in harsh weather conditions. However, if your geographical location receives a limited amount of sunlight in a day, then it won’t give many satisfying results. Otherwise, you can always choose to install solar panels on the roof of your cat house to extract the renewable source of energy for keeping the cat warm.
Paint A Dark Color On The Cat House
You probably know that dark objects tend to absorb more heat and retain more warmth when baked in the sun. So, you can get the paintbrush, choose a dark colour, preferably black, forest green or dark blue, and get to work on your cat house.
Keep The Cat House In Sun’s Path
Although this step may seem obvious, shifting your cat house into the sun’s path can significantly boost its internal temperature. Moreover, you must ensure to monitor and evaluate the temperature range after shifting the house to make sure that it isn’t too heated – especially if you live in a geographical location that is too sunny. Your abstract idea should be heating your cat house to a few degrees. Apart from keeping the cat house in the sun’s path, you must align the big, flat side of the house facing towards the sun to ensure a high sunlight absorption rate.
Add A Door To Your Cat House
The major amount of heat your cat drives into his house goes flaccid right from the front door. This is where you can install a door flap or any type of cat-accessible door on their house soon. And while doing such installation, you must ensure that your cat isn’t fronting to the direction from where the inducing winds blow.
Boost The Thermal Mass
If you have ever laid yourself on a warm rock after the sunset, you will know the essence and benefit of thermal mass. A warm rock heats up moderately slowly, but it ensures the best heat retention and progressively radiates it. This will help you keep the cat house a bit more thermally stable and warmer.
You can easily leverage and install this technique into your cat house, but there is no necessity to use rocks. For thermal mass, you can use water as it’s an amazing material, but you can work with bricks and cinder blocks too. Conclusively, anything that is safe and dense will work.
However, you must not misunderstand one thing. Placing a large rock in your cat house won’t turn it into a hot tub. It will only ensure the best retention of heat that you supply. You can consider it as an additional strategy on how to heat a cat house without electricity.
Stuff Your Cat House
Like every cat owner, you may also want to have a spacious, comfortable room for your cat. However, this excess space will only play the role of keeping the average inside temperature lower. It may be an excellent option for your cat with a cool and comfy space in summer, but it’s the total contrast of what you wish for your cat in winter – a warm and cozy cat house.
There is no such hi-tech method to reduce the space in your cat house, but you can utilize things such as sealed water jugs, dog blankets, or big pillows to ensure reducing the open space inside the cat house.
Level-Up The Cat House Floor
Apart from the same line of giving bedding, levelling up the cat house off the ground surface may help to keep it warm and dry from inside. This is no easy task as you have to take several things into consideration while determining whether this is the best way to level up the temperature of your cat house or not.
When compared to the surrounding air, if the ground surface alleviates heat from your cat house faster, it’s a smart decision to level up the cat house off the ground. In addition, the ground can act as a cozy, warm surface during chilly air temperatures.
Use Microwaveable Cushions
You will get numerous options for microwaveable cushions in the market, which fundamentally work like a rice-filled sock (discussed below). These cushions are convenient-to-use and retain heat for a prolonged period when compared to rice-filled socks. Simply buy them online and keep them in your cat’s house.
Use Rice-Filled Sock As A Short-Term Solution
One of the best short-term solutions for heating up your cat house is using rice-filled socks. This simple and effective way involves the tossing of a handful of uncooked rice into an old sock piece. You have to tie the sock off and keep it in your microwave for a few minutes. If you don’t want to use electricity, attach the sock to a rod tightly, and heat it over the gas without making it touch the flame.
You must heat the rice-filled sock to the point where it’s nice and warm but not hot. Then, place the warm sock in your cat’s house. It won’t retain the warmth for days, but it will ensure to keep your cat warm for several hours. This is because the rice retains heat most effectively. In addition, you can also try this method with a water bottle. Simply heat it up, transfer it to an appropriate vessel and palace in your cat’s house.
Plumbing Warm Water
If you desperately want to spoil your cat with a scorching retreat without using any electricity, and you don’t worry about a bigger project, you can choose to plumb warm water into your cat’s house. This elaborate project is not suitable for every cat owner, but it is undoubtedly an effective way to convert your cat’s house into a cozy palace.
The specifics of this method depend on several factors, but most importantly, you have to tap into your home’s hot water line connection and run pipes to your cat’s house and back. The pipes advancing through the house will get heated by the warm water, which successively heats the air. However, it’s crucial to check that your cat doesn’t come in contact with the pipes directly as it may cause them to burn.
It’s best to come in contact with a plumber to execute this elongated task. So, the process can become a bit costly for you. However, the cost will give fruitful results to your cat by keeping their house completely warm and comfortable.
Conclusion
As we discussed in the above-mentioned sections, you can keep your cat warm by buying a cat house and making it heated from inside. Whatever your plans for the heated cat house may be, ensure that it will keep your cat dry, safe, and warm. Also, check that your cat house shows no sign of leaks and poor insulation. So, get the best use of this guide on how to heat a cat house without electricity and keep your cat warm and happy in the cold or rain.
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