[Jasmine.MI]

I have two cats that will need to live outdoors in a fenced backyard, since the family member I'm staying with is allergic. I'm thinking about having a small shed built and install a swamp cooler for the summer mths. I know vegas has extreme hot days and wanted to learn from the locals what you do to make pets more comfortable in the heat.

[olecapt]

Originally Posted by Jasmine.MI

I have two cats that will need to live outdoors in a fenced backyard, since the family member I'm staying with is allergic. I'm thinking about having a small shed built and install a swamp cooler for the summer mths. I know vegas has extreme hot days and wanted to learn from the locals what you do to make pets more comfortable in the heat.

They need shade and water. The feral who lives on my back patio has been here now for more than 12 years and is going strong. And she is a long hair..Has a supply of clean water rigged to the irrigation system and gets half a can of cat food twice a day.

She spends most of the really hot time hunkered down in the dense bushes beneath a palm tree. Has access to the mildly cooler garage but does not use it except for the litter box. She often hunts in the high heat. Must thnk the birds are slower then. She has lost her edge though. Only the wounded fall to her nowadays.

[radraja]

Having a small shed with a fan would be a good idea. The sun can be brutal on animals.

[Buzz123]

A. It will take a really, really high fence to keep cats from escaping.
2. If they are house cats, it isn't fair to the cats to be suddenly moved from cool, familiar, and presumably safe, surroundings to the desert where they will have to stay outside in 115º heat now is it?
D. There are thousands of feral cats in Las Vegas that will entice them to run away from home, especially since they won't recognize the area they are now forced to live in. Cats always try to return home. I still grieve a little bit over the lose of the world's best cat because of a move in 1981 that didn't take his needs into consideration well enough. We think he simply tried to go back to the old neighborhood and didn't make it.

Have you given any thought to having someone there adopt them or look after them for you? We had to do that when we moved to Las Vegas. He knew the old neighborhood and just stayed with our neighbor who looked after him. We missed him for years but it was what was best for him. Cats have their territory and as long as there is food there they don't want us to move them to another one.

[PinkString]

I wouldn't recommend making cats live outside. Better to replace the family member with a person more tolerant of cats. If you can't do that for whatever reasons, then make the kitties as comfortable as possible. The summer heat can be really brutal, especially inside a shed or garage. If the cats are used to living indoors, abruptly changing their living habits can be quite stressful.

My cats are indoor only. If i have a family member or a friend come to visit that is allergic, I would make them stay outside. Or at least in the garage. Ok, maybe a hotel. But they have to pay for it.

[toyojo]

my two rotts can handle the winter, but summer is out of the question. they need to be indoors and im sure cats would too. having a pool helps if u have dogs so u can just toss them in once in a while